Trucks make up a large portion of the American automotive market, and many of the most successful trucks are huge. In recent years, full-size and heavy-duty pickup trucks have continued to grow in size and capability. Some of the largest (like the Ford F-450 Super Duty) are over 22 feet long. The extra size and capability of these trucks is ideal for owners who need a lot of towing power. However, not every prospective truck owner needs to pull a fifth-wheel trailer or haul around 2,000 pounds of concrete in the bed.

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That’s where smaller trucks come in. Compact trucks and their midsize brothers are generally less expensive than full-size and heavy-duty trucks, and fuel economy is much better, too. If you live in the city, a smaller truck will be easier to park, maneuver, and generally easier to handle, but it’ll still be enough for weekend trips to the hardware store or to take your mountain bikes to the nearest hiking trail. With that in mind, we’ve put together a list of the smallest pickup trucks you can buy in America today, defined by their length.

These are trucks for buyers with limited pickup truck needs and limited space. We wanted to limit the list to compact and midsize trucks, but it turns out that a full-size, short bed, single cab truck is one of the smallest you can buy today. Can you guess where it landed on the list? Let’s find out.

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The Nissan Frontier is offered with two different cab configurations. Unfortunately, for smaller truck buyers, a single-cab Frontier is not currently available, but the newest Frontier is available as a King Cab or Crew Cab. King Cab is essentially an extended cab, while Crew Cab is a full-size four-door version with a larger rear seat. In the shortest version, Crew Cab and King Cab are the same length – 210.2 inches from front axle to rear. King Cab is only available with a long bed, while Crew Cab is available with either a standard (short) or long bed.

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For practical purposes, the King Cab Frontier’s bed is 73.3 inches long and the Crew Cab’s standard bed is 59.5 inches. Both configurations are 44.5 inches wide at the wheel wells. This is usually a good measurement because it determines whether or not a sheet of plywood will fit in the bed. Standard plywood sheets are 4 x 8 feet, or 48 x 96 inches. In the Frontier, a sheet of plywood will easily fit between the bed rails, but it will hang over the bed a little if you don’t fold down the tailgate.

The current 2024 Frontier can tow a maximum of 3000kg – a reasonable number for a mid-size truck, but next year’s model will do even better. Nissan has already announced that the updated 2025 Frontier, although not yet on sale, will offer more towing capacity, with a maximum of 3300kg.

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The Nissan Frontier and Honda Ridgeline are neck and neck in terms of length. Both measure 210.2 inches from bumper to bumper. The Ridgeline is only available in a crew cab configuration with four doors and pretty impressive cargo capacity. The Ridgeline’s bed is 64 inches long, outstripping the Frontier’s short bed configuration by 4.5 inches. At the wheel wells, the Ridgeline is 50 inches wide—more than enough to accommodate a 4×8 sheet of plywood. While many pickup truck purists will complain that the Ridgeline isn’t built like a traditional pickup truck with a body on a frame, it turns out that the Honda’s underpinnings give it some extra functionality.

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The Ridgeline has the added benefit of an integrated trunk, giving it additional storage space under the bed floor—a trick you wouldn’t expect from most trucks. The integrated trunk has a removable drain, so it can serve as a cooler for tailgating or a wash bin for dirty gear. While it doesn’t come close to the Frontier’s maximum towing capacity, the Ridgeline can tow 5,000 pounds—enough for most small utility trailers. The Ridgeline is also roomier inside than the Frontier, offering more front and rear legroom and more front and rear headroom compared to the Frontier’s crew cab configuration.

The Ford F-150 is the only full-size truck on this list. Technically, it’s wider, taller, and heavier than most of the trucks on this list, even in its smallest configuration, but it was included because of its small footprint from front to back. In the short-bed single-cab configuration, the F-150 is 209.4 inches long from nose to tail—making it shorter than the Ridgeline and Frontier. The F-150 is also available in a crew-cab configuration, of course, or as a single-cab with an extended bed. But both configurations are significantly longer than any of the trucks on our list, so if you need to squeeze into a tight parking space at home, the short-bed/single-cab configuration is for you.

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As a full-size truck, the F-150 has a lot to offer even in its smallest configuration. With the regular cab and four-wheel drive, it can tow up to 9,400 pounds. The F-150’s bed is also quite spacious, at 78.9 inches long and 51.1 inches wide. Higher trim levels of the F-150 aren’t available in single-cab configurations, so if you want a small F-150, you’ll have to stick with the base XL trim with limited features, but it might be worth it if you value extra towing power.

The Maverick is Ford’s compact pickup truck and is just a few inches away from being the smallest pickup truck you can buy today. The current 2024 model is 199.7 inches long – nearly a foot shorter than the midsize Frontier and Ridgeline. Like the Ridgeline, the Maverick is only available in a crew cab configuration. The Maverick has been refreshed for 2025 with some new exterior features, a new all-wheel-drive hybrid variant and a new performance version called Lobo. The new exterior details mean it grows ever so slightly to 199.8 inches, but it retains its place on this list.

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It may be small, but the Maverick has some pretty rugged towing and hauling capabilities for its size. With the right equipment package, the Maverick can tow up to 4,000 pounds. The Maverick’s bed is also relatively small, measuring just 54.4 inches long. It’s 53.3 inches wide over the wheel wells and 42.6 inches at the wheel wells. That’s significantly less than the other trucks on the list (and it means having to put plywood on top of the wheel wells), but it’s still plenty of room to load up a few bikes or bring home a load of lumber from the hardware store.

At just 195.7 inches long, the Hyundai Santa Cruz is the smallest new pickup truck you can buy in America today. Like the Ridgeline and Maverick, the Santa Cruz is only available as a four-door crew cab. And like the Maverick, the Santa Cruz’s towing capacities are pretty impressive considering its small size. The Santa Cruz can tow a maximum of 5,000 pounds when properly equipped, more than the slightly larger Maverick and as much as the Ridgeline (though with that much weight, your trailer will need to be equipped with trailer brakes).

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The Santa Cruz’s bed is one of the smallest on this list — not an unexpected development for a vehicle with such limited dimensions, but worth noting nonetheless. Front to back, the Santa Cruz’s bed measures 52.1 inches. At its widest point, the bed is 53.9 inches wide, and between the wheel wells it measures 42.7 inches — very similar measurements to the Maverick. An updated Santa Cruz is on the way for 2025 with some changes to available equipment and infotainment technology, but the truck’s capabilities remain the same.