Few experiences unite Americans quite like pain you know is coming. Sitting in a dentist’s chair. Waiting on hold with customer service. Standing in line at the DMV. These are all typically unavoidable parts of adult life, and while these inconveniences are sometimes over quickly, other times they can drag on and on.

When you think of the long list of must-do tasks you’d rather avoid, for millions of Americans the DMV stands out as one of the most frustrating experiences. Even a simple task like renewing a license can require you to take time off from work as wait times remain unpredictable. As a result, we end up playing games like sudoku as we wait. We at Sudoku Bliss, like most of the country, know this feeling all too well so we set out to learn where the best and worst DMVs are in the country.

To do this, we collected thousands of Google reviews for 160 DMVs in 30 major U.S. cities. We then analyzed the text for mentions of keywords related to long waits, poor customer service, and overcrowding to calculate a frequency of negative reviews for each location. We used this percentage to then rank DMVs from best to worst. Read on to learn more about our findings.

Key Takeaways

• Charlotte, NC, Memphis, TN, and Nashville, TN, are home to the top three worst DMVs in the U.S.
• Baltimore, MD, San Diego, CA, and Philadelphia, PA, are home to the best DMVs in the U.S.
• Tennessee is home to two of the top-five worst DMVs in the U.S.
• Charlotte, NC, Portland, OR, and Nashville, TN, rank as the top three cities with the worst DVMS in the U.S.
• Baltimore, MD, Phoenix, AZ, and San Francisco, CA, rank as the top three cities with the best DMVs in the U.S.
• California is home to three of the top 10 best DMVs in the U.S.

Where Americans Have the Worst DMV Experiences

Last year, our team analyzed DMV reviews to learn which locations were the worst and found several locations in Charlotte, NC, near the top of the list. While we’d like to report experiences in the city have gotten better, we unfortunately find Charlotte at the top of our list once again.

Topping the list for the worst DMV experiences in back-to-back years is the North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles office on W Arrowood Road in Charlotte, NC. While the DMV remains at the top of the list, we did find a slight decrease in negative mentions in reviews dropping from 30.33% to 29.35% this past year.

This trend continues for the second and third worst DMVs as well. In second place is the Shelby County Clerk's Office in Memphis, TN, but this time with a higher frequency of negative reviews compared to the previous report, going from 26.81% to 28.47% in 2025. Across the state, the Nashville/Hart Lane Driver Services Center in Nashville, TN, claims third place once again jumping up from 26.26% to 27.11%.

Coming in fourth place for the worst DMVs is the North Portland DMV in Portland, OR, which ranked sixth overall in the original report. This past year, 25.48% of reviews left on Google were negative compared to the 23.80% in 2024. Rounding out the top five is another Charlotte, NC, location as NCDMV Driver License Office claims fifth place with a frequency of 24.53%.

While many DMVs saw long lines and frustrated visitors in 2025, several locations across the country received little negative reviews. Leading the way as one of the best DMVs in 2025 is Downtown Tag & Title in Baltimore, MD. Located on S Hanover Street, only 0.52% of reviews left were negative.

Following closely behind with a frequency of 0.82% is the DMV Express Auto Registration in San Diego, CA, claiming second place. Coming in third is the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation on Roosevelt Boulevard in Philadelphia, PA (0.83%).

Up next is a tie for fourth place as both The Texas Auto Title Company in Houston, TX, and Finest City Registration in San Diego, CA, had a frequency of 1.06%. Overall, California is home to the three of the top 10 best DMVs in the U.S.

Where DMVs Were Best and Worst in 2025

To gain a better understanding of DMV experiences across the country, we calculated the average frequency of negative reviews across all locations within a city and adjusted the scores on a scale of 0 to 100. Leading the way for the cities with the worst DMVs is Charlotte, NC, with a bad DMV score of 88.35 out of 100. Overall, the Queen City has five locations on the worst DMV ranking.

While Charlotte, NC, ranks for the worst DMVs, the North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles has released a strategic plan to reduce the average wait time from 90 minutes to 15 minutes. In addition to long wait times, the plan outlines updates to outdated technology and inefficient processes in an effort to make visits to North Carolina DMVs more seamless.

Up next is Portland, OR, with a score of 80.77 as three locations claim spots in the top 25 worst DMVs. This is followed by two Tennessee cities as Nashville (75.52) and Memphis (71.43) claim third and fourth place for the worst DMVs.

In 2025, DMVs saw an influx in visitors due to the Real ID deadline finally coming to pass on May 7th after being delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This led to many Americans visiting their local offices to get their new identification ahead of a vacation as new travelers are now required to present a Real ID to board domestic commercial flights.

Enjoy Sudoku While Waiting in Line

Whether you’re renewing your registration or updating your license, the DMV can feel like a chore. While we at Sudoku Bliss can’t make the lines move any faster, we can help you kill the time you spend waiting around.

With free games of Sudoku online, you can play anywhere, anytime. So whether you are a wizard of number puzzles ready to take on the most difficult expert and evil levels or are a beginner seeking an easy Sudoku puzzle, we have you covered.

Methodology

In this study, we set out to learn where the worst DMVs are in the U.S. based on complaints. To do this, we analyzed more than 140,000 reviews from 147 DMVs across 30 major U.S. cities. We then built a list of 10 keywords related to long waits and bad service and counted the number of mentions in reviews with three or fewer stars.

Next, we divided the number of bad reviews with a keyword mentioned by the total number of reviews with three or fewer stars. We then used this percentage to rank locations from highest to lowest frequency of negative reviews.

Finally, we calculated the overall frequency of negative reviews across all DMVs by city and adjusted the average on a scale of 0 to 100, with 100 representing the most complaints.