State rankings

Squatters Rights by State

Texas has the highest Years to Claim Ownership (30), followed by New Jersey (30) and Pennsylvania (21). Arizona has the lowest (3).

LawPolitics & Government50 states · 3 metricsUpdated Mar 23, 2025Original page
5 sources
Years to Claim OwnershipBetter directionWhether a higher or a lower value is better. A green arrow means higher is better, a red arrow means lower is better, and no arrow means neither.More in the glossary →
50 of 51 states
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Years to Claim Ownership

Darker means higher. Click a place to highlight it.

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All 50 ranked

Highest first.

Distribution Median and middle halfThe median is the middle value: half of places are above it, half below. The middle half is the range holding the central 50% of places.More in the glossary →

Each dot is one state; the lines mark the median and the middle half.

Median
12.5
Middle half 10 – 20
Average
13.8
50 states
Highest
30
Texas
Lowest
3
Arizona

Data

Click a column to sort, a row to highlight that place on the charts.

50 states · # = rank by Years to Claim Ownership
#
1Texas3010A continuous period of 30 years of occupation by a squatter is required to claim adverse possession.
1New Jersey3020+In New Jersey, squatters must occupy the property for 30 years before claiming adverse possession. In the case of woodlands, squatters must occupy it for 60 years.
3Pennsylvania2120+—
3Ohio2120+Squatters must live on a property for 21 years without permission, openly and obviously, to make an adverse possession claim.
5Illinois2020+Squatters must overtly occupy a property without permission for a minimum of 20 years and pay taxes for 7 years to be given the chance to transfer the deed.
5North Carolina2020+To claim adverse possession, continuous possession of the property for 20 years is required, except in cases where the squatters have a justifiable reason to believe they own the property. In the latter case, the time requirement drops to 7 years.
5Massachusetts2020+Squatters must have open, actual, notorious, exclusive and ongoing possession for 20 years to claim ownership.
5Maryland2020+The general legal requirement for adverse possession is continuous possession for 20 years. It also has 30-day Maryland squatters’ rights and will be applied in most situations.
5Wisconsin2020+Wisconsin also has 30-day squatters’ rights that can be applied. But to claim adverse possession, a squatter must possess the property in a hostile, exclusive, open, notorious, continuous, and uninterrupted manner for 20 years.
5Idaho2020+Requires payment of taxes and possession for 20 years.
5Hawaii2020+—
5New Hampshire2020+Squatters must maintain continuous possession of the property for at least 20 years.
5Maine2020+A squatter must have continuous and uninterrupted possession for 20 years and either a claim of title or the payment of taxes.
5Delaware2020Claimant must live on property.
5South Dakota2020+A squatter must occupy the premises for 20 years to claim adverse possession/color of title or have paid taxes for 10 years to claim adverse possession.
5North Dakota2020+A squatter must occupy the property for 20 years, have an implied title, or pay taxes for 7 years to claim adverse possession.
17Colorado1815-20Squatters can take possession of property where they have lived for 18 years with a deed or pay taxes on the property for seven years. With the 30-day squatter provision in Colorado, if the property owner knows a squatter is occupying a given property, the squatter can gain th…
18Michigan1515-20After 15 years of overt possession, a squatter can gain possession of the property but must go to court to receive the legal title.
18Virginia1515-20—
18Minnesota1515-20Squatters must have open, actual, obvious, exclusive, and continuous possession of property for 15 years to claim adverse possession.
18Kentucky1515-20Adverse possession can occur if a squatter occupies the property for 15 years and establishes the Color of Title for 7 years.
18Oklahoma1515-20—
18Connecticut1515-20—
18Kansas157The state law requires a squatter to be in actual possession of the property for at least 15 years continuously.
18Vermont1515-20—
26New York1010To claim adverse possession, squatters must live on the property openly and illegally for at least 10 uninterrupted years. In New York City, a previous tenant can gain squatter’s rights just 30 days after their lease term has ended.
26Washington1010—
26Indiana1010To gain adverse possession, a squatter must occupy a neglected property openly for at least 10 years.
26Missouri1010A squatter must retain continuous possession of the property for a minimum of 10 years. There is also a 30-day squatters’ rights provision in Missouri.
26South Carolina1010Squatters must occupy the property for a statutory period of 10 years. There’s also a 30-day squatters provision in South Carolina.
26Alabama1010Squatters can take possession of the property if they have a deed to it or have paid its taxes for 10 years.
26Louisiana1020+Squatters must have continuous possession of the property for 10 years, acting as if it were their own and cannot be convicted of disturbing the peace in any way during possession.
26Oregon1010—
26Iowa1010Requires continuous possession.
26Mississippi1010Squatters must have open, obvious, and exclusive possession of the property and use the property in an uninterrupted fashion for a minimum of 10 years for adverse possession.
26New Mexico1010A squatter must occupy the property for 10 years with apparent title and payment of property taxes for 10 years.
26Nebraska1010The state requires squatters to have continuous, open, and notorious possession of the property for 10 years.
26West Virginia1010—
26Rhode Island1010—
26Wyoming1010—
41Florida77Must occupy for 7 years and either pay taxes or hold color of title.
41Georgia720Squatters can gain possession of a property by living on it for 7 years or more, except for undeveloped land, where the minimum occupation is 20 years.
41Tennessee720+A minimum of 7 years of possession with implied title or 20 years of occupancy without title is required to claim adverse possession.
41Utah77—
41Arkansas77A squatter gains adverse possession of a property after holding the deed and paying taxes for seven years.
41Alaska710A squatter can gain adverse possession with the deed to the property and live on the property for seven years or pay taxes on the land for the past 10 years.
47California57Squatter must have paid property taxes during the five years.
47Nevada515-20Squatters are required to be on the premises for a minimum of 5 years before seeking adverse possession.
47Montana57Requires payment of taxes.
50Arizona310A squatter with the deed who has paid the taxes on your property for three or more years can take adverse possession of it unless the property is a city lot where the squatter needs the deed and has paid taxes for five years.

What correlates with Years to Claim Ownership?

Pearson r against 2,113 other state metrics sharing at least 30 states. Correlation is not causation.

Higher together

Places that have a higher Years to Claim Ownership tend to score higher on these

  1. Property Tax BurdenTax Burden by State
    r = +0.52 · strong · n = 50
    Plot
  2. Crude Oil ProductionOil Production by State
    r = +0.50 · strong · n = 32
    Plot
  3. Real Estate Property Tax RateProperty Taxes by State
    r = +0.49 · moderate · n = 49
    Plot
  4. Real Estate TaxesTaxes by State
    r = +0.49 · moderate · n = 50
    Plot
  5. Average Annual Property TaxTaxes by State
    r = +0.49 · moderate · n = 50
    Plot
  6. Tax RateStates with No Property Tax
    r = +0.48 · moderate · n = 50
    Plot

Opposite directions

Places that have a higher Years to Claim Ownership tend to score lower on these

  1. Total Forest AreaLumber Production by State
    r = −0.45 · moderate · n = 50
    Plot
  2. % of Homeless Who Are UnshelteredHomeless Population by State
    r = −0.45 · moderate · n = 50
    Plot
  3. Meth Use Past MonthDrug Use by State
    r = −0.45 · moderate · n = 50
    Plot
  4. % of Meth Users (12+) 2022 and 2023Meth Use by State
    r = −0.44 · moderate · n = 50
    Plot
  5. Avg. Dogs OwnedPet Ownership Statistics by State
    r = −0.43 · moderate · n = 48
    Plot
  6. Bad Driving IndexWorst Drivers by State
    r = −0.43 · moderate · n = 49
    Plot

Quick answers

Which state has the highest Years to Claim Ownership?
Texas has the highest Years to Claim Ownership, at 30, followed by New Jersey (30) and Pennsylvania (21).
Which state has the lowest Years to Claim Ownership?
Arizona has the lowest Years to Claim Ownership, at 3.
What is the median Years to Claim Ownership across US states?
The median is 12.5 across the 50 US states with data.
Where does this squatters rights by state data come from?
Rankodex compiles it from World Population Review and the primary sources it cites: Rental Laws - IPropertyManagement.com; Squatters Rights by State - eForms.com; Law Server - Iowa Code 614.17A; Real Estate Title by Occupancy and Accession - North Dakota Legislative Branch.