What You Need to Know About Age of Consent By State: Updated 2022
Every individual should know the age of consent in their state of residency. Here’s what you need to know about age of consent by state, updated 2022.
The age of consent in the United States, as of 2018, applied to both males and females. The age of consent ranges from 16 to 18. States use the legal age of consent to prosecute people older than the victim instead of teenagers close in age. The U.S. federal law makes sexual acts between the ages of 12-16 illegal if an individual is less than four years younger than the other party. The majority of states have an age of consent of 16 years old. Many states have a “close in age exemption,” which works to decriminalize consensual sex between two under the age of consent individuals. The following chart contains each state’s age of consent. All information is accurate as of June 2022.
Related: Consent Laws By State: Updated 2022
Age of Consent By State
| State | Age of Consent |
| Alabama | 16 |
| Alaska | 16 |
| Arizona | 18 |
| Arkansas | 16 |
| California | 18 |
| Colorado | 17 |
| Connecticut | 16 |
| District of Columbia | 16 |
| Delaware | 18 |
| Florida | 18 |
| Georgia | 16 |
| Hawaii | 16 |
| Idaho | 18 |
| Illinois | 17 |
| Indiana | 16 |
| Iowa | 16 |
| Kansas | 16 |
| Kentucky | 16 |
| Louisiana | 17 |
| Maine | 16 |
| Maryland | 16 |
| Massachusetts | 16 |
| Michigan | 16 |
| Minnesota | 16 |
| Mississippi | 16 |
| Missouri | 17 |
| Montana | 16 |
| Nebraska | 16 |
| Nevada | 16 |
| New Hampshire | 16 |
| New Jersey | 16 |
| New Mexico | 16 |
| New York | 17 |
| North Carolina | 16 |
| North Dakota | 18 |
| Ohio | 16 |
| Oklahoma | 16 |
| Oregon | 18 |
| Pennsylvania | 16 |
| Rhode Island | 16 |
| South Carolina | 16 |
| South Dakota | 16 |
| Tennessee | 18 |
| Texas | 17 |
| Utah | 18 |
| Vermont | 16 |
| Vermont | 16 |
| Virginia | 18 |
| Washington | 16 |
| West Virginia | 16 |
| Wisconsin | 18 |
| Wyoming | 16 |
Related: New York Consent Laws: Updated 2022
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