United States: The Gen Z stick-shift gap is widening, with 35% of younger drivers saying they never learned to operate a manual transmission, compared with 9% of baby boomers.
Extreme Terrain surveyed 1,006 US drivers in July 2026. Its results showed 65% of Gen Z respondents could drive a manual, compared with 91% of baby boomers. Across all generations, 75% said they could drive a stick shift.
More than half of manual drivers, 56%, learned from a parent or relative. Only 22% of Gen Z respondents who learned manual said necessity was the reason, compared with 55% of baby boomers.
Driving instructor Andy Nelson, owner of Safe Driver Solutions, told the New York Post on September 4 that operating a clutch, accelerator and gear lever simultaneously “takes more brainpower.”
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The cars themselves are also disappearing. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency data show manuals accounted for just 0.6% of vehicles produced for the US market in model year 2025, down from 34.6% in 1980. The 2025 figure remains preliminary.
