The Archbridge Institute has released a new State Occupational Licensing Index which ranks the fifty states and District of Columbia by the number of occupations to which access is legally restricted. The research team of Noah Trudeau and Edward Timmons found that Arkansas was the most restrictive state, erecting barriers to 212 of the 331 professions they reviewed. Texas came in second, with 207 restricted occupations. At the other extreme, Kansas and Missouri were the least restrictive, regulating entry to 147 and 151 occupations, respectively.

For those who associate red states with greater economic freedom, the index carries some surprises. The top four (i.e., four most restrictive) states in the index are all Republican-led with Arkansas and Texas followed closely by Alabama and Oklahoma. Meanwhile, New York (ranked 40th) and Illinois (ranked 45th) displayed higher levels of occupational freedom.

To move down the index, state officials should review their occupational licensing requirements to see which ones (if any) are necessary. It is worth remembering that consumers can also receive assurance about practitioners they are considering from privately certification agencies and reviews available at sites like Angi and Yelp. It is also worth remembering that a state license cannot guarantee that a service provider is competent or ethical.

While reviewing their license requirements, state governments should also make it easier for out-of-state licensees to begin serving customers without going through a fresh licensing process. This policy of universal licensing recognition has been adopted to a greater or lesser extent in eighteen states. In a new working paper, Kihwan Bae and Edward Timmons found that universal licensing recognition was associated with lower unemployment and greater labor force participation.

As I’ve discussed previously on Cato at Liberty, occupational licensing reform is gaining momentum in multiple states. The newly available Archbridge index can help us determine which states are in the greatest need of such reforms.