Permit test by state/Wisconsin
Wisconsin DMV · knowledge test
Wisconsin permit test: 50 questions, 40 to pass
Wisconsin’s learner permit knowledge test is run by the Wisconsin DMV. 50 questions · 40 correct to pass (80%), and you can miss 10.
- Questions
- 50
- Correct to pass
- 4080%
- Wrong allowed
- 10
- Signs scored apart
- No
Gauges
Wisconsin next to the other states
Study from the Wisconsin Motorists' Handbook; every question on the real test comes from it.
- Wisconsin80%
- Average of 36 states79%
- Strictest: Maryland88%
Warning lights
Rules that trip people up
Read these before you book.
Taken on a touch screen at a DMV service center.
Route planner
How to pass the Wisconsin permit test on the first try
Get the Wisconsin Motorists' Handbook. The test is written from it, so treat it as the syllabus, not background reading.
Learn signs by shape and color first. Sign shapes are standard nationally: an octagon is always stop, a triangle always yield, a diamond always a warning, so a sign you’ve never seen can still be read from its shape.
Make a numbers sheet. Speed limits, following distances, parking distances and BAC limits are where most points are lost: they’re easy to confuse and easy to test.
Practice at the real length. Take 50-question practice tests and don’t book the real one until you score 90% twice in a row, which leaves margin over the 10-miss limit.
If you don’t pass on the first attempt, read the Wisconsin permit test retake rules, waiting periods and retest fees.
Coming soon
Wisconsin practice questions are in the works
We write every bank from the official handbook, with an explanation and a source note on each answer. Leave your email and we’ll send one message when the Wisconsin bank opens.
Meanwhile, the guide to the most-missed DMV test concepts covers the rules that trip up drivers in every state.
Wisconsin permit test FAQ
From the Wisconsin DMV’s own pages and the Wisconsin Motorists' Handbook.
The standard car knowledge test has 50 questions and you need 40 correct to pass (80%).
10. Miss 11 and you fail.
The Wisconsin Motorists' Handbook. Every question on the real test comes from it. Start with road signs and right-of-way, then the numbers people forget: speed limits, following distances, and blood-alcohol limits.
Compare other states
Permit tests near Wisconsin
- California · 83% permit test: 46 questions · 38 correct to pass (83%)
- Texas · 70% permit test: 30 questions · 21 correct to pass (70%)
- Florida · 80% permit test: 50 questions · 40 correct to pass (80%)
- New York · 70% permit test: 20 questions · 14 correct to pass (70%)
- Pennsylvania · 83% permit test: 18 questions · 15 correct to pass (83%)
- Illinois · varies permit test: 35 questions · passing score not published
- Ohio · 75% permit test: 40 questions · 30 correct to pass (75%)
- Georgia · 75% permit test: 40 questions · 30 correct to pass (75%)
- North Carolina · 80% permit test: Question count not published · 80% to pass
- Michigan · varies permit test: Question count not published · passing score not published
- New Jersey · 80% permit test: 50 questions · 40 correct to pass (80%)
- Virginia · 80% permit test: 40 questions · 80% to pass
- Washington · 80% permit test: 40 questions · 32 correct to pass (80%)
- Arizona · 80% permit test: 30 questions · 24 correct to pass (80%)
- Tennessee · 80% permit test: 30 questions · 24 correct to pass (80%)
- Massachusetts · 72% permit test: 25 questions · 18 correct to pass (72%)
- Indiana · 80% permit test: Question count not published · 80% to pass
- Maryland · 88% permit test: 25 questions · 22 correct to pass (88%)
- Minnesota · 80% permit test: Question count not published · 80% to pass
- Colorado · varies permit test: Question count not published · passing score not published
- Connecticut · 80% permit test: 25 questions · 20 correct to pass (80%)
- Oregon · 80% permit test: 35 questions · 28 correct to pass (80%)
- Oklahoma · 75% permit test: 20 questions · 15 correct to pass (75%)
- Nevada · 80% permit test: 25 questions · 20 correct to pass (80%)
- Idaho · 85% permit test: 40 questions · 34 correct to pass (85%)
- Utah · 80% permit test: 50 questions · 40 correct to pass (80%)
- Kentucky · 80% permit test: Question count not published · 80% to pass
- Louisiana · 80% permit test: Question count not published · 80% to pass
- Missouri · 80% permit test: 25 questions · 20 correct to pass (80%)
- Maine · 80% permit test: 30 questions · 24 correct to pass (80%)
- Delaware · 81% permit test: 32 questions · 26 correct to pass (81%)
- New Mexico · 70% permit test: Question count not published · 70% to pass
- Iowa · 80% permit test: Question count not published · 80% to pass
- South Carolina · 80% permit test: Question count not published · 80% to pass
- Hawaii · varies permit test: 25 questions · passing score not published
- New Hampshire · 80% permit test: Question count not published · 80% to pass
- Vermont · 80% permit test: 20 questions · 16 correct to pass (80%)
- West Virginia · 76% permit test: 25 questions · 19 correct to pass (76%)
- Kansas · varies permit test: 25 questions · passing score not published
- South Dakota · 80% permit test: Question count not published · 80% to pass
- Alabama · varies permit test: Question count not published · passing score not published