Do you hold a passport? Roughly 42% of Americans currently do.

[Taki]

And what about other countries?

Concerning the Canadians:

The share of the U.S. population with a passport stood at 27 percent in 2007 and that has now increased to 42 percent. As impressive as recent growth has been, the share of passport holders still lags far behind other developed countries. In Canada, 66 percent of people had a passport in 2016

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Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/niallm...lly-in-recent-years-infographic/#3c0ed60d3c16

Concerning the British:

In 2011 - when the last UK census took place - 76% of people in England and Wales held a UK passport. Only 17% had no passport at all.

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Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-42586638

When you break passport ownership down by individual state, things become interesting. Note that the study below is from 2011:

New Jersey boasts the highest percentage of passport holders (68%); Delaware (67%), Alaska (65%), Massachusetts (63%), New York (62%), and California (60%) are close behind.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, less than one in five residents of Mississippi are passport holders, and just one in four residents of West Virginia, Kentucky, Alabama, and Arkansas.

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People from wealthier states are more likely to hold passports:

There is a considerable correlation between passports and both median income (.81) and per capita economic output (.70). No matter how you slice it, wealthier states have more passport holders.

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Source: https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2011/03/americas-great-passport-divide/72399/

The results suggest that there is a political divide between Americans who hold passports and those who do not:

What about politics? How does passport holding line up against America's Red state-Blue state divide? Pretty darn well, actually. There is a considerable positive correlation between passports and Obama voters (.59) and a significant negative one (-.61) for McCain voters. It appears that more liberally-oriented states are more globally oriented as well, or at least their citizens like to travel abroad. Again, the correlations hold when we control for income, though they are a bit weaker than the others.

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[Novoitus]

i do not

 

[Deleted member 4367]

Nah I usually keep mine at home.

 

[Viewt]

I do! I wish I got the chance to use it more, though.

 

[Mediking]

Noooo.... but I wanna travel someday

 

[Deleted member 4247]

That's very low. Here in Sweden it's pretty much a given, it's just something you have.

 

[Golden]

I have two, Irish and British.

 

[Captain Tuttle]

I do, as does my wife and our 12 and 13 year olds

 

[Youngfossil]

Damn right I do.

 

[kennyamr]

Yup.

 

[Astronut325]

Yes. In Cali. Had one pretty much my whole life. Family in India.

 

[BocoDragon]

Really large country with lots of places to travel internally. I'm sure smaller countries tend to have more passports. How many Chinese have passports?

 

[bsigg]

Yep, I've had to replace it twice though due to my dog ripping it apart because I was an idiot and left it out on a desk.

 

[Finale Fireworker]

No, but I will have to get one. My SO and I are talking about going to Scotland in the next five years. Wanting to go is a good motivator to get one.

 

[Raw64life]

I do, but I didn't until I was 28.

 

[House_Of_Lightning]

Have to. I fly between US, Canada, and Shanghai fairly often.

 

[Chivalry]

Yes (not an american)

 

[808s & Villainy]

What about politics? How does passport holding line up against America's Red state-Blue state divide? Pretty darn well, actually. There is a considerable positive correlation between passports and Obama voters (.59) and a significant negative one (-.61) for McCain voters. It appears that more liberally-oriented states are more globally oriented as well, or at least their citizens like to travel abroad. Again, the correlations hold when we control for income, though they are a bit weaker than the others.

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People in Red states are afraid of mythical non-white boogeyman ready to get them addicted to drugs and attack them. It's no wonder they don't even entertain the idea of walking into the lion's den aka traveling abroad.

To answer the question, yes. I feel like the vast majority first generation Americans in particular (whose parents are immigrants), who I am, have passports if only to visit extended family

 

[Mona]

no i dont hold one

 

[Rocketz]

Not yet but I will soon. I've had to real reason to get one.

 

[Zoe]

Considering many people will never travel outside of the US, that's not surprising.

Think I need to renew mine this year...

 

[PIMPBYBLUD]

Yes both me and my 5 year old have a passport.

 

[Deleted member 9241]

Yes. I have them for my children as well.

 

[Rhomega]

No, I have little interest in international travel. My higher priorities are within the US.

 

[Patrick Bateman]

As a German with basically the best passport for international travel I can't remember a time I had no passport.

 

[TAJ]

Never have. I've lived in Spain, but I was too young to need a passport when I left for there. And I went to Mexico a few times before 9/11.

 

[Orbis]

I do. 76% of England and Wales residents do, compared to 74% who hold a driving license (England only stat).

 

[DJChuy]

I don't, but I plan on getting one this year or next year. Also need to lose weight before I take the picture.

 

[Hilbert]

I have one. My wife's expired and I need to get some for my two kids.

I like using it when showing proof I am legal to work in the country. All those other people have to show 2 forms of ID, and I just slap down my single ULTRA IDENTIFICATION

Also, being Latino in America right now, I am damn sure I have easy access to proof of my citizenship

Spoiler

(joking, but in a sad way)

 

[Brinbe]

Yepp

Most cdns do

 

[Deleted member 1086]

nope

 

[Sheepinator]

I can see the correlation of being wealthier leading to more passports. Also, many of the States in that map with higher % of passports are on the coast, and closer to international travel options. For those in the middle, a road trip is cheap.

It is sad though how many people will never experience other countries and cultures. They'd rather see some bullshit corn museum in some bumpkin town than travel abroad and see the Louvre or the British Museum, or experience Paris, or Rome's sights, etc.

 

[Marshall]

The vastness if the US, plus burdensome cost of international travel from here, I'm not surprised by this statistic,

 

[Jeronimo]

Yes, I usually hold mine in my hand when needed, otherwise I don't.

Not really surprised that Mississippi is last, international travel doesn't seem to be a big thing.

 

[shnurgleton]

yes i have passport, my photo is bad and of fat man with bad hair

 

[G_Shumi]

I do but it's getting very close to expiring. I need to renew it very soon.

 

[Enduin]

Yes, but only recently. Previously had it lapse for like a decade plus.

 

[vainya]

I have a passport and have had one for 12 years now. I renewed it 2 years ago. Now if only I can get my husband to get one.

 

[GoldenEye 007]

My first passport just expired this month. But I already have most materials ready to go for a new one. Just need to get my photo and a money order together.

 

[TAJ]

Really large country with lots of places to travel internally. I'm sure smaller countries tend to have more passports. How many Chinese have passports?

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I'm sure it has more to do with low/no paid vacation days.

 

[Deleted member 9971]

I got one just incase of the brexit cuz i had a girlfriend in da uk.

But then it ended oof.

Well ill still use it for travel later i guess *shrugs*

 

[Kitsunebaby]

Just renewed mine last year.

 

[Maximus]

It's crazy how many people don't have one. I understand not everyone has the desire or ability to travel, but it's something good to have if you do suddenly need to travel or even identify yourself.

 

[Taki]

Really large country with lots of places to travel internally. I'm sure smaller countries tend to have more passports. How many Chinese have passports?

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A good country to compare with in order to test this argument is Australia. It's also a big country separated from by oceans. Unfortunately, I can't seem to find statistics regarding the % of Australian citizens who hold passports.

Judging by how ubiquitous Australians and New Zealanders are in European hostels (there's always at least one Aussie in each hostel!) compared to the smaller # American backpackers, I'm willing to bet that they beat Americans in international on a per capita basis.

I think Australians and New Zealanders commonly have a "gap year" that's common for high school graduates in their culture. I kept on bumping into young Aussies and Kiwi adults who, having just graduated high school, were taking a year to travel the world. Backpacking across countries, working as bartenders and volunteering on farms, to help expense their trip.

 

[Ashby]

Further proof that New Jerseyans are the most cultured of Americans

 

[marrec]

Had to get it for work many years ago.

 

[Coinspinner]

I had one until... 2016, I think? I knew it was expiring and didn't renew it.

 

[Yunyo]

I've had one for a long time.
It's actually really useful to have outside of travel too, if you're doing anything government related.

 

[tabris]

That number is really low. Passports are pretty much a given in most western countries.

 

[Relix]

This just puts into perspective the few things that Americans know outside their country about other places and the different cultures. The information is from movies and tv shows.