Wildlife Control Operator Licensing

States Licensed

23

of 50 states and D.C.

×

Burden Rank

78th

for average burdens 1st is worst

=

Combined Rank

74th

for states licensed x average burdens 1st is worst

Change from 2017 to 2022, if any:
Burden increased
Burden decreased
Mixed burden change
N
New license
E
Eliminated license
2022 Licensing Burden Rank
Lower Burden Rank
Higher Burden Rank
No state license

How does my state compare to others?

Compare Now

Definition

Wildlife control operators take or trap, transport, and release wildlife when it becomes a nuisance, destroys property or threatens public safety. 1

2022 Snapshot

  • 28 unlicensed states
  • Days lost range from 0 (15 states) to 731 (Washington)
  • Fees range from $0 (Illinois, Indiana, Kansas) to $275 (Oklahoma)
  • 20 states require 1+ exam
  • 13 states set minimum age
  • 0 states set minimum grade

Changes Since 2017

  • No licenses created or removed
  • 7 states increased fees; Washington and Massachusetts increased education and experience; Washington, Louisiana and Massachusetts increased exams; and Maryland established a minimum age requirement
  • Burden rank worsened 8 spots, largely because of increases across 4 out of 5 burden types; combined rank stayed the same, largely because of burden changes in similarly ranked occupations

2022 Licensing Burden in Detail

N New License
E Eliminated License
Increase
Decrease

Data Notes: 2022 data collected between February 3, 2020, and March 18, 2022. Fees include charges for application review and license issuance; exams; background checks, credit reports and fingerprinting; recovery fund contributions; third-party certification; and certain fees for training courses. Calendar days lost were estimated based on required education and experience; except for amounts smaller than one day, days lost are rounded to whole days and thus may not reflect very small changes between 2017 and 2022. Appendix A details methods for estimating days lost and calculating burden ranks. Complete data, including revised 2017 data, are available at https://ij.org/report/license-to-work-3/ltw3-data/.

Additional Resources