OT Compact States

11 states issue and accept OT Compact privileges, by the Occupational Therapy Compact Commission's map read 9 Nov 2026: Arkansas, Indiana, Maryland, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin. 26 more have enacted it but are not issuing privileges yet: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Delaware, Georgia, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, Washington and Wyoming. A bill to join has been introduced in Illinois, Massachusetts and New York.

California, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon and Texas, and Illinois, Massachusetts and New York until their bill passes. There, and in a state that has enacted the compact but is not issuing yet, occupational therapists and OT assistants licensed elsewhere need that state's own license.

The OT Compact Commission's FAQ: your home state (where you live and are licensed) and the state you want to work in must both be members, and your home state must have completed an FBI criminal background check on you. Each member state opens applications on its own timeline. The commission charges $75 per privilege to practice and each state sets its own fee, paid together at the end of the application; a state may require its jurisprudence exam, and continuing education is only your home state's. A privilege to practice counts as a license to practise in that state. (the commission's page)

Now, between the 11 member states already issuing privileges (Arkansas, Indiana, Maryland, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin). The 26 others that enacted the compact open applications on their own timeline, the commission says, so until then a license from the state is the way to work there.

1,981 jobs for occupational therapists and OT assistants are open on this board today in the states issuing OT Compact privileges, of 9,104 nationwide, each read from the employer's own careers site. A state in the table opens its occupational therapist jobs.