Permit rules and dates
When can I get my permit? Your dates, state by state
Enter a date of birth and a state: the earliest day for the learner permit, the provisional license and the end of teen restrictions, with the hours to log.
Learner permit from · California (15 years 6 months)
April 23, 2027
in 182 days
| Minimum time with the permit | 6 months |
| Provisional / intermediate license from | October 23, 2027 · in 365 days |
| Full license (restrictions end) from | October 23, 2028 |
| Supervised hours to log | 50 (10 of which at night) |
| Knowledge test | 46 questions, 80 % to pass |
| DMV fees (permit + license) | $46 |
Official rules of California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV)
The minimum age for a learner permit ranges from 14 years in Alaska to 16 years in Connecticut, across the 47 states whose rule we confirmed on an official page. 8 of them let a teen start before 15. The permit is only the first of three stages of graduated licensing: after a minimum time with the permit and a log of supervised hours comes a provisional (intermediate) license with night and passenger limits, then a full license once the teen reaches the age the state sets. In California, for example, the permit comes at 15 years 6 months, must be held 6 months with 50 hours of practice, and the provisional license is possible at 16 years. The calculator above applies those three rules to a date of birth: the later of the age limit and the holding period decides each date.
Questions and state rules by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · How the questions are written
The three stages, and which rule wins
Every state now licenses teens in stages, an approach NHTSA describes in its teen driver guidance. The dates in the calculator follow from three numbers per state, each read on the state agency page or handbook:
- Permit age. The day you reach it, you may apply for the learner (instruction) permit, pass the knowledge test and the vision check.
- Holding period. The permit must be held for a minimum number of months before the road test for the next stage. The longest in our data is 12 months, in Colorado.
- Provisional age. Even with the months done, the intermediate license cannot be issued before a set age. The provisional date is therefore the later of the two: permit date plus holding period, or the provisional age.
A teen who starts the permit late, say at 16 in a state that allows it at 15, reaches the provisional stage when the holding period ends rather than at the minimum age. That is why the calculator asks for the permit date if you already have one: it replaces the earliest legal date and moves everything after it.
Ages and months in every state
The table lists the four figures behind the calculator for the 51 jurisdictions. A dash means the agency pages we read do not state the figure; the site does not fill it from another source. Ages are in years; ½ means six months, ¼ three months and ¾ nine.
| State | Permit | Months held | Hours | Provisional | Full |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | 15 | 6 | 50 | 16 | 17 |
| Alaska | 14 | 6 | 40 | 16 | 16½ |
| Arizona | 15½ | 6 | 30 | 16 | 16½ |
| Arkansas | 14 | 6 | – | 16 | 18 |
| California | 15½ | 6 | 50 | 16 | 17 |
| Colorado | 15 | 12 | 50 | – | – |
| Connecticut | 16 | 4 | 40 | 16 y 4 m | 18 |
| Delaware | 16 | 6 | 50 | 16½ | 17 |
| District of Columbia | 16 | 6 | 40 | 16½ | 18 |
| Florida | 15 | 12 | 50 | 16 | 18 |
| Georgia | 15 | 12 | 40 | 16 | 18 |
| Hawaii | 15½ | 6 | – | 16 | 17 |
| Idaho | 14½ | 6 | 50 | 15 | 16 |
| Illinois | 15 | 9 | 50 | 16 | 18 |
| Indiana | 15 | 6 | 50 | 16 | 18 |
| Iowa | 14 | 12 | 20 | 16 | 17 |
| Kansas | 14 | 12 | 50 | 15 | 16½ |
| Kentucky | 15 | 6 | 60 | 16 | 17 |
| Louisiana | 15 | 6 | 50 | 16 | 17 |
| Maine | 15 | 6 | 70 | 16 | 16¾ |
| Maryland | 15¾ | 9 | 60 | 16½ | 18 |
| Massachusetts | – | – | – | – | – |
| Michigan | – | – | – | – | – |
| Minnesota | 15 | 6 | 50 | 16 | 17 |
| Mississippi | 15 | 12 | 50 | – | 16 |
| Missouri | 15 | 6 | 40 | 16 | 18 |
| Montana | 14½ | 6 | 50 | 15 | 16 |
| Nebraska | 15 | 6 | 50 | 16 | 17 |
| Nevada | 15½ | 6 | 50 | 16 | 18 |
| New Hampshire | 15½ | – | 40 | 16 | 18 |
| New Jersey | 16 | 6 | 50 | 17 | 18 |
| New Mexico | 15 | 6 | 50 | 15½ | 16½ |
| New York | 16 | 6 | 50 | 16½ | 17 |
| North Carolina | 15 | 9 | 60 | 16 | 18 |
| North Dakota | 14 | 12 | 50 | 15 | 16 |
| Ohio | 15½ | 6 | 50 | 16 | 18 |
| Oklahoma | 15 | 6 | – | 16 | 16½ |
| Oregon | 15 | 6 | 100 | 16 | – |
| Pennsylvania | 16 | 6 | 65 | 16½ | 17½ |
| Rhode Island | – | – | – | – | – |
| South Carolina | 15 | 6 | 40 | 15½ | – |
| South Dakota | 14 | 9 | 50 | 14½ | 16 |
| Tennessee | – | – | – | – | – |
| Texas | 15 | 6 | 30 | 16 | 18 |
| Utah | 15 | 6 | 40 | 16 | – |
| Vermont | 15 | 12 | 40 | 16 | 18 |
| Virginia | 15½ | 9 | 45 | 16¼ | 18 |
| Washington | 15 | 6 | 50 | 16 | 17 |
| West Virginia | 15 | 6 | 50 | 16 | 17 |
| Wisconsin | 15 | 6 | 50 | 16 | 16¾ |
| Wyoming | 15 | 0 | 50 | 16 | 16½ |
What the calculator does not know
It counts calendar dates from your birthday, the way the agencies do, but it cannot see holidays, office hours or appointment waits, and it does not check whether a driver education course or school attendance form is complete. Some states shorten the holding period or the hour log for teens who finish an approved course; when the official page says so, the state page explains it. The supervised hours are those the state requires before the road test; the hours guide has a counter for what is left.
Can I get my permit yet?
Learner permit in California
In 6 months
| Minimum permit age | 15 years 6 months |
| Provisional license | 16 years |
| Restrictions end | 17 years |
Fees are the state's own charges for the permit and the first license, without driving school, insurance or photo services. In states where one application fee covers both, it is counted once.