Statute of Limitations on Debt by State
Ohio has the highest Written Contracts (15), followed by Kentucky (15) and Illinois (10). District of Columbia has the lowest (3).
Written Contracts
Green is better, red is worse (lower is better). Click a place to highlight it.
All 50 ranked
Best 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.
Data
Click a column to sort, a row to highlight that place on the charts.
| # | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  New York | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | — |
| 1 |  North Carolina | 3 | 3 | 5 | 3 | Rises to 10 years for written contracts that are under seal |
| 1 |  Maryland | 3 | 3 | 6 | 3 | Rises to 12 years for written contracts and promissory notes if contract or note is under seal |
| 1 |  South Carolina | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | — |
| 1 |  New Hampshire | 3 | 3 | 6 | 3 | — |
| 1 |  Delaware | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | — |
| 1 |  District of Columbia | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | — |
| 8 |  California | 4 | 2 | 4 | 4 | — |
| 8 |  Texas | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | — |
| 8 |  Pennsylvania | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | — |
| 11 |  Florida | 5 | 4 | 5 | 4 | — |
| 11 |  Virginia | 5 | 3 | 6 | 3 | — |
| 11 |  Oklahoma | 5 | 3 | 5 | 3 | — |
| 11 |  Arkansas | 5 | 5 | 5 | 3 | — |
| 11 |  Idaho | 5 | 4 | 5 | 4 | — |
| 11 |  Nebraska | 5 | 4 | 5 | 4 | — |
| 11 |  Rhode Island | 5 | 10 | 6 | 4 | — |
| 18 |  Georgia | 6 | 4 | 6 | 6 | — |
| 18 |  Michigan | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | — |
| 18 |  New Jersey | 6 | 6 | 6 | 3 | — |
| 18 |  Washington | 6 | 3 | 6 | 3 | — |
| 18 |  Arizona | 6 | 3 | 6 | 3 | — |
| 18 |  Tennessee | 6 | 6 | 6 | 3 | — |
| 18 |  Massachusetts | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | — |
| 18 |  Colorado | 6 | 6 | 6 | 3 | — |
| 18 |  Wisconsin | 6 | 6 | 10 | 6 | — |
| 18 |  Minnesota | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | — |
| 18 |  Alabama | 6 | 6 | 6 | 3 | — |
| 18 |  Oregon | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | — |
| 18 |  Connecticut | 6 | 3 | 6 | 3 | — |
| 18 |  Utah | 6 | 4 | 6 | 4 | — |
| 18 |  Nevada | 6 | 4 | 3 | 4 | — |
| 18 |  Kansas | 6 | 3 | 5 | 3 | — |
| 18 |  New Mexico | 6 | 4 | 6 | 4 | — |
| 18 |  Hawaii | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | — |
| 18 |  Maine | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | — |
| 18 |  South Dakota | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | — |
| 18 |  North Dakota | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | — |
| 18 |  Alaska | 6 | 6 | 3 | 3 | — |
| 18 |  Vermont | 6 | 6 | 5 | 3 | — |
| 41 |  Montana | 8 | 3 | 8 | 5 | — |
| 42 |  Illinois | 10 | 5 | 10 | 5 | — |
| 42 |  Indiana | 10 | 6 | 10 | 6 | — |
| 42 |  Missouri | 10 | 5 | 10 | 5 | — |
| 42 |  Louisiana | 10 | 10 | 10 | 3 | — |
| 42 |  Iowa | 10 | 5 | 5 | 5 | — |
| 42 |  West Virginia | 10 | 5 | 6 | 5 | — |
| 42 |  Wyoming | 10 | 8 | 10 | 8 | — |
| 49 |  Ohio | 15 | 6 | 15 | 6 | — |
| 49 |  Kentucky | 15 | 5 | 15 | 5 | — |
What correlates with Written Contracts?
Pearson r against 2,078 other state metrics sharing at least 30 states. Ranks are read by standing: a better rank counts as higher, whether rank 1 is the best place on a list or the worst. Correlation is not causation.
Higher together
Places that have a higher Written Contracts tend to score higher on these (or rank better)
Opposite directions
Places that have a higher Written Contracts tend to score lower on these (or rank worse)
- Plot
- Plot
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- Socioeconomic Diversity RankMost Diverse US StatesA rank: rank 1 is the bestPlotr = +0.49 · moderate · n = 49
- Socioeconomic DiversityLeast Diverse States in the USA rank: rank 1 is the bestPlotr = +0.49 · moderate · n = 49
- Plot
Quick answers
- Which state has the highest Written Contracts?
- Ohio has the highest Written Contracts, at 15, followed by Kentucky (15) and Illinois (10).
- Which state has the lowest Written Contracts?
- District of Columbia has the lowest Written Contracts, at 3.
- What is the median Written Contracts across US states?
- The median is 6 across the 50 US states with data.
- Where does this statute of limitations on debt by state data come from?
- Rankodex compiles it from World Population Review and the primary sources it cites: Forbes.