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Licensing Data

State Licensing Burden Index

How heavy is each state's licensing load for regulated financial services? This index ranks every state we track by a transparent 0 to 100 composite of regulator-published requirements: government fees, surety bond amounts, net-worth floors, processing timelines, and renewal cadence. New York, California, and Massachusetts currently carry the heaviest published requirements.

Last updated August 19, 2026. Built from the same public dataset as the licensing cost and timeline index.

Heaviest requirements

States with the weightiest published requirements across the license types they regulate.

  1. 1. New York 84
  2. 2. California 72
  3. 3. Massachusetts 62
  4. 4. Ohio 62
  5. 5. Connecticut 61
  6. 6. Illinois 58
  7. 7. Kentucky 57
  8. 8. North Carolina 54
  9. 9. Pennsylvania 54
  10. 10. Florida 53

Lightest requirements

States where the published requirements sit at the low end of the national range.

  1. 52. Wyoming 38
  2. 51. Rhode Island 41
  3. 50. Idaho 42
  4. 49. Alabama 42
  5. 48. Wisconsin 43
  6. 47. North Dakota 43
  7. 46. Nebraska 44
  8. 45. Iowa 44
  9. 44. Vermont 45
  10. 43. South Carolina 45

Full ranking

Every state we track, ranked. The license types column shows which datasets feed each state's composite.

Rank State Burden score Heaviest requirements License types
1 New York 84 Government fees, Processing timeline Mortgage, Debt collection, Money transmitter
2 California 72 Processing timeline, Surety bond amount Mortgage, Debt collection, Money transmitter
3 Massachusetts 62 Surety bond amount, Processing timeline Debt collection, Mortgage, Money transmitter
4 Ohio 62 Net-worth floor, Surety bond amount Mortgage, Debt collection, Money transmitter
5 Connecticut 61 Surety bond amount, Government fees Mortgage, Money transmitter, Debt collection
6 Illinois 58 Surety bond amount, Government fees Mortgage, Debt collection, Money transmitter
7 Kentucky 57 Net-worth floor, Surety bond amount Mortgage, Money transmitter
8 North Carolina 54 Net-worth floor, Government fees Debt collection, Mortgage, Money transmitter
9 Pennsylvania 54 Net-worth floor, Surety bond amount Mortgage, Money transmitter, Debt collection
10 Florida 53 Surety bond amount, Renewal frequency Mortgage, Money transmitter, Debt collection
11 New Jersey 53 Surety bond amount, Government fees Mortgage, Money transmitter, Debt collection
12 Delaware 52 Government fees, Renewal frequency Mortgage, Debt collection, Money transmitter
13 Michigan 52 Surety bond amount, Government fees Mortgage, Money transmitter, Debt collection
14 District of Columbia 51 Government fees, Renewal frequency Mortgage, Money transmitter, Debt collection
15 Georgia 51 Surety bond amount, Renewal frequency Mortgage, Money transmitter
16 Hawaii 51 Surety bond amount, Renewal frequency Mortgage, Debt collection, Money transmitter
17 Minnesota 51 Government fees, Surety bond amount Mortgage, Money transmitter, Debt collection
18 Puerto Rico 51 Surety bond amount, Renewal frequency Mortgage, Money transmitter, Debt collection
19 Indiana 50 Surety bond amount, Renewal frequency Mortgage, Money transmitter, Debt collection
20 Kansas 50 Surety bond amount, Renewal frequency Mortgage, Money transmitter
21 Oregon 50 Government fees, Renewal frequency Mortgage, Debt collection, Money transmitter
22 West Virginia 50 Surety bond amount, Renewal frequency Debt collection, Mortgage, Money transmitter
23 Maryland 49 Net-worth floor, Renewal frequency Mortgage, Money transmitter, Debt collection
24 Nevada 49 Surety bond amount, Renewal frequency Mortgage, Debt collection, Money transmitter
25 Oklahoma 49 Net-worth floor, Renewal frequency Mortgage, Money transmitter
26 Washington 49 Processing timeline, Government fees Mortgage, Money transmitter, Debt collection
27 Arizona 48 Government fees, Renewal frequency Debt collection, Mortgage, Money transmitter
28 Colorado 48 Surety bond amount, Renewal frequency Money transmitter, Mortgage, Debt collection
29 Mississippi 48 Renewal frequency, Government fees Mortgage, Debt collection, Money transmitter
30 Missouri 48 Renewal frequency, Government fees Mortgage, Money transmitter
31 South Dakota 48 Renewal frequency, Government fees Mortgage, Money transmitter
32 Texas 48 Surety bond amount, Renewal frequency Debt collection, Mortgage, Money transmitter
33 Virginia 48 Renewal frequency, Government fees Mortgage, Money transmitter
34 Arkansas 47 Renewal frequency, Government fees Mortgage, Money transmitter, Debt collection
35 Louisiana 47 Renewal frequency, Government fees Mortgage, Money transmitter, Debt collection
36 Montana 47 Renewal frequency, Government fees Mortgage
37 Tennessee 47 Government fees, Renewal frequency Mortgage, Money transmitter, Debt collection
38 Utah 47 Net-worth floor, Renewal frequency Mortgage, Debt collection, Money transmitter
39 Alaska 45 Government fees, Renewal frequency Money transmitter, Mortgage, Debt collection
40 Maine 45 Renewal frequency, Processing timeline Mortgage, Money transmitter, Debt collection
41 New Hampshire 45 Renewal frequency, Processing timeline Mortgage, Debt collection, Money transmitter
42 New Mexico 45 Renewal frequency, Processing timeline Mortgage, Money transmitter, Debt collection
43 South Carolina 45 Renewal frequency, Processing timeline Debt collection, Mortgage, Money transmitter
44 Vermont 45 Renewal frequency, Processing timeline Money transmitter, Mortgage, Debt collection
45 Iowa 44 Renewal frequency, Processing timeline Mortgage, Debt collection, Money transmitter
46 Nebraska 44 Renewal frequency, Processing timeline Mortgage, Debt collection, Money transmitter
47 North Dakota 43 Renewal frequency, Processing timeline Mortgage, Debt collection, Money transmitter
48 Wisconsin 43 Renewal frequency, Processing timeline Mortgage, Money transmitter, Debt collection
49 Alabama 42 Renewal frequency, Government fees Mortgage, Money transmitter, Debt collection
50 Idaho 42 Renewal frequency, Government fees Debt collection, Mortgage, Money transmitter
51 Rhode Island 41 Renewal frequency, Processing timeline Mortgage, Debt collection, Money transmitter
52 Wyoming 38 Renewal frequency, Processing timeline Mortgage, Money transmitter, Debt collection

How the burden score works

Every input is a public fact: government filing fees, surety bond amounts, net-worth floors, indicative processing timelines, and renewal cadence, drawn from each state regulator's published requirements, the same dataset behind our state law reference pages and the cost index.

For each license type, each requirement is percentile-ranked against the other states that publish one. A state's score for that license type is the average of its available percentiles, and its composite is the average across the license types it appears in. 100 means the heaviest requirements across the board; 0 means the lightest.

The score compares regulatory requirements only. It does not measure how strict a regulator's review is, how long the queue runs in a given season, or your own cost of compliance. No client or engagement data is used anywhere in this ranking.

Questions people ask

What is the State Licensing Burden Index?
A ranked composite of how heavy each state's licensing requirements are for regulated financial services, scored 0 to 100 from regulator-published figures: government fees, surety bond amounts, net-worth floors, processing timelines, and renewal cadence. New York, California, and Massachusetts currently carry the heaviest published requirements.
What data goes into the score?
Only public regulator requirements: filing fees, surety bond amounts, net-worth floors, indicative processing timelines, and renewal cadence, across mortgage, money transmitter, and debt collection licensing. No client or engagement data is used.
Does a high score mean I should avoid that state?
No. The score measures the weight of the published requirements, not whether a state is worth entering. High-burden states are often high-value markets; the score tells you where to budget more time and capital, not where to skip.
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