freedomrankings.comRegulatory Burden
Idaho leads all 50 states for Regulatory Burden with a score of 10.0/10, followed by South Dakota and North Dakota. California ranks last. Each state is scored 0–10 on Regulatory Burden from established, annually-updated third-party indexes.
Score reflects occupational licensing, labor regulation, and the overall weight of state rules on workers and businesses. Greener = stronger; select any state for its full breakdown.
Idaho ranks #1 for regulatory freedom, scoring 10.0/10 — typically a state with lighter licensing requirements and fewer restrictions on hiring and business. The full ranking is above.
A right-to-work state bars employers and unions from requiring workers to pay union dues as a condition of employment. 26 states have such laws. See our right-to-work explainer for the full list.
California ranks lowest on regulatory freedom, reflecting heavier occupational licensing and labor regulation.
The regulatory-burden score draws on occupational-licensing data, the Mercatus Center’s RegData, and labor-regulation measures. See the methodology page for sources.