Electric vehicle charging access varies widely across the United States, with Los Angeles leading the nation in total chargers while the San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose area ranks first when population is considered. A new iSeeCars study also projects that U.S. EV charger growth will slow to 15.5% in 2026, its lowest annual rate since 2011, offering prospective EV buyers a closer look at where public charging infrastructure is most accessible.
U.S. EV Charger Growth Is Expected to Slow in 2026
Automakers, including Volkswagen, have recently released their third-quarter 2026 U.S. sales reports, with the figures reflecting declining demand for electric vehicles. The downward trend has continued since the expiration of the $7,500 federal EV tax credit in September 2025, as more American buyers turn to hybrids instead.
Meanwhile, iSeeCars projects that the annual growth rate of EV charging infrastructure will fall to 15.5% in 2026. That would mark the slowest expansion since 2011, following more than a decade in which annual growth mostly exceeded 30%.
The total number of EV chargers nationwide is projected to rise from 259,555 in 2025 to 299,798 in 2026. The outlook comes as the Trump administration has rolled back EV-friendly policies, adding to uncertainty surrounding the U.S. electric vehicle market.
The study provides a comparison of metropolitan areas based on their public charging access. For potential buyers and current EV owners, the rankings offer a way to assess how accessible charging infrastructure is in their area and whether owning an electric vehicle would be practical.
U.S. Metro Areas With the Most EV Chargers
Los Angeles, California, leads the rankings with 36,318 EV chargers, making it the metropolitan area with the largest charging network in the study.
iSeeCars Executive Analyst Karl Brauer partly attributes California’s strong position to its “EV-friendly weather and tech-oriented communities.”
The San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose metropolitan area ranks second with 22,430 chargers, followed by New York with 19,036. Boston-Manchester, spanning Massachusetts and New Hampshire, places fourth with 12,017 chargers, while Denver, Colorado, rounds out the top five with 8,300.
Metro Areas With the Fewest EV Chargers
Louisville, Kentucky, has the smallest charging network among the metropolitan areas listed, with just 621 EV chargers. Greensboro-Winston-Salem, North Carolina, ranks next with 700.
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, has 852 chargers, followed by Birmingham, Alabama, with 857 and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, with 867.
These rankings reflect total charger counts rather than the number of residents relying on each charger, an important distinction when comparing charging access across metropolitan areas of different sizes.
EV Charger Access Looks Different When Population Is Included
When the number of residents per charger is factored in, the rankings change. San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose takes the top position, with 334 residents per charger, followed by San Diego, California, at 432.
Los Angeles, despite having the highest total number of chargers, ranks third on this measure, with 500 residents per charger. Denver follows at 569, while Boston-Manchester records 571 residents per charger.
The population-adjusted figures provide another way to compare charging infrastructure, showing how the number of available chargers relates to the number of people in each metropolitan area.
Louisville also ranks last in this category, with 2,904 residents per charger. Indianapolis, Indiana, follows with 2,758, while Milwaukee records 2,716.
Greensboro-Winston-Salem has 2,669 residents per charger, narrowly ahead of San Antonio, Texas, at 2,666.
EV Charging Access Is Still Projected to Improve
Despite the expected slowdown in charger growth, iSeeCars projects that the nationwide ratio of residents per charger will improve by 13.2% in 2026. The figure is expected to fall from 1,317 residents per charger in 2025 to 1,143 in 2026.
The projection indicates that charging infrastructure is still expected to become more plentiful relative to the U.S. population, even as the pace of network expansion declines.
To produce the estimates, the study analyzed Level 2 and Level 3/DC fast-charger counts using data from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Alternative Fuels Data Center.
California Still Offers EV Purchase Incentives
While the federal EV tax credit expired in September 2025, some states continue to offer incentives for electric vehicle buyers.
California’s MyFirstEV program provides a $3,500 rebate to eligible first-time buyers of new zero-emission vehicles through participating automakers. Tesla was among the participating companies, but its allocated funds were exhausted in just five days.
The iSeeCars rankings highlight substantial differences in charging access across U.S. metropolitan areas. Although the nationwide charging network is projected to keep expanding in 2026, the pace of growth is expected to slow, making local charger availability an important consideration for EV buyers.
