About ContractorLicenseCost.us

What This Site Does

ContractorLicenseCost.us is a fee directory for US contractor licenses. It gathers what state licensing boards charge — application fees, exam fees, license and renewal fees, and surety bond amounts — and organizes them by state and trade, with a calculator on each page so you can total the cost of a license before you apply.

Coverage currently spans 9 states, and it grows only where the fee data can be checked properly. This is not a government website: we do not issue licenses, accept applications, or collect state fees.

Where the Numbers Come From

Fee schedules are compiled from state licensing board publications, application forms, and fee tables, including:

• Texas Department of Licensing & Regulation (TDLR) and Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners (TSBPE)
• California Contractors State License Board (CSLB)
• Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR)
• Arizona Registrar of Contractors (ROC)
• New York City Department of Buildings (DOB) and county licensing offices
• Georgia Secretary of State Professional Licensing Boards

An honest note on where the data stands: this directory was rebuilt in October 2026 after an internal audit found that too many of its schedules rested on general estimates instead of board documents. A line-by-line re-verification of every schedule against its board source is now under way.

Until a schedule passes that check, its page says so in plain words near the top, and pages based on estimates are kept out of the search index. Where a state does not license a trade at state level at all, the page says that instead of presenting a state schedule that does not exist.

Who Runs It

ContractorLicenseCost.us is run by Kids Data, an independent research desk, and edited by Daniel Mercer, its licensing research editor. No licensing board owns, funds, or endorses this site, and no board, bond company, or advertiser can pay to change a figure that appears here. If a number on this site and a number on a board's website disagree, the board is right and we want to know about it.

Corrections & Contact

Boards change fees without much notice, and mistakes happen on our side too. If you spot a figure that does not match the board's current schedule, email us at contact@contractorlicensecost.us. Every correction is checked against the board source before the page is updated.