The headline numbers

155,157plate readers mapped worldwide
143,415in the United States
115,217tagged Flock Safety (80%)
136,653with a known facing direction (95%)

These are counts from the open OpenStreetMap ALPR dataset — the cameras that volunteers have actually recorded on the ground. Flock Safety has separately described its own US network as exceeding 120,000 cameras, which suggests the community map is broadly in the right range nationally even where it is patchy locally.

How the cameras are distributed

Two patterns are worth knowing before you read the table.

Coverage is very uneven, and partly that is mapping effort. The dataset is densest where the volunteer community has been most active. A low number for a state can mean few cameras, few mappers, or both. It is a floor, never a ceiling.

About 27,000 US readers sit outside any city or town boundary. They are on county roads, interstate ramps and rural junctions between municipalities. That is why state totals are meaningfully larger than the sum of their town pages, and why a "back roads" route is not the camera-free option people assume.

Every state, ranked

StatePlate readersFlock SafetyOutside towns
California21,17116,9321,301
Texas17,34215,8603,388
Georgia10,1259,2603,759
Florida9,6357,3112,480
Illinois8,0675,8021,061
Ohio6,9246,2771,517
New York4,6522,110826
North Carolina3,8523,3851,036
Pennsylvania3,8251,3971,571
Indiana3,7763,406916
Michigan3,7153,0571,105
Tennessee3,6413,169615
Virginia3,5433,228697
Missouri3,4092,493401
Alabama2,9162,501498
Colorado2,7382,313314
Arizona2,6982,237182
New Jersey2,3471,201926
Washington2,3081,985270
Louisiana2,1801,712618
South Carolina2,1401,958768
Wisconsin2,1131,861484
Kansas2,0811,322396
Kentucky1,8531,806311
Minnesota1,6491,421128
Oklahoma1,5061,231144
Massachusetts1,2219760
Mississippi1,153985259
Arkansas1,082961128
Utah1,07181679
New Mexico1,038712137
Connecticut1,0106460
Maryland99974484
Nevada97973957
Iowa87680393
Nebraska643417256
Oregon53835784
Delaware501400233
Idaho46834664
North Dakota45712537
Rhode Island3242950
West Virginia24119669
South Dakota18015529
District of Columbia105910
Montana87728
Wyoming72668
New Hampshire68160
Maine66460
Vermont30180

Counts include plate readers from all vendors, not only Flock Safety. "Outside towns" counts readers that fall outside any incorporated place or New England town boundary. Data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).

Down to your town

We publish a page for over a thousand US cities and towns with at least eight documented readers — the camera count, the brand split, the operators, and a map of the exact positions with the direction each one faces.

Start from coverage by state and drill down, or open the full map and go straight to your street.

Towns with fewer than eight documented readers do not get their own page — a page with two pins is not worth reading — but they are all listed in the table on their state's page, and every camera appears on the map regardless.

The number that actually matters is yours

National totals are abstract. Arm alerts for a week and History will tell you how many readers you personally passed, and how many were pointed at you.

Know before you pass one.

Flock Camera draws a view cone on every camera with a recorded bearing and warns you before you pass one. Free, with no account.

Download on the App Store
QR code that opens Flock Camera on the App StoreScan with your iPhone
The app warning of plate readers on the road ahead

Last reviewed 2026-08-15. Camera data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL). Flock Camera is an independent project and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Flock Safety, Inc.