State regulation catalog · July 2026
US state regulation statistics
Key findings from PlainRegWatch's curated state regulation table. Counts and tracker scores describe what this archive lists, not what businesses must do to comply.
- Regulations tracked
- 159
- Enacted
- 156
- States with rows
- 51
- Categories
- 5
PlainRegWatch catalog
159 US state regulations are cataloged here (156 enacted); California leads on count (12) and Employment & Worker Protection is the largest category (107 enacted rows). Tracker summaries, not compliance advice.
- 159
- cataloged
- 98.1%
- enacted share
- 12
- California count
- 100
- top tracker
According to NCSL, IAPP, EWG, Repair.org, and official state legislative records compiled in PlainRegWatch. See methodology for source links.
According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, IAPP, EWG, Repair.org, and official state legislative records compiled here, PlainRegWatch lists 159 regulations across 51 jurisdictions (156 enacted). Each finding below is recomputed from the live database loaded July 2026. Read the methodology for verification dates and category definitions.
Key findings
Standalone, citable statements from this regulation catalog. Reuse with attribution to PlainRegWatch.
- 159 state-level regulations are cataloged in this PlainRegWatch extract (156 enacted, 3 pending). Each row links to an official legislative or tracker source URL on its regulation page.
- 98.1% of cataloged regulations carry enacted status in this snapshot; 3 rows remain pending. Status reflects the tracker record at last verification, not a legal opinion on enforceability.
- 51 states and territories appear with at least one tracked regulation in this rebuild, across 5 policy categories (privacy, AI, food chemicals, right to repair, employment).
- 67.3% of cataloged regulations (107 of 159) fall in the Employment & Worker Protection category (107 enacted). Category counts sum regulation rows, not distinct bill numbers across years.
- 12 California leads on tracked regulation count in this extract (9 in Illinois is second). Count rankings use the same totals as the most-regulated-states leaderboard.
- 100/100 California carries the highest PlainRegWatch tracker score in this extract; Colorado is second at 76/100. Tracker scores blend category coverage and documentation depth; they are not a legal strictness verdict.
- 107 Employment & Worker Protection is the largest category by enacted-law count nationwide (107 enacted rows); Data Privacy is second at 21. Category totals count catalog rows, not unique statutory sections.
- 37.4 is the simple average tracker score across 51 states with a non-zero score in this extract (scores range from state pages and rankings). Averages mix states with very different catalog sizes.
Catalog distribution
Category and state counts mirror the rankings hub; bars use the same ranking types as /rankings/.
Source: NCSL, IAPP, EWG, Repair.org, and official state legislative records PlainRegWatch regulation catalog · 2026 Counts reflect the catalog snapshot at last verification. Pending rows may change when legislatures adjourn or enact bills.
How to read these numbers
Regulation counts are rows in this archive, not an exhaustive census of every statute in a state. Tracker scores combine category coverage and documentation depth on PlainRegWatch state pages. Download the regulation-level CSV or open rankings, state pages, and the employment guide for drill-downs.
What this page is for
These aggregates mirror the same regulation table behind state, category, and ranking pages.
- Open state and category leaderboards for ordered comparisons. Rankings
- Download regulation-level rows as CSV for reuse with attribution. CSV download
- See how PlainRegWatch verifies and dates each tracker source. Methodology
This page summarizes tracked state regulations. It is not legal or compliance advice.
Every figure on PlainRegWatch is rendered from curated state legislative and Federal Register source data, no number is typed in by an editor. Key Findings aggregate getTotalStats, getRankings (most_regulated, strictest_states, most_by_category), getCategories, and a states strictness average from the PlainRegWatch SQLite catalog. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of July 2026. Tracker scores and rule counts are curated records in five tracked categories - not enforcement strength, legal advice, a complete inventory of US law, or a live bill-status feed.