Occupational Licensing by State (2026)

A licence is permission to do your job. Of the 246 occupations the Archbridge Institute tracks, Oregon requires one for 148 and Wyoming for 100 — the same work, legal in one state and a misdemeanour in another. The median is 124.

Rank 1 is the most burdensome. Ties share a rank, as Archbridge publishes them. Open any state for its full list of licensed occupations.

All 51 jurisdictions ranked by occupational licensing burden
Rank	State	Licensed	Any barrier	Recognises other states
1	Oregon	148	180	No law
2	Texas	146	175	No law
3	Tennessee	136	175	No law
4	Arkansas	137	174	Silver
5	New Jersey	135	171	Bronze
6	Alabama	134	171	No law
7	North Carolina	137	170	No law
8	Florida	126	170	Gold
9	Kentucky	132	169	No law
10	Massachusetts	131	168	No law
11	Washington	139	167	No law
12	Maryland	133	167	No law
13	Louisiana	130	166	Silver
14	Oklahoma	131	165	Bronze
15	Mississippi	122	165	Silver
16	South Carolina	121	165	No law
17	Rhode Island	129	163	No law
18	Virginia	128	163	Gold
19	Maine	126	163	No law
20	Wisconsin	135	162	No law
21	Utah	127	162	Gold
22	New Hampshire	124	162	Bronze
23	California	123	161	No law
23	North Dakota	123	161	Bronze
25	Iowa	127	160	Silver
26	Minnesota	126	160	No law
27	Connecticut	124	160	No law
28	Ohio	117	160	Gold
29	Michigan	119	158	No law
29	Nevada	119	158	Bronze
31	Georgia	117	158	Bronze
32	Delaware	127	157	No law
33	New Mexico	125	156	Gold
34	West Virginia	127	154	Silver
35	Nebraska	124	153	Gold
36	Hawaii	114	151	No law
37	Illinois	124	147	No law
38	Alaska	104	146	No law
39	Vermont	111	145	Gold
40	District of Columbia	109	145	No law
41	Idaho	110	144	Gold
42	Montana	108	144	Bronze
43	South Dakota	105	141	Bronze
44	Pennsylvania	123	137	Bronze
45	Arizona	106	137	Silver
46	Wyoming	100	133	Bronze
47	Colorado	102	132	Gold
48	Indiana	107	131	Gold
49	New York	113	126	No law
50	Kansas	104	124	Silver
51	Missouri	109	123	Gold

What the columns mean

Licensed — occupations that need a government licence to practise.
Any barrier — licensing plus other entry requirements such as registration or certification, so it is always the larger number.
Recognises other states — universal recognition, which lets someone licensed elsewhere practise after moving. Archbridge grades the laws gold, silver or bronze; 23 jurisdictions have none.

Where this comes from

The Archbridge Institute's State Occupational Licensing Index 2026, retrieved 2026-09-16. The index counts which occupations are licensed; it records no fees and no training hours, so nothing here says what a licence costs or how long it takes to get. The ranking is Archbridge's own judgement and is not part of the FreedomRankings score.