Esthetician licensing
Esthetician License Requirements by State (2026): Hours, Exams, Fees
Choose a state, scan the facts, then open the official board source before you enroll or apply.
Across every state
How esthetician licensing differs by state
Every state licenses estheticians, but the requirements are not close to uniform. Training runs from 220 hours in Florida to 1,000 hours in Alabama, Georgia and Kansas, against a median of 600 hours across the 51 jurisdictions tracked here. That spread is the single biggest thing to check before you enrol, because it also decides how hard your licence is to transfer later.
Examinations differ just as much: 39 jurisdictions require both a written and a hands-on practical examination, and 10 require a written examination only. Connecticut and Florida require no state esthetician examination at all, so training and the application are the whole path there.
Esthetician licensing at a glance
- Training hours
- 220-1,000 hours, median 600
- Written exam
- 49 of 51 jurisdictions
- Practical exam
- 39 of 51 jurisdictions
- Jurisdictions covered
- 51 states and DC
Training hours by state
- 200-299 hrs
- Florida
- 300-399 hrs
- Alaska, Pennsylvania
- 400-499 hrs
- Michigan, Oregon, South Carolina, Wisconsin
- 600-699 hrs
- Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington D.C., West Virginia, Wyoming
- 700-799 hrs
- Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Tennessee, Texas, Washington
- 1,000-1,099 hrs
- Alabama, Georgia, Kansas
Showing all 50 states + DC
Verify before applying. Licensing rules, fees, providers, and exam formats can change. Use the linked board source as the final authority.