Occupational licensing · 51 states ranked

Occupational Licensing Rankings

How do states and professions compare on occupational licensing requirements? Explore which professions require licenses in the most states, and which states license the most occupations.

By ·Data as of 2026-05-15

States Ranked
51
Most Burdensome
California
Least Burdensome
New Hampshire

Most Licensed Professions

Professions ranked by the number of U.S. states that require a license to practice, from universal to rare requirements.

Strictest Licensing States

States ranked by total number of licensed professions and overall licensing burden score.
California28.5Oregon30.2Illinois31Nevada32.1Colorado33.5Arizona34.2Washington35Hawaii35.8New Mexico36.5Montana37
Top 10 most-burdened states by composite licensing-burden score
New Hampshire65Maine64Vermont63.5Wyoming63South Dakota62North Dakota61Idaho60Alaska59.5Nebraska59Kansas58.5
Top 10 least-burdened states by composite licensing-burden score

Browse all states

Alabama #33 Alaska #42 Arizona #6 Arkansas #36 California #1 Colorado #5 Connecticut #12 Delaware #19 District of Columbia #18 Florida #15 Georgia #25 Hawaii #8 Idaho #43 Illinois #3 Indiana #27 Iowa #39 Kansas #40 Kentucky #35 Louisiana #11 Maine #48 Maryland #13 Massachusetts #14 Michigan #24 Minnesota #30 Mississippi #34 Missouri #31 Montana #10 Nebraska #41 Nevada #4 New Hampshire #49 New Jersey #13 New Mexico #9 New York #17 North Carolina #26 North Dakota #44 Ohio #22 Oklahoma #38 Oregon #2 Pennsylvania #18 Rhode Island #12 South Carolina #37 South Dakota #45 Tennessee #29 Texas #20 Utah #34 Vermont #47 Virginia #28 Washington #7 West Virginia #34 Wisconsin #32 Wyoming #46
Data source: Licensing requirement data compiled from state licensing board databases and Institute for Justice License to Work research. Coverage spans 50 states plus Washington D.C.
Compiled from official source data by PlainCredential

Every figure on PlainCredential is rendered directly from NCSL and state occupational- licensing board data, no number is typed in by an editor. This page draws directly on NCSL and state licensing board data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.