Published State Guides
51 jurisdictions currently have at least one published, source-backed trade guide.
- Alabama
- Alaska
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- California
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- District of Columbia
- Florida
- Georgia
- Hawaii
- Idaho
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Maine
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Montana
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- New York
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Utah
- Vermont
- Virginia
- Washington
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
Contractor licensing in the United States
There is no national contractor license in the United States. Every state writes its own rules, runs its own board, and decides which trades it regulates. Some states — California, Florida, Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Arizona, Oregon, Nevada — license almost every construction trade at the state level, with formal experience requirements, written examinations, surety bonds, and minimum insurance coverage. Other states leave most residential construction to municipal building departments and only require a state license for electrical, plumbing, and HVAC work. A handful of states — Texas, Pennsylvania, Wyoming, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont — register contractors for consumer-protection purposes but do not test them. Knowing which model your state uses is the first step toward an honest cost estimate and a realistic timeline.
Each state page on this site is the entry point into our published license guide library for that jurisdiction. Open any state above to see the regulating agency, the statute that governs licensing in that state, and the full list of trades for which we publish a verified requirements page. From the state page you can drill down to a specific trade — general contractor, electrician, plumber, HVAC, roofer, painter, solar installer, landscaping contractor, mason, carpenter, low-voltage technician, or fire sprinkler contractor — and see the application fee, examination details, bond amount, insurance minimum, experience requirement, reciprocity partners, renewal cycle, and continuing education hours. Every page links to the official source set behind the summary and displays its current review date.
How to use the state directory
Start with your home state — the state where you live, where you have experience to document, and where you intend to do most of your work. Read the state landing page to understand the regulating agency and the licensing model. Then open the trade page that matches your specialty. If you intend to work across state lines, jump to the reciprocity matrix to see which states will accept your home-state credential without re-examination, and which will require you to start over. Use the cost calculator to compare the full first-year out-of-pocket cost between two or three states before you commit. States not listed here are still being held out of the public directory until their pages meet the same source and substance threshold as the published guides.