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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 November 7, 2026. Built from the same public dataset as thelicensing cost and timeline index.

Heaviest requirements

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

  1. 1.New York84
  2. 2.California72
  3. 3.Massachusetts62
  4. 4.Ohio62
  5. 5.Connecticut61
  6. 6.Illinois58
  7. 7.Kentucky57
  8. 8.North Carolina54
  9. 9.Pennsylvania54
  10. 10.Florida53

Lightest requirements

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

  1. 52.Wyoming38
  2. 51.Rhode Island41
  3. 50.Idaho42
  4. 49.Alabama42
  5. 48.Wisconsin43
  6. 47.North Dakota43
  7. 46.Nebraska44
  8. 45.Iowa44
  9. 44.Vermont45
  10. 43.South Carolina45

Full ranking

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

RankStateBurden scoreHeaviest requirementsLicense types
1New York84Government fees, Processing timelineMortgage, Debt collection, Money transmitter
2California72Processing timeline, Surety bond amountMortgage, Debt collection, Money transmitter
3Massachusetts62Surety bond amount, Processing timelineDebt collection, Mortgage, Money transmitter
4Ohio62Net-worth floor, Surety bond amountMortgage, Debt collection, Money transmitter
5Connecticut61Surety bond amount, Government feesMortgage, Money transmitter, Debt collection
6Illinois58Surety bond amount, Government feesMortgage, Debt collection, Money transmitter
7Kentucky57Net-worth floor, Surety bond amountMortgage, Money transmitter
8North Carolina54Net-worth floor, Government feesDebt collection, Mortgage, Money transmitter
9Pennsylvania54Net-worth floor, Surety bond amountMortgage, Money transmitter, Debt collection
10Florida53Surety bond amount, Renewal frequencyMortgage, Money transmitter, Debt collection
11New Jersey53Surety bond amount, Government feesMortgage, Money transmitter, Debt collection
12Delaware52Government fees, Renewal frequencyMortgage, Debt collection, Money transmitter
13Michigan52Surety bond amount, Government feesMortgage, Money transmitter, Debt collection
14District of Columbia51Government fees, Renewal frequencyMortgage, Money transmitter, Debt collection
15Georgia51Surety bond amount, Renewal frequencyMortgage, Money transmitter
16Hawaii51Surety bond amount, Renewal frequencyMortgage, Debt collection, Money transmitter
17Minnesota51Government fees, Surety bond amountMortgage, Money transmitter, Debt collection
18Puerto Rico51Surety bond amount, Renewal frequencyMortgage, Money transmitter, Debt collection
19Indiana50Surety bond amount, Renewal frequencyMortgage, Money transmitter, Debt collection
20Kansas50Surety bond amount, Renewal frequencyMortgage, Money transmitter
21Oregon50Government fees, Renewal frequencyMortgage, Debt collection, Money transmitter
22West Virginia50Surety bond amount, Renewal frequencyDebt collection, Mortgage, Money transmitter
23Maryland49Net-worth floor, Renewal frequencyMortgage, Money transmitter, Debt collection
24Nevada49Surety bond amount, Renewal frequencyMortgage, Money transmitter, Debt collection
25Oklahoma49Net-worth floor, Renewal frequencyMortgage, Money transmitter
26Washington49Processing timeline, Government feesMortgage, Money transmitter, Debt collection
27Arizona48Government fees, Renewal frequencyMortgage, Debt collection, Money transmitter
28Colorado48Surety bond amount, Renewal frequencyMoney transmitter, Mortgage, Debt collection
29Mississippi48Renewal frequency, Government feesMortgage, Debt collection, Money transmitter
30Missouri48Renewal frequency, Government feesMortgage, Money transmitter
31South Dakota48Renewal frequency, Government feesMortgage, Money transmitter
32Texas48Surety bond amount, Renewal frequencyMortgage, Debt collection, Money transmitter
33Virginia48Renewal frequency, Government feesMortgage, Money transmitter
34Arkansas47Renewal frequency, Government feesMortgage, Money transmitter, Debt collection
35Louisiana47Renewal frequency, Government feesMortgage, Money transmitter, Debt collection
36Montana47Renewal frequency, Government feesMortgage
37Tennessee47Government fees, Renewal frequencyMortgage, Money transmitter, Debt collection
38Utah47Net-worth floor, Renewal frequencyMortgage, Debt collection, Money transmitter
39Alaska45Government fees, Renewal frequencyMoney transmitter, Mortgage, Debt collection
40Maine45Renewal frequency, Processing timelineMortgage, Money transmitter, Debt collection
41New Hampshire45Renewal frequency, Processing timelineMortgage, Debt collection, Money transmitter
42New Mexico45Renewal frequency, Processing timelineMortgage, Money transmitter, Debt collection
43South Carolina45Renewal frequency, Processing timelineDebt collection, Mortgage, Money transmitter
44Vermont45Renewal frequency, Processing timelineMoney transmitter, Mortgage, Debt collection
45Iowa44Renewal frequency, Processing timelineMortgage, Debt collection, Money transmitter
46Nebraska44Renewal frequency, Processing timelineMortgage, Money transmitter, Debt collection
47North Dakota43Renewal frequency, Processing timelineMortgage, Debt collection, Money transmitter
48Wisconsin43Renewal frequency, Processing timelineMortgage, Money transmitter, Debt collection
49Alabama42Renewal frequency, Government feesMortgage, Money transmitter, Debt collection
50Idaho42Renewal frequency, Government feesMortgage, Debt collection, Money transmitter
51Rhode Island41Renewal frequency, Processing timelineMortgage, Money transmitter, Debt collection
52Wyoming38Renewal frequency, Processing timelineMortgage, 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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