Non-Compete Enforceability by State

Current as of 2026

Thresholds adjust annually and new state laws take effect on rolling dates throughout the year. There is no federal non-compete rule — the FTC's 2024 rule was struck down in court and formally withdrawn in February 2026, so this is governed entirely by state law.

Near-total bans

These states void virtually all employee/contractor non-competes, with narrow exceptions typically limited to the sale of a business or dissolution of a partnership/LLC.

State	Status	Note
California	Void	Bus. & Prof. Code §16600; applies even to agreements signed outside the state
Minnesota	Void	Minn. Stat. §181.988, agreements after July 1, 2023
North Dakota	Void	Century Code §9-08-06
Oklahoma	Void	Customer non-solicitation still generally permitted
Montana	Void	Mont. Code §28-2-703; sale-of-business exception
Wyoming	Void (2025 statute)	Narrow executive/equity-holder carve-outs
Washington	Transitioning	Near-total ban effective June 30, 2027 — currently income-threshold based (see below)

Income-threshold restrictions

Non-competes are void below the listed income level; thresholds adjust for inflation and change year to year.

State	2026 threshold (approx.)	Note
Colorado	~$127,091	14-day separate written notice required; $5,000 statutory penalty per violation
District of Columbia	~$162,000	Highest threshold nationally; written disclosure required before signing
Illinois	$75,000	14-day review period required (Illinois Freedom to Work Act)
Massachusetts	FLSA-exempt status	Requires garden-leave pay or other consideration; 12-month cap
Oregon	~$116,427	12-month cap; 2-week advance notice required before employment begins
Tennessee	$70,000	New via HB 1034, effective July 1, 2026
Virginia	Tied to avg. weekly wage of overtime-eligible workers	Voids for low-wage/overtime-eligible workers
Washington (current)	~$126,858 employees / ~$317,147 contractors	2-week notice required; transitions to near-total ban June 2027

Other significant restrictions

Healthcare-specific bans (expanding): Pennsylvania, Maryland, Rhode Island, Indiana, Iowa, New Hampshire and others void non-competes for physicians, PAs, nurse practitioners, dentists, and related clinicians in at least some circumstances.
Procedural requirements: Colorado, Illinois, Massachusetts, Oregon, and Washington all require specific advance notice and/or a review period — a non-compete that's otherwise valid can still be voided for a paperwork failure.
Narrower carve-outs: Hawaii (tech workers), Arizona (broadcast industry), Utah (12-month cap), Nebraska (no judicial "blue-pencil" rewriting — an overreaching clause is void entirely, not narrowed), South Carolina (same "red pencil" rule).

Broadly enforceable, few restrictions

These states apply a general reasonableness test (duration, geography, scope, legitimate business interest) and, in most cases, will judicially narrow ("blue-pencil") an overbroad clause rather than void it outright. Most employer-friendly: Florida, Texas, Georgia, North Carolina. Also generally enforceable under a reasonableness standard: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, West Virginia, Wisconsin.

Practical takeaway

Given how much of this map is either void, income-gated, or procedurally fragile, a standalone non-compete is a weak default tool for most counterparties. The Non-Solicitation & Non-Interference Agreement covers the same underlying concern — protecting client and personnel relationships — with terms that hold up in nearly every state.