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.
Preschool Teacher, Public School
License required in 50 states
2nd most burdensome licensing requirements among moderate-income occupations
1st most heavily regulated occupation among moderate-income occupations
What They Do
Preschool teachers instruct children (normally up to five years of age) in activities designed to promote social, physical and intellectual growth needed for primary school in preschools, day care centers or other child development facilities. This report looks at requirements for teachers working in public preschools only.Licensing
Forty-nine states and D.C. require licenses of preschool teachers working in public schools; Utah is the only state that does not. On average, these laws require $492 in fees, over five and a half years (2,050 days) of education and experience, and around two exams—the second most burdensome requirements of the 102 occupations studied. Because almost every state licenses the occupation, it ranks as the most widely and onerously licensed.
License requirements vary, as do the ways in which states license the occupation. Missouri and Oregon require a bachelor’s degree for their preliminary teaching licenses and four years of teaching experience for their continuously renewable professional teaching licenses (2,920 days total). Ohio, on the other hand, has no preliminary license and requires only an associate’s degree (730 days) for its continuously renewable one. (See Appendix B under “Public School Teacher” for details on how the occupation was observed.) Similarly, exam requirements range from none in Montana to five in Tennessee. Fees are over $1,000 in Connecticut and Washington but under $200 in Missouri, Montana and South Dakota.
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 | Oregon | 50 | $665 | 2920 | 4 years | 4 years | 2 | 0 | 18 |
| 2 | Missouri | 50 | $191 | 2920 | 4 years | 4 years | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | Connecticut | 50 | $1,095 | 2673 | 4 years | 40 months | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | Tennessee | 50 | $775 | 2555 | 4 years | 3 years | 5 | 0 | 18 |
| 5 | New York | 50 | $914 | 2555 | 4 years | 3 years | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | South Carolina | 50 | $600 | 2555 | 4 years | 3 years | 3 | 0 | 18 |
| 7 | New Mexico | 50 | $809 | 2555 | 4 years | 3 years | 2 | 0 | 18 |
| 8 | Pennsylvania | 50 | $528 | 2555 | 4 years | 3 years | 2 | 0 | 18 |
| 9 | Michigan | 50 | $445 | 2555 | 4 years | 3 years | 2 | 0 | 18 |
| 10 | Idaho | 50 | $350 | 2555 | 4 years | 3 years | 2 | 0 | 18 |
| 11 | Louisiana | 50 | $516 | 2555 | 4 years | 3 years | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 12 | Maryland | 50 | $436 | 2555 | 4 years | 3 years | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 13 | Georgia | 50 | $351 | 2555 | 4 years | 3 years | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 14 | Hawaii | 50 | $584 | 2555 | 4 years | 3 years | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 15 | Rhode Island | 50 | $566 | 2555 | 4 years | 3 years | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 | New Hampshire | 50 | $556 | 2555 | 4 years | 3 years | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 17 | Wisconsin | 50 | $520 | 2555 | 4 years | 3 years | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 18 | North Carolina | 50 | $260 | 2555 | 4 years | 3 years | 1 | 0 | 18 |
| 19 | New Jersey | 50 | $535 | 2190 | 4 years | 2 years | 2 | 12 | 18 |
| 20 | Vermont | 50 | $667 | 2555 | 4 years | 3 years | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 21 | Massachusetts | 50 | $405 | 2555 | 4 years | 3 years | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 22 | Delaware | 50 | $296 | 2555 | 4 years | 3 years | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 23 | Washington | 50 | $1,004 | 2190 | 4 years | 2 years | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 24 | West Virginia | 50 | $267 | 2190 | 4 years | 2 years | 2 | 0 | 18 |
| 25 | Alaska | 50 | $730 | 2190 | 4 years | 2 years | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 26 | Indiana | 50 | $478 | 2190 | 4 years and 2 years | 3 | 0 | 0 | |
| 27 | Iowa | 50 | $512 | 2190 | 4 years | 2 years | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 28 | Arizona | 50 | $437 | 2190 | 4 years | 2 years | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 29 | Kansas | 50 | $462 | 1825 | 4 years | 1 years | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 30 | California | 50 | $398 | 1825 | 4 years and 1 years | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| 31 | Kentucky | 50 | $358 | 1825 | 4 years and 1 years | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| 32 | Colorado | 50 | $280 | 1825 | 4 years and 1 years | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| 33 | Virginia | 50 | $630 | 1460 | 4 years | 4 | 0 | 18 | |
| 34 | Florida | 50 | $555 | 1460 | 4 years | 3 | 0 | 18 | |
| 35 | Alabama | 50 | $594 | 1460 | 4 years | 4 | 0 | 0 | |
| 36 | Illinois | 50 | $660 | 1460 | 4 years | 3 | 0 | 0 | |
| 37 | Texas | 50 | $375 | 1460 | 4 years | 2 | 0 | 18 | |
| 38 | Nevada | 50 | $577 | 1460 | 4 years | 3 | 0 | 0 | |
| 39 | D C | 50 | $484 | 1460 | 4 years | 3 | 0 | 0 | |
| 40 | Mississippi | 50 | $442 | 1460 | 4 years | 3 | 0 | 0 | |
| 41 | Minnesota | 50 | $343 | 1460 | 4 years | 3 | 0 | 0 | |
| 42 | Arkansas | 50 | $421 | 1460 | 4 years | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| 43 | Maine | 50 | $396 | 1460 | 4 years | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| 44 | Nebraska | 50 | $351 | 1460 | 4 years | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| 45 | Oklahoma | 50 | $334 | 1460 | 4 years | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| 46 | Wyoming | 50 | $320 | 1460 | 4 years | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| 47 | South Dakota | 50 | $51 | 1460 | 4 years | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| 48 | Montana | 50 | $63 | 1460 | 4 years | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 49 | North Dakota | 50 | $686 | 1276 | 2 years | 18 months | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 50 | Ohio | 50 | $305 | 730 | 2 years | 1 | 0 | 0 |