What is an occupational licence?

A state occupational licence is government permission to perform regulated work or use a protected professional title in that state.

Whether you need one depends on the occupation, the work you actually do, and the state's laws. A licence for one state does not automatically authorise work in another.

Who issues licences?

State licensing boards and government agencies issue and oversee occupational licences. Depending on the profession, a board may sit within a department or division. It sets or administers the requirements established by state law, handles applications and renewals, and may investigate complaints or take disciplinary action.

The issuing body named on a directory record is the place to confirm the current rules. Local permits or business requirements may apply separately.

Licence, certification and registration

• Licence: permission under state law to do specified work or use a regulated title. Entry requirements may include education, an exam or experience.
• Certification: a credential showing that someone meets a standard, often from a professional or industry organisation. It is not automatically legal permission to practise, although a state may require it as part of licensing.
• Registration: being listed with a public authority or other organisation. It may involve an application, a fee or other conditions. In some states registration is itself a legal requirement; the label alone does not tell you how much work it authorises.

States do not always use these terms in the same way. Read the board's rules rather than assuming that a certification or registration replaces a licence. See licence vs certification for more detail.

How to check using this directory

• Search for your job title, or open your state page or an occupation page.
• Open the matching licence record and read the reported status and requirements. If a title has several records, check each one for a different board or scope of work.
• Follow the licence or board website link, where provided, and confirm the exact work covered, application requirements and current rules with the issuing board.
• To verify a particular person's licence, use the board's official lookup or contact the board. This directory describes licence types; it is not a register of individual licence holders.

Coverage is uneven. A missing record means a state has not reported a licence for that occupation in this dataset, not that the work is unlicensed. Older records and unreported fields need confirmation.

Already licensed elsewhere? Read licence by endorsement and reciprocity before planning a move.