Professional Engineer (PE) License Reciprocity by State (2026)
Last verified: 2026-07-21
All 51 US engineering boards license an out-of-state Professional Engineer by comity rather than through a compact or a partner list. The differences that matter are fees, any state-specific exam, and turnaround — not whether the door is open. The board-by-board table below is the complete map as of 2026-07-21, verified against each state board and NCEES.
Check your exact transfer pathway
Pathway, requirements, fees, and board links for your specific state pair.
The pathways, applied to engineering
Licensure by comity through an NCEES Record
This is the route for almost every move. You hold an active PE license in one state, have NCEES transmit your Record — transcripts, experience, references, and FE/PE results — to the destination board, and the board issues a new PE license once it confirms your file meets its statute. Comity, endorsement, and reciprocity are three names for this same review; "comity" is the term most boards and NCEES use.
The Model Law Engineer fast track
An engineer whose education, examinations, and experience meet the national Model Law can earn the Model Law Engineer (MLE) designation on their NCEES Record. Boards that recognize the MLE treat that Record as already vetted against a common standard, so the comity review is shorter and asks for less. If a multi-state career is likely, building the Record to MLE specifications before you need it is the single highest-leverage step.
Comity plus a state-specific exam
A minority of boards accept your FE and PE but add their own examination on top. California and Oregon require state-specific seismic and/or surveying exams, and some boards require a short statutes, rules, or ethics review before the license issues. These are additions, not substitutions — no board re-administers the FE or PE, and each state page names exactly what it requires beyond them.
Building or updating your NCEES Record
Comity assumes you can produce verified proof of your degree, experience, and exams; the NCEES Record is where that proof lives. Engineers who have never assembled one gather it once — official transcripts, an employment/experience history, professional references, and exam results — and NCEES then transmits it to each board on demand. The same Record serves every future move, which is what makes holding licenses in several states manageable.
Comity waives re-examination, not the underlying standard: your degree must come from an EAC/ABET-accredited program and your qualifying experience (commonly around four years, but set by each board) must satisfy the destination's practice act. Every state page carries that board's own requirement and the date we last verified it.
One prerequisite is universal and non-negotiable: the license you are transferring must be active and unencumbered. An open disciplinary matter or a lapsed license stalls a comity application at the good-standing verification step, so resolve both before you file.
The master matrix: every state by pathway
| Pathway (as destination) | States |
|---|---|
| Licensure by endorsement(51) | Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming |
Fees & timelines: the spread
Lowest verified application fees
- Pennsylvania$50
- Tennessee$55
- Wisconsin$55
- Maryland$56–$142
- South Carolina$60
Highest verified application fees
- Ohio$415
- Oregon$400
- New York$377
- New Mexico$325–$375
- Arizona$325
Processing times range from ~1 weeks (Nevada) to 8–26 weeks (Massachusetts) — where a board publishes no timeframe, the state page says so honestly instead of guessing.
Frequently asked questions
How does engineering license reciprocity work in 2026?
All 51 US engineering boards license an out-of-state Professional Engineer by comity rather than through a compact or a partner list. The differences that matter are fees, any state-specific exam, and turnaround — not whether the door is open. The board-by-board table below is the complete map as of 2026-07-21, verified against each state board and NCEES.
Is there an engineering licensure compact?
No. Unlike nursing's Nurse Licensure Compact, engineering has no interstate compact and no multistate PE license. Each state licenses Professional Engineers independently, and you move between them by comity — a new application the destination board reviews against its own statute.
Do I have to retake the PE exam when I move to another state?
No. The FE and PE are national NCEES exams; your passing results transfer inside your NCEES Record and are never re-administered. A few boards add a separate state-specific exam (California and Oregon require seismic and/or surveying exams), but the FE and PE themselves are not repeated.
What is an NCEES Record and do I need one for comity?
An NCEES Record is a verified file NCEES builds from your transcripts, employment history, references, and FE/PE results, then transmits directly to any board you designate. Most boards accept it for comity, and it is the efficient way to apply to several states from one file. Transmitting it costs $175 for the first board and $100 for each additional board (as of 2026-07-21); the state's own application fee is separate.
What is a Model Law Engineer (MLE)?
Model Law Engineer is an NCEES designation for a PE whose education, examinations, and experience meet the national Model Law standard. Boards that recognize it treat an MLE Record as pre-verified and expedite the comity review, which is why building your Record to MLE specifications ahead of a move pays off.
Why do engineering reciprocity lists online disagree so much?
Because engineering has no reciprocity-partner lists at all — comity is a universal application, not a network of named states. Aggregators that publish partner tables for PEs are inventing them. Where a fact matters, the state board's own page and NCEES are the only reliable sources.
Reviewed by Billy Reiner, Editor · verified against primary sources 2026-07-21
How we verify · All sources · spot an error? [email protected]