Alabama County Codes on License Plates: All 67 Counties

Alabama county numbers sit in the first one or two digits of every standard plate, and they answer a question most drivers never think to ask. Read the prefix and you know where the vehicle was registered, long before you reach the rest of the serial. Jefferson holds 1, Mobile holds 2, Montgomery holds 3, and the remaining sixty-four counties run alphabetically from Autauga at 4 to Winston at 67.

Alabama county numbers have been reassigned only once since the scheme began in 1942. The legislature wrote the order into law in 1979 and has not revisited it, which is why Madison still carries 47 with a population that now ranks second in the state. The list below covers all sixty-seven counties, with the code, the county seat and the pattern behind the numbering.

How the County Code Works

A standard passenger plate in Alabama carries up to seven characters. The Alabama license plate home page sets out the rules that apply across the state. The opening one or two digits are the county indicator, printed at the same height as the rest of the serial. Everything after that is a sequence number issued within the county. Codes 1 to 9 print as a single digit, so the serial looks shorter at the front. Codes 10 to 67 print as two digits, which is why some plates open with a pair. Code 70 marks a replacement plate, a holdover from 1948. Code 80 marks a supplemental plate used in counties that ran out of standard stock. No code at all means you are looking at a specialty or personalized series. The statute requires those county characters to be numeric and at least two and three-quarter inches tall. That height requirement is why the prefix reads clearly from a distance even when the rest of the plate is dirty or faded.

The Full List of Alabama County Codes

Every county in the state appears below in numeric order. Use it to decode a plate you have seen, or to confirm the code printed on your own registration.

Seat names follow the county courthouse location. Several counties run extra offices in larger towns.

Why Jefferson, Mobile and Montgomery Hold 1, 2 and 3

The three lowest codes went to the three most populous counties at the time the system was drawn up. Jefferson, Mobile and Montgomery filled those slots in the 1940s, and the statute froze the order in 1979 without a review clause. Population moved, the codes did not. Madison passed Montgomery decades ago and still carries 47. Shelby grew into one of the wealthiest counties in the state and stays at 58. Any attempt to renumber would force every driver in those counties to replace a plate, a registration record and a stack of paperwork, so the state leaves the order alone.

The St. Clair Quirk

Shelby is 58 and St. The tag number page decodes the prefix. Clair is 59, which reads out of alphabetical order at first short. The list sorted St. Clair under the abbreviation “St.” rather than the spelled-out “Saint”, and “St” falls after “Sh” and before “Su”. Every other county follows plain A-to-Z from Autauga to Winston. Spotting the exception is an easy way to tell a genuine code list from a copied one, since most recycled tables miss it.

Reading a Plate Without a Table

Two habits decode almost any Alabama plate on sight. Start at the left edge. One digit means a county below 10; two digits mean a county from 10 to 67. Count the total characters. A seven-character serial with no letters near the front points to a standard county-coded issue. Look for a category word. Plates for trucks, taxis and buses print the class along the bottom, a change that arrived in October 2021. Check the design family. The 2022 beach base is the current standard; older bases follow the rules of their own year. A plate that opens with 47 and ends in a mix of letters and digits belongs to a Madison County registration. A plate that opens with 1 belongs to Jefferson, regardless of where the car is parked today.

Frequent Misreadings

Four mistakes come up again and again when people read an Alabama plate. Reading the weight code as the county on a truck plate. Assuming a two-digit prefix always means a large county. Treating the first digit of a seven-character serial as a county when the plate is a specialty design. Confusing the renewal sticker month with the plate code. The last one causes the most confusion. A sticker printed with 04 marks an April renewal, not county 4. Stickers sit in a dedicated corner and carry a year as well, which the county code never does. Once you know to look for the year beside the month, the two stop looking alike.

County Codes on Specialty and Personalized Plates

Specialty and personalized designs do not always keep the county prefix. A college plate or a vanity message can follow a different serial pattern, which means the opening characters may say nothing about geography. On those plates, look at the design notes rather than the digits. The issuing county still appears on your registration receipt, and the county office that processed the order can confirm it. The plate face simply does not carry the code in every case.

What the Code Does Not Tell You

The prefix is a registration detail, not a tracking device. It names the county that issued the plate at the time of registration, and nothing more. It does not give the owner’s name, address or phone number. It does not update when the owner moves to another county. It does not identify the driver of the vehicle at any given moment. It does not reveal whether insurance is active or the registration is current. Federal law blocks release of personal details from vehicle records except for permitted uses such as a court case, an insurance claim or a law enforcement request. County codes sit on the public side of that line; owner details do not.

How the Code Appears on Different Plate Classes

Alabama prints the county prefix on more than the passenger plate. Trucks, buses, taxis, fleet and government classes all carry a county indicator, and the placement shifts with the design. Passenger plates, the prefix leads the serial at full height. Truck plates, the prefix shares space with a weight code printed smaller beneath the class letter. Bus and taxi plates, the class word runs along the bottom, and the prefix stays in the serial. Fleet plates, the prefix follows the fleet number rather than leading it. Dealer and manufacturer plates is a separate numbering block replaces the county prefix. Government plates, county issues close with CO, municipal issues with MU. The prefix is not always the first character you see. On a truck plate, a small number under the class letter is the weight code, and mistaking it for the county is a recurring error. Start from the largest digits in the serial and work outward.

Codes 70 and 80: The Two Exceptions

Two codes sit outside the 1-to-67 run, and both come from shortages rather than geography. The plate lookup page sets out what stays private. Code 70, added in 1948 for replacement plates issued when a plate was lost or damaged. Code 80, added in 1966 for supplemental plates in counties that had exhausted their standard stock. Neither code names a county, so a plate opening with 70 or 80 cannot be placed on the map. Modern replacement plates usually carry the original county prefix instead, which means the old codes turn up mainly on collector plates and in museum collections. Seeing 70 or 80 on a current plate is unusual, and on a plate from the 1950s or 1960s it is a normal part of the numbering history.

How the Code Survives a Redesign

Alabama has changed the artwork on its passenger plate several times, and the county prefix survived every change. 2002, the Stars Fell On base kept the prefix in the same position. 2009, the Sweet Home Alabama beach design kept it at the left edge. 2022, the current sunrise base kept it, printed at the same height as the serial. October 2021, stacked characters disappeared, and the prefix stayed untouched. Designers treat the prefix as fixed and build the artwork around it. That is why a plate from 1995 and one from 2025 both open with the same number for the same county, and why a redesign never forces the state to renumber its vehicles.

Count

The code on the plate matches the county printed on your registration receipt. When you move, the receipt changes before the plate does. Moving within a county, the address changes and the code stays. Moving to another county, the code changes at the next renewal or at a new registration. Buying from a dealer, the dealer files with the county where you live, not where the lot sits. Buying from a private seller, your county office handles the transfer, and the code follows your residence. If the code on a new plate does not match the county on the receipt, ask the office to check the record. A mismatch is easy to correct at the counter and awkward to cover at a traffic stop.

and awkward to cover at a traffic stop.

Using the Code When You Buy a Used Car

A county prefix tells you where a used vehicle was registered, and that detail is worth a second look before money changes hands. A plate from a coastal county on a car sold far inland is ordinary; people move. A prefix that changes between the title and the plate deserves a question. A plate from a county with a known flood history is a prompt to check the undercarriage and the title brand. A prefix that does not match the county on the paperwork points to a recent move or an unfinished transfer. None of that proves anything on its own. It is a reason to ask, not a verdict. The title, the registration receipt and a vehicle history report carry far more weight than two digits on a plate.

County Codes Beyond the Plate

The same two-digit codes appear on paperwork that never goes near a bumper. Sales and use tax filings use the county code to route returns to the right office. Vehicle registration records key the county to the code, which is how a clerk finds your file. County revenue receipts often print the code beside the account number. Property tax notices in several counties carry it in the header block. That overlap covers why the number looks familiar to anyone who runs a small business in Alabama. A plate prefix and a tax return field are the same identifier used for two different purposes, and both trace back to the same 1942 list.

Frequently Asked Questions

Drivers ask the same handful of questions about Alabama plate numbers. These answers cover the ones that come up most often.