seat belt use rates in the united states seat belt use rates in the united states seat belt use rates in the united states have been rising steadily since 1983, from 14% to 90% in 2016. seat belt use in the country in 2016 ranged from a minimum of 70.2% in new hampshire to a maximum of 96.9% in georgia. 19 states had use rates above 90%. u.s. mutcd seat belt symbol according to the national highway traffic safety administration's (nhtsa) 2008 survey, seat belt use remained lower among 16- to 24-year-olds than other age groups, with a rate of 77%, and also was lower among african americans than other races, with a use rate of 75%. the survey also found that seat belt use continued to be higher among females (86%) than males (79%). according to the nhtsa's 2013 survey, seat belt use in jurisdictions with stronger seatbelt enforcement laws continue to exhibit generally higher use rates than those with weaker laws. seat belt usage by year the following list shows the national percentage of vehicle occupants using seat belts between 1983 and 2017: historical seat belt use in the united states1983-2017 year%year%year% 201789.7200582199366 201690.1200480199262 201588.5200379199159 201486.7200275199049 201387200173198946 201286200071198845 201184199967198742 201085199865198637 200984199769198521 200883199661198414 200782199568198314 200681199458 the only years in which the rate did not increase over the previous year were 1994 when usage fell by eight percent, 1996 when usage fell by seven percent, 2006 when usage fell by one percent, and 2017 when usage fell by four tenths of one percent. seat belt usage by state/territory seat belt usage by state 2003-2012 (%) state 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 alabama 77.4080.0081.8082.9082.3086.1090.0091.4088.0088.997.3 alaska 78.9076.7078.4083.2082.4084.9086.1086.8089.3088.186.1 arizona 86.2095.3094.2078.9080.9079.9080.8081.8082.9082.284.7 arkansas 62.8064.2068.3069.3069.9070.4074.4078.3078.4071.976.7 california 91.2090.4092.5093.4094.6095.7095.3096.2096.6095.597.4 colorado 77.7079.3079.2080.3081.1081.7081.1082.9082.1080.782.1 connecticut 78.0082.9081.6083.5085.8088.0085.9088.2088.4086.886.6 delaware 74.9082.3083.8086.1086.6091.3088.4090.7090.3087.992.2 district of columbia 84.9087.1088.8085.4087.1090.0093.0092.3095.2092.487.5 florida 72.6076.3073.9080.7079.1081.7085.2087.4088.1087.487.2 georgia 84.5086.7089.9090.0089.0089.6088.9089.6093.0093.495.5 hawaii 91.8095.1095.3092.5097.6097.0097.9097.6096.0093.494.0 idaho 71.7074.0076.0079.8078.5076.9079.2077.9079.1079.081.6 illinois 80.1083.0086.0087.8090.1090.5091.7092.6092.9093.693.7 indiana 82.3083.4081.2084.3087.9091.2092.6092.4093.2093.691.6 iowa 86.8086.4087.1089.6091.3092.9093.1093.1093.5093.691.9 kansas 63.6068.3069.0073.5075.0077.4077.0081.8082.9079.580.7 kentucky 65.5066.0066.7067.2071.8073.3079.7080.3082.2083.785.0 louisiana 73.8075.0077.7074.8075.2075.5074.5075.9077.7079.382.5 maine n/a72.3075.8077.2079.8083.0082.6082.0081.6084.483.0 maryland 87.9089.0091.1091.1093.1093.3094.0094.7094.2091.190.7 massachusetts 61.7063.3064.8066.9068.7066.8073.6073.7073.2072.774.8 michigan 84.8090.5092.9094.3093.7097.2098.0095.2094.5093.693.0 minnesota 79.4082.1083.9083.3087.8086.7090.2092.3092.7093.694.8 mississippi 62.2063.2060.8073.6071.8071.3076.0081.0081.9083.274.4 missouri 72.9075.9077.4075.2077.2075.8077.2076.0079.0079.480.1 montana 79.5080.9080.0079.0079.6079.3079.2078.9076.9076.374.0 nebraska 76.1079.2079.2076.0078.7082.6084.8084.1084.2078.679.1 nevada 78.7086.6094.8091.2092.2090.9091.0093.2094.1090.594.8 new hampshire 49.60n/an/a63.5063.8069.2068.9072.2075.0068.673.0 new jersey 81.2082.0086.0090.0091.4091.8092.7093.7094.5088.391.0 new mexico 87.2089.7089.5089.6091.5091.1090.1089.8090.5091.492.0 new york 84.6085.0085.0083.0083.5089.1088.0089.8090.5090.491.1 north carolina 86.1086.1086.7088.5088.8089.8089.5089.7089.5087.588.6 north dakota 63.7067.4076.3079.0082.2081.6081.5074.8076.7080.977.7 ohio 74.7074.1078.7081.7081.6082.7083.6083.8084.1082.084.5 oklahoma 76.7080.3083.1083.7083.1084.3084.2085.9085.9083.883.6 oregon 90.4092.6093.3094.1095.3096.3096.6097.0096.6096.898.2 pennsylvania 79.0081.8083.3086.3086.7085.1087.9086.0083.8083.584.0 rhode island 74.2076.2074.7074.0079.1072.0074.7078.0080.4077.585.6 south carolina 72.8065.7069.7072.5074.5079.0081.5085.40 86.00 90.50 south dakota 69.9069.4068.8071.3073.0071.8072.1074.5073.4066.569.7 tennessee 68.5072.0074.4078.6080.2081.5080.6087.1087.4083.784.8 texas 84.3083.2089.9090.4091.8091.2092.9093.8093.7094.090.3 utah 85.2085.7086.9088.6086.8086.0086.1089.0089.2081.982.4 vermont 82.4079.9084.7082.4087.1087.3085.3085.2084.7084.284.9 virginia 74.6079.9080.4078.7079.9080.6082.3080.5081.8078.479.7 washington 94.8094.2095.2096.3096.4096.5096.4097.6097.5096.994.5 west virginia 73.6075.8084.9088.5089.6089.5087.0082.1084.9084.082.2 wisconsin 69.8072.4073.3075.4075.3074.2073.8079.2079.0079.982.4 wyoming n/a70.10n/a63.5072.2068.6067.6078.9082.6077.081.9