Research
State Licensing Data Report
Which states make licensing hardest for regulated financial services? This report ranks every state we track across mortgage, money transmitter, and debt collection licensing using regulator-published requirements only: government fees, surety bond amounts, net-worth floors, processing timelines, and renewal cadence.
Data as of July 16, 2026. Every figure is computed live from the same dataset behind our state-law library and licensing data index, so the report never goes stale.
By Cornerstone Staff, Financial Services State Licensing Specialists
Headline findings
New York
heaviest published licensing requirements overall
Burden score 86 of 100, driven by government fees and processing timeline.
$500,000
highest statutory surety bond (California, money transmitter)
State regulator statutes compiled in our state-law index.
up to 54 weeks
longest indicative processing timeline (California, money transmitter)
Regulator-published processing windows in the licensing data index.
156
state-by-state licensing summaries maintained across 52 jurisdictions
Cornerstone state-law library, verified on an ongoing cadence.
Hardest states to get licensed
Composite burden score across the license types each state regulates. 100 means the heaviest published requirements across the board.
- 1. New York Government fees, Processing timeline 86
- 2. California Net-worth floor, Processing timeline 77
- 3. Massachusetts Surety bond amount, Processing timeline 62
- 4. Illinois Surety bond amount, Government fees 61
- 5. Connecticut Surety bond amount, Government fees 58
- 6. Florida Surety bond amount, Renewal frequency 58
- 7. Ohio Surety bond amount, Government fees 56
- 8. Delaware Government fees, Surety bond amount 54
- 9. Texas Net-worth floor, Surety bond amount 54
- 10. District of Columbia Government fees, Surety bond amount 53
Easiest states to get licensed
States where the published requirements sit at the light end of the national range.
- 52. Wyoming 41
- 51. Wisconsin 42
- 50. Rhode Island 42
- 49. North Dakota 42
- 48. New Mexico 42
- 47. Nebraska 43
- 46. Iowa 43
- 45. Maryland 44
- 44. Alabama 44
- 43. Vermont 45
The full 0 to 100 ranking of every tracked state lives on the State Licensing Burden Index.
Findings by license type
Mortgage licensing
- 52 of 52 US jurisdictions require a mortgage license.
- Statutory surety bond requirements span $10,000 to $50,000 across licensing states.
Highest surety bonds
- California $50,000
- Florida $50,000
- Illinois $50,000
- New York $50,000
- Texas $50,000
Longest timelines
- California up to 28 weeks
- New York up to 28 weeks
- Alabama up to 24 weeks
- Alaska up to 24 weeks
- Arizona up to 24 weeks
Money transmitter licensing
- 51 of 52 US jurisdictions require a money transmitter license.
- Statutory surety bond requirements span $10,000 to $500,000 across licensing states.
Highest surety bonds
- California $500,000
- New York $500,000
- Texas $300,000
- Florida $250,000
- Illinois $100,000
Longest timelines
- California up to 54 weeks
- New York up to 54 weeks
- Alabama up to 42 weeks
- Alaska up to 42 weeks
- Arizona up to 42 weeks
Highest filing fees
- Alabama $5,000
- Alaska $5,000
- Arizona $5,000
- Arkansas $5,000
- California $5,000
Debt collection licensing
- 38 of 52 US jurisdictions require a debt collection license.
- Statutory surety bond requirements span $5,000 to $50,000 across licensing states.
Highest surety bonds
- Florida $50,000
- California $25,000
- Delaware $25,000
- Massachusetts $25,000
- Illinois $25,000
Longest timelines
- New York up to 27 weeks
- California up to 25 weeks
- Massachusetts up to 24 weeks
- Washington up to 23 weeks
- Alabama up to 21 weeks
Highest filing fees
- New York $1,000
- Connecticut $800
- Illinois $600
- Massachusetts $600
- California $562
Methodology and sourcing
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.
Bond amounts, license requirements, and verification dates come from our state-law library. Timelines and government fees come from the licensing data index, which recomputes on a recurring schedule. A license type only appears in this report when its dataset is substantially complete, and any state missing a published figure is excluded from that ranking rather than estimated.