About 183.2 million valid U.S. passport documents were in circulation at the end of fiscal year 2025, an all-time high.1U.S. Department of State. Reports and Statistics Against a U.S. population of roughly 340 million, that works out to about 54%.2U.S. Census Bureau. U.S. Population Grows at Fastest Pace in More Than Two Decades The true share of U.S. citizens who hold a passport is a little lower than that headline ratio, because the government counts documents rather than people, and some travelers hold more than one. Either way, the country has crossed a threshold that would have been unthinkable a generation ago: in 1990, only about 4% of Americans held a valid passport.
What the 183 Million Figure Actually Counts
The State Department’s tally includes both the standard passport book and the smaller passport card, and it treats each valid document separately. Someone who holds both a book and a card counts twice. A small number of frequent international travelers also carry a second passport book, which is permitted in limited circumstances such as visits to countries that deny entry based on stamps in another passport.3U.S. Department of State. Applying for a Second Passport Book A second book is valid for only four years or less, rather than the standard ten.
Adult passports are valid for 10 years, and passports issued to children under 16 expire after 5 years.4U.S. Department of State. Frequently Asked Questions about Passport Services The Department calculates the “valid passports in circulation” figure by adding newly issued documents and subtracting those that have expired. The prior year’s total, at the end of FY 2024, was 169,915,821.1U.S. Department of State. Reports and Statistics
What Share of Americans Actually Hold One
Adjusting for people who hold both a book and a card, the true share of Americans with at least one valid passport is likely somewhere in the low-to-mid 50% range. Ownership is not evenly spread. Polling consistently shows higher-income and college-educated Americans are far more likely to hold a valid passport than those with lower incomes or less formal education. Residents of border states and major metro areas tend to hold them at higher rates than people in landlocked rural areas.
Those gaps help explain why survey-based estimates of passport ownership often come in lower than the document-based ratio. Self-reported data tends to capture active travelers, while the State Department count includes people who renewed out of habit and haven’t used their passport in years.
How Passport Ownership Grew From 4% to Half the Country
The climb has been steep and steady. By FY 2013, the count had reached 117.4 million documents. By FY 2025 it stood at 183.2 million, growth of more than 55% in just twelve years.1U.S. Department of State. Reports and Statistics Between FY 2021 and FY 2024 alone, the Department of State issued roughly 86 million passport documents, a pace the agency described as “extraordinary.”5United States Department of State. Setting Records in U.S. Passport and Visa Services
The WHTI Effect
The single biggest catalyst was the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative. Congress mandated WHTI in the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004, requiring all travelers, U.S. citizens included, to show a passport or other approved document when entering the country.6U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI) Frequently Asked Questions Phase 1 hit air travel on January 23, 2007. Phase 2 extended the requirement to land and sea crossings from Canada, Mexico, Bermuda, and the Caribbean on June 1, 2009.7U.S. Department of State. Departments of State and Homeland Security Announce WHTI Land and Sea Final Rule
Demand jumped immediately. In FY 2006 the Department issued a then-record 12.1 million passports, and by early 2007 weekly application volumes had already spiked, with 320,000 passports processed in the first week of January 2007 alone.8U.S. Department of State. Passports Required for Air Travel to United States as of January 23 Before WHTI, Americans could cross into Canada or Mexico with nothing more than a verbal declaration of citizenship. The wave of first-time applicants triggered by the new rules permanently reset the baseline.
The Post-Pandemic Surge
Passport issuance collapsed during the COVID-19 travel shutdowns and then rebounded hard. Annual issuance climbed from about 15.5 million documents in FY 2021 to nearly 24.5 million in FY 2024, with passport card issuance growing alongside books.1U.S. Department of State. Reports and Statistics Much of that reflected renewals deferred during the pandemic, together with first-time applications from people who decided after lockdowns that they wanted the option to travel internationally.
Books, Cards, and Why Both Count
The passport book is the standard document, a bound booklet with visa pages, valid for all international travel including flights. The passport card is a wallet-sized plastic card with no visa pages. It works only for land and sea crossings between the U.S. and Canada, Mexico, Bermuda, and the Caribbean. You cannot board an international flight with just a passport card.9U.S. Department of State. U.S. Passports and REAL ID
Both documents share the same validity period, 10 years for adults and 5 years for children under 16.4U.S. Department of State. Frequently Asked Questions about Passport Services The card is much cheaper than the book, which makes it popular among people who live near the Canadian or Mexican border and cross regularly but don’t fly internationally. Both are REAL ID compliant.9U.S. Department of State. U.S. Passports and REAL ID
Why the Passport Now Doubles as Domestic ID
Since May 7, 2025, the TSA no longer accepts state driver’s licenses and IDs that are not REAL ID compliant at airport security checkpoints. A valid U.S. passport, book or card, is an accepted alternative.10Transportation Security Administration. Acceptable Identification at the TSA Checkpoint That gives Americans a reason to obtain or keep a passport even if they have no plans to leave the country, which in turn keeps the circulation figure climbing. For someone whose state-issued ID isn’t REAL ID compliant, a passport card is often the cheapest way to solve the problem.
Starting February 1, 2026, travelers who arrive at a TSA checkpoint without any acceptable ID can pay a $45 fee to use TSA’s ConfirmID identity verification service.10Transportation Security Administration. Acceptable Identification at the TSA Checkpoint That fee applies per trip, which sharpens the case for a passport card for anyone who flies more than occasionally.
Where the Numbers Are Headed
The direction has been the same for three decades: up. WHTI turned the passport into a requirement for millions who never needed one before, the post-pandemic rebound pulled another surge of applications through the system, and REAL ID has given even non-travelers a reason to hold one. When ownership sat at 4% in 1990, a passport was a document for a particular kind of American. At more than half the population in 2025, it isn’t anymore.