How Much Does a Custom License Plate Cost in PA?

A personalized standard-issue license plate in Pennsylvania costs $103 as a one-time fee, paid on top of the regular $48 annual vehicle registration. Other custom plate categories cost less to issue: military plates run $12 to $43, special organization plates are $34, and Persons with Disability plates are $14. Adding a personalized character combination to any specialty plate carries its own separate fee.¹

Every figure below is a one-time charge at issuance. Your annual registration ($48 per year, or $96 for the two-year cycle) is separate and continues for as long as you own the vehicle.²

Personalized Standard Plate

$103. That’s the full PennDOT fee to put your chosen letter-and-number combination on a standard-issue passenger or motorcycle plate. Nothing else is bundled in, and nothing else is required beyond your normal registration.¹

Special Organization Plates

The PennDOT issuance fee for a special organization plate (universities, charities, clubs, affiliated groups) is $34. If you want to personalize the combination on that plate, add $136, for a total of $170 before registration.¹

One caveat on organization plates: the sponsoring group often charges its own fee for the design and a contribution to the organization, which is separate from PennDOT’s $34. Contact the group directly for that number.

Military Plates

Military plate pricing depends on which one you choose:

Honoring Our Veterans plate: $43, with $15 directed to the Veterans’ Trust Fund.
Branch-specific plates (Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, Merchant Marines): $28 each.
Medal plates (Bronze Star, Silver Star, Distinguished Service Cross, and similar): $12.
Purple Heart and POW plates: $14.

Personalizing any military plate adds $136 on top of the issuance fee above.²

Disability Plates

A Persons with Disability plate is $14 to issue. Personalization on a disability plate costs $68 (not $136), bringing the total to $82 before registration. The same $68 personalization rate applies to Disabled Veteran, Severely Disabled Veteran, and Ex-Prisoner of War plates.²

What Personalization Costs on Top of a Specialty Plate

The pattern above is easier to remember once you see it in one place. The base issuance fee gets you the plate. Adding your own combination adds a separate personalization fee:

Standard plate personalization: $103 (all-in).
Specialty plate personalization (organization, military): +$136 over the issuance fee.
Disability-category plate personalization: +$68 over the issuance fee.

Ongoing and Later Costs

The custom fee is one-time, but a few other charges can come up during the life of the plate.

Annual registration. $48 per year, or $96 for two years. If registration lapses, the plate stops being valid no matter what you paid for personalization.²

Transferring the plate to another vehicle you own. $11.² In Pennsylvania, plates stay with the owner rather than the vehicle, so you take them off before selling a car.

Replacing a damaged personalized plate. Free, if you’re keeping the same configuration. Submit Form MV-44 with a photo of the damaged plate. Non-personalized specialty plates carry a replacement fee listed on the MV-70S schedule.³

Lost or stolen personalized plate. PennDOT will not reissue the same combination. You submit a new MV-44 and pick a different one, which means the money you spent on the original combination doesn’t carry over.³

How to Pay

Mailed applications require a check or money order made payable to the “Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.” In person at PennDOT’s Riverfront Office Center in Harrisburg, you can also pay with a card or cash. Driver License Centers accept cards, checks, and money orders, but not cash.¹

1
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Payments and Fees
2
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Bureau of Motor Vehicles Schedule of Fees MV-70S
3
PA.gov. Application for Duplicate Registration Card or Replacement of Lost, Stolen or Defaced Registration Plate