Total loss threshold by state, in each state’s own words

When does a damaged car become “salvage” or a “total loss” on paper? Each state answers in its own words. This page shows official quotations from 48 states and, where a state’s sentence describes a sum, does it on the amounts you enter. For Alaska we found no damage definition or percentage on the official pages we could read.

Compare your figures with a state’s quoted rule

The tool shows the sentence the state prints and does the arithmetic that sentence describes on the figures you type. Nothing is sent anywhere and nothing is saved.

StateChoose a stateAlabamaAlaskaArizonaArkansasCaliforniaColoradoConnecticutDelawareFloridaGeorgiaIdahoIllinoisIndianaIowaKansasKentuckyLouisianaMaineMarylandMassachusettsMichiganMinnesotaMississippiMissouriMontanaNebraskaNevadaNew HampshireNew JerseyNew MexicoNew YorkNorth CarolinaNorth DakotaOhioOklahomaOregonPennsylvaniaRhode IslandSouth CarolinaSouth DakotaTexasUtahVermontVirginiaWashingtonWest VirginiaWisconsinWyoming

Value figure, in dollars The amount the quoted rule measures against. Choose a state to see its words.

Repair cost or damage figure, in dollars The amount the quoted rule measures. Choose a state to see its words.

Compare with the quoted rule

What kinds of rule do the states print?

We sorted the sentences we could read into kinds. The sorting is ours; the words are the states’. Every state, by kind of rule.

• A percentage24 states print one, for example is 80 percent or more of the cost to the owner of replacing in Florida and exceeds seventy percent of the fair market value in Iowa.
• Repair cost against value3 states print no percentage and compare the two amounts directly, for example exceeds its fair market value in Utah.
• A formula with salvage valueOne state’s sentence brings the salvage value into the sum: would exceed its actual cash value less its current salvage value in Virginia.
• Wording, no sum to doFor 19 states the sentence we quote gives no sum of cost against value, for example considers it uneconomical to repair the vehicle in Arizona. The tool shows the sentence and computes nothing.

Which state do you need?

Each state has its own page with every sentence we quote, the official links, and what we could not read. Hawaii and Tennessee are left out because we could not read an official source; their pages say so.

• AlabamaPercentage
• AlaskaNo damage definition found
• ArizonaWording, no sum to do
• ArkansasPercentage
• CaliforniaWording, no sum to do
• ColoradoRepair cost against value
• ConnecticutWording, no sum to do
• DelawareWording, no sum to do
• FloridaPercentage
• GeorgiaWording, no sum to do
• IdahoWording, no sum to do
• IllinoisWording, no sum to do
• IndianaWording, no sum to do
• IowaPercentage
• KansasPercentage
• KentuckyPercentage
• LouisianaPercentage
• MaineWording, no sum to do
• MarylandPercentage
• MassachusettsWording, no sum to do
• MichiganPercentage
• MinnesotaPercentage
• MississippiWording, no sum to do
• MissouriPercentage
• MontanaWording, no sum to do
• NebraskaPercentage
• NevadaPercentage
• New HampshireWording, no sum to do
• New JerseyRepair cost against value
• New MexicoWording, no sum to do
• New YorkPercentage
• North CarolinaPercentage
• North DakotaPercentage
• OhioWording, no sum to do
• OklahomaPercentage
• OregonPercentage
• PennsylvaniaWording, no sum to do
• Rhode IslandPercentage
• South CarolinaPercentage
• South DakotaWording, no sum to do
• TexasPercentage
• UtahRepair cost against value
• VermontWording, no sum to do
• VirginiaFormula with salvage value
• WashingtonWording, no sum to do
• West VirginiaPercentage
• WisconsinPercentage
• WyomingPercentage
• HawaiiNot read
• TennesseeNot read

Prefer one table? Compare every state side by side, with the citation each page prints and the fee sentence we found.

Why does the same wreck come out differently from state to state?

Because the sentences differ in three places: the number, the word in front of it, and what the number is measured against. Oklahoma prints exceeds sixty percent (60%) of its fair market value. Texas’s manual prints exceeds the pre damaged actual cash value of the vehicle (over 100%). Nebraska prints meets or exceeds seventy-five percent of the retail value, where the figure itself counts; Maryland prints exceeds 75% of the fair market value, where it does not. The tool reads that word for you and tells you when your figures land exactly on the number.

What happens after a salvage title?

For 45 of the 48 states we found a sentence about inspecting or examining the repaired vehicle before a rebuilt, reconstructed or “prior salvage” title. Ohio’s code says A fee of fifty dollars shall be assessed by the state highway patrol for each inspection made pursuant to this division (Ohio Revised Code 4505.11, read November 11, 2026). Iowa’s says A salvage theft examination shall be made by a peace officer who has been specially certified and recertified when required by the Iowa law enforcement academy to do salvage theft examinations. (Iowa Code 321.52, read November 11, 2026). Inspection, fee and form sentences for every state.

What can this site tell you, and what can it not?

• It can show you the sentence a state prints, where it is printed, and the date we read it.
• Where a sentence describes a sum, it can do that sum on the amounts you type.
• It cannot say what an insurer will decide. Insurers may total a vehicle below a statutory threshold, and the value and the repair estimate are set by the insurer and the policy, not by this page.
• It cannot stand in for the whole law, and it does not check whether a quoted sentence covers a given vehicle or owner. The quotes say what they cover in their own words.