The license table is furnished to the ARC by state LMI offices. For more detail on this process, see our FAQ.
A review of the data quality and contents was conducted in 2018-2019. A summary of that work is available here.
Data Sources
The original source for this data varies by state. Once it’s been submitted to the ARC it’s reviewed and standardized and made available to the public. The primary means of publication is through the CareerOneStop LicenseFinder tool, but download files are also available from their site and on a state-by-state basis from the ARC. While these are useful for states to review and are helpful for cross-state comparisons, this is not a source for the deliverable that is to be submitted.
| National | State | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Source | CSOR NCSL License to Work | There are a number of organizations that have made efforts to track occupational licenses. They rarely are related back to SOC or ONET occupational coding, they may be limited in scope to certain types of occupations, and they may not be frequently updated. However, many add value that the WID structure doesn’t have, such as richer descriptive content or detail on types of requirements (“good moral character”, for example). | |
| Varies | Every state manages this differently and some are handled at the department level rather than by a central source. | ||
| WID Version? | Download Here | State-specific files here | This comes from state-submitted data. Improvements made centrally include – standardizing occupational coding so it compares across states, – adding licenses identified as missing by other sources or collected centrally, – adding license compacts, – adding industry where relevant, – organizing descriptions into indicator values for key requirements |
Table Format
In version 2.8 several requirements fields were added to allow comparison of license characteristics between states. Preliminary values have been generated from existing license descriptions and other data sources for most licenses.
Update Calendar
States should submit revisions every year by June 30. To find out when your state’s most recent submission was, email ARC.DEED@state.mn.us.
