Wisconsin drivers have 2nd-highest percent of speeding tickets in the country, study finds

If you feel like speeding tickets are doled out especially often in Wisconsin, you're not imagining it.

Wisconsin has the second-highest percentage of drivers with speeding tickets in the country, according to an analysis by insurance agency Insurify .

The percentage of drivers with speeding tickets in Wisconsin is nearly twice the national average, with the number of tickets issued statewide jumping significantly in the past few years. Insurify compiled the ranking based on nearly 100 million car insurance quotes from several companies.

Here's how many speeding tickets Wisconsin drivers have racked up and how other states fared in the ranking.

Why are so many speeding tickets issued in Wisconsin?

7.8% of Wisconsin drivers had a speeding ticket on record for 2024, tying with Ohio for second place nationwide, according to Insurify.

Unlike Ohio, Wisconsin does not have a "ticket quota," or a minimum number of traffic citations that police officers must issue over a certain period of time. Still, the number of speeding tickets issued in Wisconsin has ticked up in recent years.

In 2022, the Wisconsin State Patrol issued 1,100 speeding tickets for drivers going above 100 miles per hour — nearly double the 583 tickets issued for the same offense in 2019. In that same period, traffic fatalities increased from 550 to 603 annually.

In Milwaukee, however, the number of speeding citations has dropped since 2022, according to the Milwaukee Police Department . In 2023, city police issued about 6,500 speeding tickets, down from about 7,400 in 2022.

So far this year, the city has issued 2,818 speeding tickets, accounting for about half of all traffic citations. In the past three years, the overwhelming majority of speeding tickets have been issued to people driving 20 to 25 miles per hour over the speed limit, according to MPD. Data on the number of speeding tickets issued by the Milwaukee Country Sheriff's Office was not immediately publicly available.

In January, the city announced a series of traffic-calming measures , aiming to both deter reckless driving and build a bike lane network citywide.

More: Got popped for speeding in Wisconsin? Here's how you can fight the ticket

What are the other states with the most speeding tickets?

Midwestern states dominated the top 10 in Insurify's ranking, with North Dakota accounted for the highest percentage at 8.7%.

Here are the 10 states with the most speeding tickets, according to Insurify:

1. North Dakota, 8.7%
2. Wisconsin, 7.8%
3. Ohio, 7.8%
4. Iowa, 7.1%
5. Idaho, 7.1%
6. Wyoming, 6.8%
7. South Dakota, 6.7%
8. Virginia, 6.6%
9. Utah, 6.5%
10. Oregon, 6.4%

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin drivers have 2nd-highest percent of speeding tickets in the country, study finds