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Occupational Licensing in Arkansas

Arkansas requires a licence for 137 of the 246 occupations the Archbridge Institute tracks, against a national median of 124. It ranks 4 of 51 on their index, where 1 is the most burdensome.

Licensed occupations
137
With any entry barrier
174
National rank
#4
In the West South Central
#2

Moving to Arkansas with a licence

Arkansas recognises out-of-state licences with some conditions — graded silver. Universal recognition is the reform that lets someone already licensed elsewhere practise after moving, instead of repeating the training; 28 of the 51 jurisdictions have some version of it.

Licensed here, rarely elsewhere

These are the occupations Arkansas licenses that few other jurisdictions do — the clearest sign of where its rules go further than the national norm.

Every licensed occupation in Arkansas

All 137, alphabetically. Archbridge tracks 246 occupations in total, so anything absent here is either unlicensed in Arkansas or outside their list.

Where this comes from

The Archbridge Institute's State Occupational Licensing Index 2026, retrieved 2026-09-16. The index records whether an occupation needs a licence — it does not record fees or training hours, so nothing here says what a licence costs or how long it takes. The rank is Archbridge's own and is not part of the FreedomRankings score. Check the relevant Arkansas board before acting on any of it.

More on Arkansas: its freedom score and rank · school choice · homeschool laws