For physicians · residents · fellows
Physician non-compete laws, all 50 states
Some states ban physician non-competes outright. Some cap them. Most still enforce them.
The table below covers all 50 states and DC, statutes cited, verified against 2024–2026 legislation.
Then check the covenant in your own contract against your state — free.
Non-compete law is moving fast: several states have passed physician-specific statutes since 2023, and courts are testing them now. In a 65-case litigation corpus we maintain from public court records (2021–2026), the most common covenant is 24 months — and outcomes increasingly turn on these statutes rather than common-law reasonableness.
A covenant that would be void in one state is fully enforceable across the border. Before you negotiate — or assume you're safe — check the actual status below, then let the decode compare your specific duration and radius against both the law and what's typical.
| State | Physician non-compete status | Notes & citation |
|---|---|---|
| Alabama | Banned | Ala. Code § 8-1-190 et seq. (2016) permits noncompetes generally but exempts 'professionals'; Alabama courts treat physicians as professionals, making physician noncompetes void. (Ala. Code § 8-1-190 et seq.) |
| Alaska | Generally enforceable | No physician-specific statute identified; common-law reasonableness standard. |
| Arizona | Generally enforceable | No physician-specific statute identified; reasonableness standard (Valley Med. Specialists line of cases scrutinizes physician noncompetes closely). |
| Arkansas | Banned | Act 232 (2025) prohibits noncompetes for all physicians. (Ark. Act 232 (2025), amending Ark. Code Ann. § 4-70-207) |
| California | Banned | General ban on employee noncompetes, explicitly covering physicians; SB 699 and AB 1076 (2023-24) added notice duties and voided out-of-state agreements. (Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 16600 et seq.) |
| Colorado | Banned | SB 25-083 (effective August 2025) bans noncompetes restricting healthcare providers' practice; prior law already voided physician noncompetes except damages provisions and practice-sale covenants. General HCE income threshold $127,091 (2025) irrelevant post-ban. (Colo. SB 25-083 (2025); C.R.S. § 8-2-113) |
| Connecticut | Restricted | Physician noncompetes capped at 1 year and 15 miles from primary practice site; unenforceable if employment terminated without cause or contract not renewed on same terms (with >35-physician group distinctions per 2023 amendments). (Conn. Gen. Stat. § 20-14p) |
| Delaware | Banned | Covenants restricting a physician's right to practice are void; provisions for damages payment are permitted (so economic deterrents survive, injunctions do not). (6 Del. C. § 2707) |
| District of Columbia | Restricted | Ban on Non-Compete Agreements Amendment Act: noncompetes banned below indexed income threshold ($154,200 in 2025 general; higher 'medical specialist' threshold ~$250K+ indexed); above-threshold physicians may still be bound within limits. (D.C. Law 24-132 (as amended 2022)) |
| Florida | Generally enforceable | Reasonable noncompetes enforceable (§ 542.335). Narrow physician carve-out voids noncompetes where one entity employs all specialists in a county (§ 542.336). 2025 CHOICE Act expands enforceability (up to 4 years) for high earners — verify applicability to physicians before relying. (Fla. Stat. §§ 542.335, 542.336; CHOICE Act (2025)) |
| Georgia | Generally enforceable | Restrictive Covenants Act permits reasonable noncompetes; no physician-specific statute identified. (O.C.G.A. § 13-8-50 et seq.) |
| Hawaii | Generally enforceable | Statutory ban covers only technology workers; physicians under reasonableness standard. (Haw. Rev. Stat. § 480-4) |
| Idaho | Generally enforceable | Statute permits reasonable noncompetes for key employees; no physician-specific rule identified. (Idaho Code § 44-2701 et seq.) |
| Illinois | Restricted | Freedom to Work Act: noncompetes void below $75,000 income (indexed) — physicians typically above; statutory adequate-consideration and reasonableness requirements apply. 2024-25 amendments add protections for specific licensed practitioners (mental-health providers treating certain populations). (820 ILCS 90) |
| Indiana | Restricted | Primary-care physician noncompetes banned (SEA 7, 2023); noncompetes between hospitals/hospital-affiliated entities and any employed physician banned for agreements entered on/after July 1, 2025 (SB 475). Remaining physician noncompetes must meet IC 25-22.5-5.5 requirements incl. reasonable-price buyout option. (Ind. Code 25-22.5-5.5; SEA 7 (2023); SB 475 (2025)) |
| Iowa | Restricted | No statewide physician ban; noncompetes restricted for licensed mental-health professionals, and HF 2254 (effective June 2, 2026) bans noncompetes for six professions incl. physicians at University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics specifically. Otherwise judicial reasonableness standard. (Iowa HF 2254 (2026)) |
| Kansas | Generally enforceable | No physician-specific statute identified; reasonableness standard. |
| Kentucky | Generally enforceable | No physician-specific statute identified; reasonableness standard. |
| Louisiana | Restricted | 2024 law (effective Jan 1, 2025): primary-care physician noncompetes limited to initial 3 years of employment then banned; other physicians 5 years then banned; exceptions for rural hospitals/FQHCs in rural parishes. General noncompete statute (La. R.S. 23:921) parish-listing requirements still apply. (La. R.S. 23:921 (as amended 2024)) |
| Maine | Generally enforceable | General statute bans noncompetes below 400% of federal poverty level and imposes notice requirements — physicians above threshold; no physician-specific ban identified. (26 M.R.S. § 599-A) |
| Maryland | Restricted | HB 1388 (2024): noncompetes banned for healthcare providers who provide direct patient care and earn <= $350,000/year (effective July 1, 2025); above $350K, capped at 1 year and 10-mile radius, with patient-notice rights. (Md. HB 1388 (2024), Md. Code, Lab. & Empl. § 3-716) |
| Massachusetts | Banned | Longstanding statutory void of physician noncompetes; excluded from the 2018 Noncompetition Agreement Act because already banned. (Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 112, § 12X) |
| Michigan | Generally enforceable | Reasonable noncompetes permitted by statute; no physician-specific rule identified. (MCL 445.774a) |
| Minnesota | Banned | All employee noncompetes entered on/after July 1, 2023 are void (all professions incl. physicians). (Minn. Stat. § 181.988 (2023)) |
| Mississippi | Generally enforceable | No physician-specific statute identified; reasonableness standard. |
| Missouri | Generally enforceable | No physician-specific statute identified; reasonableness standard. |
| Montana | Restricted | General restraint-of-trade statute narrowly construed; HB 198 (2025) expands noncompete protections for specified healthcare practitioners. (Mont. Code Ann. § 28-2-703; HB 198 (2025)) |
| Nebraska | Generally enforceable | Courts enforce narrowly (no judicial reformation of overbroad covenants); no physician-specific statute identified. |
| Nevada | Generally enforceable | Statutory reasonableness requirements and hourly-worker ban (physicians salaried, so generally bindable). (NRS 613.195) |
| New Hampshire | Banned | Pre-existing law voided geographic-restriction covenants for physicians (RSA 329:31-a); 2025 legislation reported by AMA as prohibiting physician noncompetes outright. (N.H. RSA 329:31-a; 2025 legislation) |
| New Jersey | Generally enforceable | Reasonableness standard (Karlin v. Weinberg holds physician noncompetes not per se unreasonable); no physician-specific statute identified. |
| New Mexico | Banned | Noncompetes unenforceable against physicians (and other listed healthcare practitioners) in employment agreements since 2015; repayment/loan clauses survive. (N.M. Stat. Ann. § 24-1I-1 et seq.) |
| New York | Generally enforceable | Common-law reasonableness (BDO Seidman factors); statewide ban vetoed Dec 2023; physician-specific restriction bill S4641A introduced Feb 2025, not enacted as of mid-2026 per trackers reviewed. |
| North Carolina | Generally enforceable | Reasonableness standard; courts occasionally void physician covenants on public-interest grounds (patient access). No statute identified. |
| North Dakota | Banned | Longstanding general ban on noncompetes (California-style). (N.D. Cent. Code § 9-08-06) |
| Ohio | Generally enforceable | Reasonableness standard (Raimonde factors); no physician-specific statute identified. |
| Oklahoma | Banned | General statutory ban on noncompetes; non-solicitation of established customers/patients permitted. (15 Okla. Stat. §§ 217-219A) |
| Oregon | Restricted | 2025 law voids noncompetes between medical licensees and hospitals, management services organizations, or affiliated clinics; professional medical entities may still use them. General statute (ORS 653.295) imposes duration and salary-threshold limits. (ORS 653.295; 2025 Or. Laws (SB 951)) |
| Pennsylvania | Restricted | Fair Contracting for Healthcare Practitioners Act (Act 74 of 2024, effective Jan 1, 2025): healthcare-practitioner noncompetes unenforceable beyond 1 year, and entirely unenforceable if the practitioner is dismissed without cause; patient-notification duties added. No geographic-radius language in the Act. (Pa. Act 74 of 2024 (HB 1633)) |
| Rhode Island | Banned | Physician noncompetes void in employment/partnership agreements since 2016. (R.I. Gen. Laws § 5-37-33) |
| South Carolina | Generally enforceable | Reasonableness standard, strictly construed; no physician-specific statute identified. |
| South Dakota | Banned | Noncompetes void for most licensed healthcare practitioners incl. physicians (effective July 1, 2023); practice-sale covenants excepted. (SDCL § 53-9-11.2 (2023)) |
| Tennessee | Restricted | Physician noncompetes enforceable only within statutory limits: max 2 years and radius of the greater of 10 miles or the county of primary practice (or buyout alternative). (Tenn. Code Ann. § 63-1-148) |
| Texas | Restricted | Physician noncompetes must provide patient-list access and a reasonable buyout (§ 15.50(b)); SB 1318 (effective Sept 1, 2025) tightens to max 1 year, 5-mile radius from primary practice location, and buyout capped at physician's total annual salary. (Tex. Bus. & Com. Code § 15.50(b); SB 1318 (2025)) |
| Utah | Banned | HB 270 (2026) bans post-employment noncompetes for a broad range of healthcare practitioners incl. physicians. (Utah HB 270 (2026)) |
| Vermont | Generally enforceable | No physician-specific statute identified; reasonableness standard. |
| Virginia | Generally enforceable | Low-wage-employee ban (threshold ~$73,320 in 2025, expanded 2025 to overtime-eligible workers) sits far below physician pay; reasonableness standard applies to physicians. (Va. Code § 40.1-28.7:8) |
| Washington | Restricted | Statutory regime: noncompetes void below income threshold ($120,559 in 2025 — below physician pay), 18-month presumptive max duration, garden-leave requirement for layoffs, choice-of-law protections. (RCW 49.62) |
| West Virginia | Restricted | Physicians Freedom of Practice Act (2017): physician noncompetes capped at 1 year and 30 road-miles from primary practice site; void if employer terminates the physician; various carve-outs. (W. Va. Code § 47-11E-1 et seq. (SB 402, 2017)) |
| Wisconsin | Generally enforceable | Statute enforces reasonable covenants but voids the entire covenant if any part is unreasonable (no blue-penciling); no physician-specific rule identified. (Wis. Stat. § 103.465) |
| Wyoming | Banned | SF 107 (2025, effective July 1, 2025) voids most noncompetes including physician noncompetes. (Wyo. SF 107 (2025), Wyo. Stat. § 1-23-108) |
60 seconds. Free. The second opinion most attendings wish they'd gotten.
Decode my contract — freeThe $99 full report adds clause-by-clause analysis, counter-proposal language, and a ready-to-send negotiation email — a fraction of the $500–$2,000 a typical attorney review costs, and a good way to arrive prepared if you hire one.
How this comparison was built
- • joboffer.ink is built with care by children of physicians — Harvard- and MIT-trained engineers.
- • Every number traces to a named public source — 26 registered sources, 106 lineage-linked values across 20 specialties.
- • Covenant and tail-coverage norms are cross-checked against a corpus of 65 physician employment lawsuits (2021–2026) built from court records.
- • No licensed survey data is resold here: everything cited is public, with links, and the full method is documented on the methodology page.
Harvard and MIT do not endorse or have any affiliation with joboffer.ink; the reference describes the founders' training.
Full methodology & sources →Frequently asked questions
Which states ban physician non-competes?
A small but growing set of states ban or sharply restrict them, with several new statutes effective 2024–2026 — the table above reflects each state's current status with the statute cited. Bans often carry conditions (specialty, employer type, or income thresholds), so read the note for your state.
Is my non-compete enforceable?
It depends on your state's statute or reasonableness standard, your covenant's duration and radius, and how courts there have ruled. The free decode extracts your exact covenant terms and shows them against your state's law and published norms — and the litigation record shows physicians do successfully challenge overbroad covenants.
What's a typical physician non-compete?
In published norms and our court-record corpus, 12–24 months is the standard range (24 is the most common in litigated cases) with radii clustering 5–30 miles per practice site. Wider than that — or measured from every facility in a system — is worth negotiating regardless of enforceability.
Keep reading
Information and preparation, not legal advice. Benchmarks cite public sources inline; verify every number against your own documents.