Non-Compete Agreement Checker
Can your employer actually stop you?
30 million Americans are bound by non-compete agreements. Most have no idea if theirs holds up. Select your state to find out.
Popular States
Check your state’s laws
How It Works
Three steps to clarity
Select your state
We pull the latest laws, thresholds, and statutes for your state.
Enter your details
Salary, duration, industry, and how you left — all kept private.
Get your analysis
Our AI cross-references your salary, duration, industry, and departure against your state’s statutes, thresholds, and case law — analyzing 6+ factors to give you a clear verdict.
Real Cases
When non-competes go wrong
These are real stories of workers who faced non-compete enforcement. Roughly 18% of American workers — about 30 million people — are currently bound by non-competes.
Jimmy John's Forced Sandwich Makers to Sign Non-Competes Barring Work at Any Deli
Jimmy John's required its sandwich makers and delivery drivers -- workers earning near minimum wage -- to sign non-compete agreements prohibiting them from working at any business that sold 'submarine, hero-type, deli-style, pita, and/or wrapped or rolled sandwiches' within two miles of any Jimmy John's location in the United States for two years after leaving. The Illinois Attorney General filed a lawsuit in June 2016, and the New York Attorney General launched a separate investigation. Workers who wanted to leave for a better-paying food service job were effectively locked out of the entire sandwich industry.
Outcome
Jimmy John's agreed to stop using non-compete clauses in hiring packets nationwide, paid $100,000 to fund education and outreach programs, and was required to notify current and former employees that their non-competes would not be enforced.
Security Guards Earning Minimum Wage Threatened with $100,000 Penalties for Changing Jobs
Prudential Security, Inc. and Prudential Command, Inc., two Michigan-based companies, required their security guards -- most earning at or near minimum wage -- to sign non-compete agreements barring them from working for any competing security company within a 100-mile radius for two years. The contracts included a $100,000 penalty clause for any alleged violation. Prudential actively enforced these agreements by suing individual employees and competing companies, blocking workers from accepting jobs that offered significantly higher wages. Approximately 1,500 former employees were still bound by these restrictions when the FTC intervened.
Outcome
The FTC ordered Prudential to void all existing non-compete agreements, banned the companies and their owners from ever enforcing or threatening to enforce non-competes on any current or past workers, and required notification to all affected employees.
Pet Cremation Company Locked 1,800 Workers -- Including Hourly Laborers and Drivers -- Into Nationwide Non-Competes
Gateway Services, the largest pet cremation business in the U.S. with over 100 locations serving 17,000 veterinary clinics, imposed non-compete agreements on nearly 1,800 employees prohibiting them from working anywhere in the pet cremation industry in the entire United States for one year after leaving. The agreements were applied without any individualized consideration of an employee's role -- hourly cremation facility laborers, drivers, and customer service staff were subject to the same nationwide restrictions as executives. The FTC filed an enforcement action in September 2025, marking a shift to case-by-case non-compete enforcement after its blanket ban was struck down.
Outcome
In November 2025, the FTC finalized a consent order requiring Gateway to stop enforcing all existing non-competes and banning it from entering into similar agreements in the future, freeing nearly 1,800 workers.
Reference
Non-compete laws by state
Updated for 2026. Click any state for detailed analysis.
| State | Status | Salary Threshold | Max Duration | Pencil Doctrine |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | Enforceable | — | — | blue |
| Alaska | Enforceable | — | — | blue |
| Arizona | Enforceable | — | — | blue |
| Arkansas | Enforceable | — | — | red |
| California | Banned | — | — | — |
| Colorado | Restricted | $130,014/yr | — | reformation |
| Connecticut | Enforceable | — | — | blue |
| Delaware | Enforceable | — | — | reformation |
| District of Columbia | Restricted | $162,164/yr | 12 months | — |
| Florida | Enforceable | — | — | reformation |
| Georgia | Enforceable | — | 24 months | reformation |
| Hawaii | Restricted | — | — | reformation |
| Idaho | Enforceable | $101,585/yr | 18 months | reformation |
| Illinois | Restricted | $75,000/yr | — | reformation |
| Indiana | Enforceable | — | — | blue |
| Iowa | Enforceable | — | — | reformation |
| Kansas | Enforceable | — | — | reformation |
| Kentucky | Enforceable | — | — | blue |
| Louisiana | Enforceable | — | 24 months | red |
| Maine | Restricted | $63,840/yr | 12 months | reformation |
| Maryland | Restricted | $49,920/yr | — | reformation |
| Massachusetts | Restricted | — | 12 months | reformation |
| Michigan | Enforceable | — | — | reformation |
| Minnesota | Banned | — | — | — |
| Mississippi | Enforceable | — | — | blue |
| Missouri | Enforceable | — | — | reformation |
| Montana | Enforceable | — | — | reformation |
| Nebraska | Enforceable | — | — | red |
| Nevada | Restricted | — | — | reformation |
| New Hampshire | Restricted | $30,160/yr | — | reformation |
| New Jersey | Enforceable | — | — | reformation |
| New Mexico | Enforceable | — | — | reformation |
| New York | Enforceable | — | — | reformation |
| North Carolina | Enforceable | — | — | blue |
| North Dakota | Banned | — | — | — |
| Ohio | Enforceable | — | — | reformation |
| Oklahoma | Banned | — | — | — |
| Oregon | Restricted | $119,541/yr | 12 months | reformation |
| Pennsylvania | Enforceable | — | — | reformation |
| Rhode Island | Restricted | $39,900/yr | 12 months | reformation |
| South Carolina | Enforceable | — | — | blue |
| South Dakota | Enforceable | — | 24 months | reformation |
| Tennessee | Enforceable | — | — | reformation |
| Texas | Enforceable | — | — | reformation |
| Utah | Restricted | — | 12 months | reformation |
| Vermont | Enforceable | — | — | reformation |
| Virginia | Restricted | $78,365/yr | — | red |
| Washington | Restricted | $126,859/yr | 18 months | reformation |
| West Virginia | Enforceable | — | — | reformation |
| Wisconsin | Enforceable | — | — | red |
| Wyoming | Restricted | — | — | — |
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Don’t let uncertainty hold you back
30 million Americans are bound by non-competes. Find out if yours is actually enforceable — in minutes, not weeks.
Personalized analysis