How many supervised driving hours do you need?
Most states want fifty hours logged before you take a road test, and a chunk of it after dark, but the detail varies more than people expect.
Every row below carries the agency it came from and the date it was checked. States are missing from this table when we could not confirm the answer from an official source, which we would rather admit than fill in.
| State | Required practice | Detail | Source | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | 50 hours | Behind the wheel practice verified by a parent, guardian or certified instructor before Stage II | Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA) | 2026-08-28 |
| Arizona | 30 hours, 10 at night | Or 20 hours with 6 at night if a traffic survival or defensive driving course is completed | Arizona Department of Transportation MVD | 2026-08-28 |
| California | 50 hours, 10 at night | Supervised by a licensed adult 25 or older, plus 6 hours with a certified driving school | California DMV | 2026-08-28 |
| Colorado | 50 hours, 10 at night | Plus 6 hours with an approved driving school, waived at 16 and a half | Colorado DMV | 2026-08-28 |
| Connecticut | 40 hours | Total practice driving hours required across all training paths; DMV page does not break out a night-hour minimum | Connecticut DMV | 2026-08-28 |
| Delaware | 50 hours, 10 at night | Must be logged and certified by a parent or guardian within the first six months | Delaware DMV | 2026-08-28 |
| District of Columbia | 40 hours, or 10 hours with certified driver education | Two certification paths depending on whether an approved driver's ed course was completed | DC DMV | 2026-08-28 |
| Florida | 50 hours, 10 at night | Logged and certified by a supervising licensed adult | Florida DHSMV | 2026-08-28 |
| Georgia | 40 hours, 6 at night | Required under Joshua's Law before the Class D road test | Georgia Department of Driver Services | 2026-08-28 |
| Idaho | 50 hours, 10 at night | A parent or guardian must certify these hours before a license can be issued. | Idaho Transportation Department, GDL Program fact sheet | 2026-08-27 |
| Indiana | 50 hours | Logged on the BMV's driving log form; the page does not break out a night-time portion. | Indiana BMV, Learner's Permit overview | 2026-08-27 |
| Kansas | 50 hours, 10 at night | 15 year olds can start with 25 hours, then log the rest, including 10 at night, before turning 16. | Kansas Department of Revenue, Kansas Driving Handbook | 2026-08-27 |
| Kentucky | 60 hours, 10 at night | Logged before applying for the intermediate license. | Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, DRIVE learner's permit page | 2026-08-27 |
| Louisiana | 50 hours, 15 at night | Must be logged before applying for the Intermediate License | Louisiana Office of Motor Vehicles | 2026-08-28 |
| Maine | 70 hours, 10 at night | Required for permit holders under 21 | Maine Bureau of Motor Vehicles | 2026-08-28 |
| Maryland | 60 hours, 10 at night | Logged with a supervising driver before the provisional license stage | Maryland Driver's Manual (DL-002) | 2026-08-28 |
| Massachusetts | 40 hours, or 30 with a driving skills program | On top of the hours already done during driver's education | Massachusetts RMV, Junior Operator License requirements | 2026-08-28 |
| Michigan | 50 hours, 10 at night | Logged before a driver can apply for Level 2 | Michigan Secretary of State | 2026-08-28 |
| Minnesota | 50 hours, 15 at night | Drops to 40 hours if a parent also completes the orientation class | Minnesota Class D Driver's Manual | 2026-08-28 |
| Missouri | 40 hours, 10 at night | Certified by a parent or guardian while driving under the instruction permit | Missouri Revised Statutes | 2026-08-28 |
| Montana | 50 hours, 10 at night | Rises to 75 hours, 15 at night, under an alternative traffic education course | Montana Code Annotated | 2026-08-28 |
| Nebraska | 50 hours, 10 at night | Certified by a parent, guardian, or licensed adult at least 21 years old | Nebraska Department of Motor Vehicles | 2026-08-28 |
| Nevada | 50 hours, 10 at night | Rises to 100 hours if no driver education course sits within 30 miles of home | Nevada DMV | 2026-08-28 |
| New Hampshire | 40 hours, 10 at night | Logged after driver education, on top of its own 10 hours driving and 6 hours observing | NH Division of Motor Vehicles | 2026-08-28 |
| New Jersey | 50 hours, 10 at night | Certified on MVC form BA-CSD; requirement took effect February 2025 | New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission | 2026-08-28 |
| New Mexico | 50 hours, 10 at night | Logged on the GDL driving log and signed by a parent or guardian | New Mexico Motor Vehicle Division | 2026-08-28 |
| New York | 50 hours, 15 after sunset | Required for Class DJ or MJ permit holders and certified on form MV-262 | New York State DMV | 2026-08-28 |
| North Carolina | 60 hours, 10 at night | Logged supervised driving required before the Level 2 road test | NC Division of Motor Vehicles | 2026-08-28 |
| North Dakota | 50 hours, 10 at night | Applies to permit holders under 16 working toward a restricted license | North Dakota DOT | 2026-08-28 |
| Ohio | 50 hours, 10 at night | Required on top of driver education before the probationary license | Ohio BMV | 2026-08-28 |
| Oklahoma | 50 hours, 10 at night | Behind the wheel training from a licensed driver 21 or older before the intermediate license | Service Oklahoma | 2026-08-28 |
| Oregon | 100 hours, or 50 with an approved driver ed course | Supervised practice required before the provisional license | Oregon DMV | 2026-08-28 |
| Pennsylvania | 65 hours, 10 at night and 5 in bad weather | Certified by a parent or guardian on Form DL-180C | PennDOT, Young Driver Law fact sheet | 2026-08-28 |
| Rhode Island | 50 hours, 10 at night | Confirmed by a parent or guardian affidavit before the road test | RI Division of Motor Vehicles | 2026-08-28 |
| South Carolina | 40 hours, 10 at night | Required before moving past the beginner's permit | SCDMV | 2026-08-28 |
| South Dakota | 50 hours, 10 at night, 10 in bad weather | Parent or guardian signs an affidavit confirming the hours before the Restricted Permit | South Dakota Department of Public Safety | 2026-08-28 |
| Tennessee | 50 hours, 10 at night | Behind the wheel practice required before the Intermediate Restricted license | Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security | 2026-08-28 |
| Utah | 40 hours, 10 after sunset | Practice driving required before a provisional license | Utah Driver License Division | 2026-08-28 |
| Vermont | 40 hours, 10 at night | Extra practice driving required with a qualified adult before the Junior license | Vermont Department of Motor Vehicles | 2026-08-28 |
| Virginia | 45 hours, 15 after sunset | Required practice driving for an applicant under 18 before licensing | Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles | 2026-08-28 |
| Washington | 40 daylight hours, 10 at night | Supervised by a licensed driver with at least three years of experience | Washington State Department of Licensing | 2026-08-28 |
| West Virginia | 50 hours, 10 at night | Certification form required before advancing to Level 2 | West Virginia DMV | 2026-08-28 |
| Wisconsin | 50 hours, 10 at night | Required before qualifying for the probationary license | Wisconsin DOT | 2026-08-28 |
| Wyoming | 50 hours, 10 at night | Required for the intermediate permit stage | Wyoming Department of Transportation | 2026-08-28 |
Fifty hours is the common answer, and it is not arbitrary
The fifty hour figure spread across states because research on new drivers kept pointing at exposure rather than instruction as the thing that reduces crashes. A learner who has driven in traffic, in rain, at dusk and on a highway has met situations that a classroom cannot manufacture. States wrote a number into law to force that exposure to happen before the licence rather than after it.
The night portion exists for the same reason. Crash risk for new drivers rises sharply after dark, so states carve out a required number of night hours to make sure the first serious night drive is not the first solo one.
Who has to sign, and what counts
Hours are normally certified by a parent or guardian, and in most states a signature on the log is the whole verification process. That places real weight on the honesty of the person signing, and it is worth taking seriously: the hours are not paperwork, they are the actual difference between a nervous new driver and a competent one.
What counts also varies. Some states accept only driving with a supervisor who meets an age and experience requirement. Some let a portion of the total be replaced by professional instruction. Where a state accepts driver education in place of hours, that is usually recorded on your state page rather than here.
Find your state for the full picture, or work out how many questions you can miss.
More state by state tables
How old do you have to be to get a learner permit?
The answer spans nearly two years depending on where you live, and the age on its own does not tell you when you can drive alone.
Can you take the permit test online?
Online testing spread quickly after 2020 and then partly retreated, so the current picture is genuinely mixed and worth checking rather than assuming.
How much does a learner permit cost?
The headline fee is rarely the whole cost, because what it buys you differs: some states charge per attempt, some bundle several into one application.
How many questions is the permit test in each state?
Question counts and pass marks for every confirmed jurisdiction.