Americans love their trucks, and many automakers are competing with one another over America’s obsession with pickup trucks. Ford and Chevy are the most notorious rivals in this regard, but they’re rivals for good reason. Here’s a look at how popular the Ford F-150 and the Chevy Silverado really are in the U.S. 

What the studies say

Insurify recently ran a study that looked at how popular pickup trucks are in America, and its research team had both some surprising and some unsurprising findings. The way that Insurify’s research team ran this study was simple. The team took data from car insurance applications and analyzed that data to determine how popular trucks really are.

That said, while the team looked at over 2.5 million insurance applications, they didn’t have access to all the data on every American. Regardless, unsurprisingly, the three most popular trucks in the U.S. were all American. In fact, Toyota’s Tacoma and Tundra only got sixth and seventh place, respectively. 

In first place was none other than the Ford F-150, second place went to the Chevy Silverado 1500, and third place went to the Ram 1500. While this ranking isn’t particularly surprising, what is shocking is just how wide the margins were. The Ford F-150 blew past the Silverado, and the Silverado blew past the Ram 1500 in terms of popularity. 

How popular is the Chevy Silverado?

The Chevy Silverado has many fans, and it’s partially why it’s such a popular truck along with the Ford F-150. However, it’s also an extremely capable truck as its max towing capacity of 13,400-pounds will show. Furthermore, it’s also far less expensive than the Ram 1500 is. The Ram 1500 starts at $32,000, while the Silverado starts at $28,000. 

That said, while Insurify wrote that the Silverado has a worse safety rating and a worse overall rating than the Ram 1500 has, it’s still a great “combination of strength, dependability, and performance.” As a result of that fact, the Silverado is far more popular than the Ram 1500 is. 

According to Insurify, 62 out of 10,000 cars in America are Ram 1500s. However, 158 out of 10,000 cars in America are Silverados. This means that the Silverado is twice as popular as the Ram 1500 is. While this is an impressive stat, the F-150 is far more popular than that.

How popular is the Ford F-150?

Ford, being one of the first American car companies, still has a deep hold over the pickup truck market. Just to show how popular the Ford brand is, Ford’s midsize truck, the Ranger, is also extremely popular. In fact, Insurify said that the Ranger is the fourth most popular truck in America, and it’s barely behind the Ram 1500 in terms of popularity. About 61 out of 10,000 cars are Rangers, and that’s despite the fact that Ford has recently revived the Ranger. 

The Ford F-150, being the older and more iconic truck, is even more impressive in terms of its ownership figures. Insurify called the F-150 the “quintessential American pickup” due to its even more potent combination of power, dependability, and price. At about $29,000, the F-150 is as affordable as the Silverado is while boasting similar safety and overall scores as its competitors have.

However, unlike its competitors, the Ford F-150 is even more popular than ever, as Insurify said that 250 out of 10,000 cars in America are F-150s. This means that the F-150 is four times more popular than the Ram 1500 is, and it’s about 60 percent more popular than the Silverado is. Insurify also said that the only state that doesn’t love the F-150 seems to be Hawaii. In Hawaii, the Nissan Frontier reigns supreme.