Permit rules and dates
Supervised driving hours required in each state
Enter your state and the hours already in your log: the tool shows what is left, day and night. Below, every state requirement and the weekly pace it implies.
Supervised practice hours you still need
Hours left
30 h
| Required by the state | 50 h |
| Night hours required | 10 h |
| Night hours left | 6 h |
Most states require a teen to log a set number of supervised driving hours on the learner permit before the road test, signed off by a parent, guardian or other licensed adult. Among the 44 jurisdictions in our data that publish the figure, the requirement goes from 20 hours in Iowa to 100 hours in Oregon, and 25 states settle on exactly 50. The average is 49 hours. 38 states also set a minimum of night hours, most often 10, up to 15 in Louisiana. Because the permit must also be held for a minimum number of months, the real constraint is the pace: spread over the holding period, the requirement means about 1.9 hours a week in the median state, more where the period is short. A few states reduce the hours for teens who complete an approved driver education course.
Questions and state rules by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · How the questions are written
Hours required, state by state
The table ranks every state that publishes an hour requirement, highest first. The last column divides the hours by the minimum holding period, in weeks: it is the pace you need to finish the log on the earliest possible date. Starting later or practicing less only pushes the road test back.
| State | Total hours | Night hours | Months on permit | Hours a week |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oregon | 100 | not stated | 6 | 3.8 |
| Maine | 70 | 10 | 6 | 2.7 |
| Pennsylvania | 65 | 10 | 6 | 2.5 |
| Kentucky | 60 | 10 | 6 | 2.3 |
| Maryland | 60 | 10 | 9 | 1.5 |
| North Carolina | 60 | 10 | 9 | 1.5 |
| Alabama | 50 | not stated | 6 | 1.9 |
| California | 50 | 10 | 6 | 1.9 |
| Colorado | 50 | not stated | 12 | 1.0 |
| Delaware | 50 | 10 | 6 | 1.9 |
| Florida | 50 | 10 | 12 | 1.0 |
| Idaho | 50 | 10 | 6 | 1.9 |
| Illinois | 50 | 10 | 9 | 1.3 |
| Indiana | 50 | 10 | 6 | 1.9 |
| Kansas | 50 | 10 | 12 | 1.0 |
| Louisiana | 50 | 15 | 6 | 1.9 |
| Minnesota | 50 | 15 | 6 | 1.9 |
| Mississippi | 50 | not stated | 12 | 1.0 |
| Montana | 50 | 10 | 6 | 1.9 |
| Nebraska | 50 | 10 | 6 | 1.9 |
| Nevada | 50 | 10 | 6 | 1.9 |
| New Jersey | 50 | 10 | 6 | 1.9 |
| New Mexico | 50 | 10 | 6 | 1.9 |
| New York | 50 | 15 | 6 | 1.9 |
| North Dakota | 50 | not stated | 12 | 1.0 |
| Ohio | 50 | 10 | 6 | 1.9 |
| South Dakota | 50 | 10 | 9 | 1.3 |
| Washington | 50 | 10 | 6 | 1.9 |
| West Virginia | 50 | 10 | 6 | 1.9 |
| Wisconsin | 50 | 10 | 6 | 1.9 |
| Wyoming | 50 | 10 | 0.3 | 35.0 |
| Virginia | 45 | 15 | 9 | 1.2 |
| Alaska | 40 | 10 | 6 | 1.5 |
| Connecticut | 40 | not stated | 4 | 2.3 |
| District of Columbia | 40 | 10 | 6 | 1.5 |
| Georgia | 40 | 6 | 12 | 0.8 |
| Missouri | 40 | 10 | 6 | 1.5 |
| New Hampshire | 40 | 10 | not stated | not stated |
| South Carolina | 40 | 10 | 6 | 1.5 |
| Utah | 40 | 10 | 6 | 1.5 |
| Vermont | 40 | 10 | 12 | 0.8 |
| Arizona | 30 | 10 | 6 | 1.2 |
| Texas | 30 | 10 | 6 | 1.2 |
| Iowa | 20 | 2 | 12 | 0.4 |
No hour requirement appears on the official pages we read for Arkansas, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Michigan, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Tennessee. That can mean the state sets none, or sets it in a statute the agency does not quote.
The pace that matters
The tightest schedule is in Wyoming, where 50 hours must fit in 0.3 months, about 35.0 hours a week. At the other end of the hour scale, Oregon asks for 100 hours, but the pace also depends on how long the permit is held. A realistic plan is two to four sessions a week: two short drives on school days and a longer one on the weekend. Forty-five minutes is a good length; beyond an hour, a beginner tires and the practice loses value, which is the point NHTSA makes on drowsy driving.
What to practice, in what order
- Empty parking lot. Starting, stopping, steering, mirrors, backing up. Two or three sessions are enough.
- Quiet residential streets. Stop signs, right turns, speed control, scanning for children and pets.
- Busier roads. Left turns across traffic, lane changes, traffic lights, parking on a street.
- Highway. Merging, keeping a gap, exits. Start outside rush hour.
- Night and weather. The required night hours, rain, and if your state has it, snow.
Log each session the day it happens, with the date, duration and conditions. Some states provide a paper form, others an online log or a parent affidavit; the state handbook says which.
Making the hours count
Two teens can log the same 50 hours and come out with very different skills. Hours spent on the same route to school teach little after the first week. Vary the roads, the time of day and the weather, and give each session one goal: a smooth left turn across traffic, three clean lane changes, parallel parking on a real street. The supervising adult should talk less as the weeks pass, letting the new driver make decisions and explaining afterward. A short note in the log about what was practiced also helps you spot what is still missing before the road test.
How hours fit with the other rules
The hours are one of three conditions for the road test, with the minimum age and the holding period, and the latest of the three sets the date. The date calculator combines them from a date of birth. In several states, driver education changes the count; the driver education guide shows where. Once the road test is passed, the provisional license brings night and passenger limits, described in the teen restrictions guide. All figures here come from state agency pages; this site is not an agency and the handbook prevails.