102 Lower-income Occupations
For its 2017 report License to Work, the Institute for Justice documented the requirements to get a license for 102 lower-income occupations across all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Read more about the research methods.
State Profiles
For its 2017 report License to Work, the Institute for Justice documented the requirements to get a license for 102 lower-income occupations across all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Read more about the research methods.
Select A State
What is Occupational Licensing?
An “occupational license” is, put simply, government permission to work in a particular field. To earn the license, an aspiring worker must clear various hurdles, such as earning a certain amount of education or training or passing an exam. In the 1950s, only one in 20 U.S. workers needed the government’s permission to pursue their chosen occupation. Today, that figure stands at almost one in four.
Athletic Trainer
License required in 49 states
3rd most burdensome licensing requirements among moderate-income occupations
2nd most heavily regulated occupation among moderate-income occupations
What They Do
Athletic trainers evaluate and advise athletes to assist them in recovering from injury, avoiding injury or maintaining peak physical fitness.Licensing
Forty-nine states require a license to work as an athletic trainer. On average, these laws require $472 in fees, four years (1,460 days) of education and about one exam—the third most burdensome requirements of the 102 occupations studied. Because athletic trainers are also licensed by so many states, the occupation is the second most widely and onerously licensed of the 102 studied in this report.
Licensing requirements are quite uniform: Typically, one must hold a bachelor’s degree and pass a national certification exam. Only five states (New Mexico, Ohio, Tennessee, Texas and Wyoming) require more than one exam. Fees vary greatly, however, from $300 in D.C. to $1,000 in Alaska. California and New York are the only two unlicensed states, though New York requires permission to use the title “certified athletic trainer.”
License to Work
The data and information here come from IJ’s License to Work report, released in November 2017.
States Ranked by Average Licensing Burden for 102 Lower-Income Occupations
More Burdensome Less Burdensom
Based on data released in November 2017| Burden Rank | State | States Licensed | Fees | Estimated Calendar Days Lost | Education | Experience | Exams | Minimum Grade | Minimum Age |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Washington | 49 | $475 | 1461 | 4 years and 7 clock hours | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2 | Pennsylvania | 49 | $320 | 1461 | 4 years and 3 clock hours | 1 | 0 | 20 | |
| 3 | Florida | 49 | $525 | 1460 | 4 years and 2 clock hours | 1 | 0 | 21 | |
| 4 | New Jersey | 49 | $440 | 1460 | 4 years | 1 | 12 | 18 | |
| 5 | Wyoming | 49 | $500 | 1460 | 4 years | 2 | 0 | 18 | |
| 6 | Alaska | 49 | $1,000 | 1460 | 4 years | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| 7 | Hawaii | 49 | $685 | 1460 | 4 years | 1 | 0 | 18 | |
| 8 | Oregon | 49 | $675 | 1460 | 4 years | 1 | 0 | 18 | |
| 9 | Tennessee | 49 | $548 | 1460 | 4 years | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| 10 | Texas | 49 | $544 | 1460 | 4 years | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| 11 | New Mexico | 49 | $525 | 1460 | 4 years | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| 12 | Maryland | 49 | $600 | 1460 | 4 years | 1 | 0 | 18 | |
| 13 | Ohio | 49 | $446 | 1460 | 4 years | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| 14 | Louisiana | 49 | $466 | 1460 | 4 years | 1 | 0 | 18 | |
| 15 | Nebraska | 49 | $417 | 1460 | 4 years | 1 | 0 | 19 | |
| 16 | West Virginia | 49 | $425 | 1460 | 4 years | 1 | 0 | 18 | |
| 17 | Nevada | 49 | $640 | 1460 | 4 years | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| 18 | Michigan | 49 | $638 | 1460 | 4 years | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| 19 | Arizona | 49 | $622 | 1460 | 4 years | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| 20 | D C | 49 | $300 | 1460 | 4 years | 1 | 0 | 18 | |
| 21 | Illinois | 49 | $500 | 1460 | 4 years | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| 21 | North Carolina | 49 | $500 | 1460 | 4 years | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| 23 | Maine | 49 | $496 | 1460 | 4 years | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| 24 | Connecticut | 49 | $490 | 1460 | 4 years | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| 25 | Alabama | 49 | $475 | 1460 | 4 years | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| 25 | Montana | 49 | $475 | 1460 | 4 years | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| 27 | New Hampshire | 49 | $470 | 1460 | 4 years | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| 28 | Oklahoma | 49 | $467 | 1460 | 4 years | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| 29 | Minnesota | 49 | $465 | 1460 | 4 years | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| 30 | Idaho | 49 | $450 | 1460 | 4 years | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| 31 | Massachusetts | 49 | $447 | 1460 | 4 years | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| 32 | Virginia | 49 | $430 | 1460 | 4 years | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| 33 | Arkansas | 49 | $425 | 1460 | 4 years | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| 33 | Delaware | 49 | $425 | 1460 | 4 years | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| 35 | Iowa | 49 | $420 | 1460 | 4 years | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| 36 | Colorado | 49 | $400 | 1460 | 4 years | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| 36 | Kentucky | 49 | $400 | 1460 | 4 years | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| 36 | Mississippi | 49 | $400 | 1460 | 4 years | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| 36 | Missouri | 49 | $400 | 1460 | 4 years | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| 36 | North Dakota | 49 | $400 | 1460 | 4 years | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| 36 | South Dakota | 49 | $400 | 1460 | 4 years | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| 36 | Vermont | 49 | $400 | 1460 | 4 years | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| 43 | Indiana | 49 | $394 | 1460 | 4 years | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| 44 | Kansas | 49 | $380 | 1460 | 4 years | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| 45 | Wisconsin | 49 | $375 | 1460 | 4 years | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| 46 | Utah | 49 | $370 | 1460 | 4 years | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| 47 | Rhode Island | 49 | $360 | 1460 | 4 years | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| 48 | Georgia | 49 | $350 | 1460 | 4 years | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| 48 | South Carolina | 49 | $350 | 1460 | 4 years | 1 | 0 | 0 |