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Most states license private investigators through a state board or the state police, with experience, exam, bond and insurance requirements that vary widely — and a few states have no state PI license at all. Each guide below covers what that state requires to work as, and to open, a private investigation business, sourced to the licensing agency.
Pick your state
How to Become a Private Investigator — guides for all 50 states and D.C.
- Alabama
- Alaska
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- California
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- 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
- Washington, D.C.
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
What every state guide covers
- Whether the state requires a general business license — and what your city or county requires instead (see the 51-state table).
- Entity registration with the Secretary of State, and the filing fee.
- The private investigator business’s own licenses and permits — which agency issues them, in what order, and what they cost.
- Insurance the state actually mandates, separated from what is merely advisable.
- Sources — every fee and rule is linked to the agency page or statute it came from.
Related
- Business license requirements by state — which states require a general license and what the rest require instead.
- Workers’ comp requirements by state — the employee threshold that triggers coverage in each state.
Step one in every state above: the entity
The license, the permits and the insurance all attach to a registered business. ZenBusiness files your LLC for $0 plus the state fee, in any state.
Affiliate link — we earn a commission at no cost to you.
Bond requirement: compare every state in our PI bond requirements table (all 50 states + DC).