Guide Rankings Law Updated June 23, 2026

Occupational Licensing by State

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Occupational Licensing by State

Ranking - Law

Hawaii and Nevada impose the heaviest average occupational licensing burdens in the latest nationwide comparison, while Nebraska, Pennsylvania, Utah, and North Dakota sit at the light end. Colorado is easier on mobility than its raw training-day average suggests, but it is not the lowest-cost state on the table.

Quick Answer

Occupational Licensing by State

  1. 1

    Occupational licensing burden is highest in Hawaii, which averages $506 in fees and 972 training days across the lower-income occupations it licenses.

  2. 2

    Nevada is close behind at $727 in average fees and 883 training days, while California ranks third with $517 and 837 days.

  3. 3

    Nebraska is the lightest state in this table at $92 and 114 days. Pennsylvania follows at $116 and 120 days, and Utah is next at $321 and 130 days.

Map

Occupational Licensing Burden Map

Average Training Days
No data
Hawaii averages 972 training days and $506 in fees, while Nevada averages 883 days and $727. Nebraska sits at the light end with 114 days and $92, and Pennsylvania is close behind at 120 days and $116.
Occupational Licensing Burden Map
State Average Training Days
Hawaii 972
Nevada 883
California 837
Arizona 689
Florida 658
Virginia 580
Oregon 530
Massachusetts 511
Maryland 532
New Mexico 495
Delaware 495
Georgia 472
Kentucky 404
New Jersey 422
South Carolina 428
Oklahoma 405
Connecticut 374
Texas 329
New Hampshire 326
Michigan 308
Montana 295
Wyoming 259
Indiana 306
Idaho 330
Rhode Island 297
Maine 323
South Dakota 281
Missouri 281
Arkansas 282
New York 275
Vermont 266
Ohio 269
Colorado 257
Illinois 234
Minnesota 266
Tennessee 245
Iowa 269
North Carolina 228
Kansas 199
West Virginia 214
Alaska 230
Wisconsin 197
Mississippi 169
Louisiana 175
Alabama 154
Washington 171
North Dakota 113
Utah 130
Pennsylvania 120
Nebraska 114

Hawaii averages 972 training days and $506 in fees, while Nevada averages 883 days and $727. Nebraska sits at the light end with 114 days and $92, and Pennsylvania is close behind at 120 days and $116.

Occupational Licensing by State Table

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Print-ready table — Occupational Licensing by State

Occupational Licensing at a Glance

Hawaii and Nevada show what a heavy licensing state looks like on raw averages. Colorado and Wyoming are the useful counterexamples. Both look better on portability or occupation count than they do on pure training-day averages.

Honolulu skyline with Diamond Head behind it

Hawaii

Hawaii ranks first for occupational licensing burden in this table. It averages $506 in fees, 972 training days, and 2 exams across the lower-income occupations it licenses.

Those are the longest average training requirements in the country. Hawaii also licenses 64 of the 102 occupations in the IJ dataset, which keeps the state near the top no matter which angle you use.

Nevada desert mountains at sunset

Nevada

Nevada ranks second overall, but it leads the table on average fees at $727. Its average training burden is 883 days and it licenses 75 occupations.

That makes Nevada the clearest high-cost state on the map. A worker may not face Hawaii's exact time burden, but Nevada asks for more money than any other state in the dataset.

Colorado mountain lake with autumn trees

Colorado

Colorado ranks 33rd in this state-only table, with $355 in average fees, 257 training days, and 34 licensed occupations. Raw costs are not especially low.

Colorado looks friendlier on mobility than on pure averages because the state now runs an Occupational Credential Portability Program. Colorado also enacted the Cosmetology Licensure Compact in June 2024.

Wyoming valley with mountains and river

Wyoming

Wyoming ranks 22nd by average burden, with $373 in fees and 259 training days. Those numbers are lighter than the top-burden states, but they are not rock-bottom.

Wyoming stands out for a different reason. IJ says it licenses only 26 of the 102 occupations in the dataset, the fewest of any state, which makes it the least widely and onerously licensed state on IJ's combined measure.

Occupational Licensing Burden by State

Hawaii, Nevada, California, Arizona, and Florida are the five heaviest states in this table. Hawaii averages 972 training days. Nevada averages 883. California still averages 837 days and $517 in fees.

Nebraska is the lightest state at $92 in fees and 114 training days. Pennsylvania is next at $116 and 120 days, while Utah is the reform outlier because IJ says contractor specialty license changes helped move it into the least-burdensome cluster at 130 days.

Occupational Licensing Reciprocity and Contractors

Colorado is one of the most useful reciprocity states in current cosmetology law because it enacted the Cosmetology Licensure Compact in June 2024. As of June 15, 2026, the compact news page lists 12 enacted states, but the official compact site still says the compact is not yet active.

Utah is the clearest contractor-specific outlier in this source set because IJ ties its low-burden jump to contractor specialty license reforms. Colorado and Wyoming are different. Colorado still averages $355 in fees, and Wyoming still averages $373.

Quick Answers

Which state has the highest occupational licensing burden?
Hawaii ranks first on this page. It averages $506 in fees and 972 training days across the lower-income occupations it licenses.
Which state has the lowest occupational licensing burden?
Nebraska ranks last in burden and first in ease. It averages just $92 in fees and 114 training days.
What is the occupational licensing burden in Nevada?
Nevada ranks second-heaviest. It has the highest average fees in the state table at $727 and averages 883 training days.
What is the occupational licensing burden in Colorado?
Colorado ranks 33rd in this 50-state version of the table. It averages $355 in fees, 257 training days, and 2 exams.
Which states are in the cosmetology compact?
As of June 15, 2026, the compact news page lists 12 enacted states. Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Delaware, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia, Washington, and West Virginia. The official compact site also says the compact is not yet active.
What is the easiest state to get a contractors license?
Utah is the strongest contractor-related outlier in this source set. IJ says Utah joined the least-burdensome group because of reforms to contractor specialty licenses, and Utah averages 130 training days and $321 in fees across licensed occupations overall.

Methodology

This page uses Table 6 from the Institute for Justice report License to Work 3, which compares average licensing burdens across 102 lower-income occupations using 2022 data. The published IJ table includes Washington, D.C., so this page excludes D.C. and renumbers the 50 states. Colorado portability and cosmetology compact notes use current official 2024 to 2026 state and compact sources.

Sources

Information is cross-referenced with official state archives.
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