US Motor Vehicle Registrations - 1900 to 1995

Week 21 Dataset and Historical Background

Posted by David Velleca on July 23, 2018

Historical Background

The first automobiles debuted in the United States in the late 19th century. At first, cars were a status symbol, attainable only by the rich. The number of automobile manufacturers in the United States slowly grew, driving competition and innovation. These innovations, and their associated efficiencies helped to increase the number of cars on the road, while also bringing down prices. This week, we're looking at the number of automobile registrations by state from 1900 to 1995.

If you'd like to see what you can visualize with this data, post your work to Tableau Public and Twitter with the hashtag #ThrowbackThursday, tagging @TThrowbackThurs. We'd really love to see what you can come up with!

Data Source

This week's dataset comes from the U.S. Department of Transportation - Federal Highway Administration. Please be sure to cite the source on your viz.