The Honestkey™ Renter Protection Index scores all 51 U.S. jurisdictions (50 states plus Washington, D.C.) from 0 to 100 on 8 statutory tenant-protection factors — security-deposit caps, return deadlines, deposit interest and wrongful-withholding penalties, late-fee caps and grace periods, statewide rent-increase caps, and landlord entry notice. District of Columbia rank highest (84/100); West Virginia rank lowest (0/100). It is a Honestkey™ index — an opinion of how to weight verified state statutes, not an official government ranking.
A Honestkey™ index · Underlying statutes verified against each state's official statute publisher
District of Columbia
Ranks #1 at 84/100 across 8 statutory factors.
West Virginia
Lowest at 0/100. Median score across all 51 jurisdictions is 38/100.
Ranked most to least protective. Each state name links to its full Honestkey™ tenant-rights guide; the score and the “key protections” are computed from the verified statute data — see the Methodology below for the exact weighting.
| Rank | State | Score / 100 | Key statutory protections |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | District of Columbia | 84 |
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| 2 | Connecticut | 68 |
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| 2 | New York | 68 |
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| 3 | Maine | 66 |
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| 4 | Hawaii | 65 |
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| 5 | California | 59 |
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| 6 | Iowa | 56 |
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| 7 | Colorado | 55 |
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| 8 | Maryland | 54 |
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| 8 | Minnesota | 54 |
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| 9 | Massachusetts | 53 |
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| 10 | Delaware | 51 |
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| 10 | Nevada | 51 |
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| 11 | Arizona | 50 |
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| 12 | Washington | 48 |
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| 13 | Rhode Island | 46 |
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| 14 | New Hampshire | 43 |
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| 14 | New Jersey | 43 |
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| 14 | North Carolina | 43 |
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| 14 | North Dakota | 43 |
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| 14 | Pennsylvania | 43 |
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| 15 | Oregon | 42 |
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| 15 | Virginia | 42 |
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| 16 | New Mexico | 41 |
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| 17 | Nebraska | 38 |
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| 17 | South Dakota | 38 |
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| 17 | Texas | 38 |
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| 18 | Alabama | 35 |
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| 18 | Vermont | 35 |
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| 19 | Alaska | 33 |
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| 19 | Georgia | 33 |
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| 19 | Kansas | 33 |
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| 19 | Michigan | 33 |
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| 19 | Missouri | 33 |
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| 20 | Utah | 31 |
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| 21 | Florida | 29 |
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| 22 | Tennessee | 28 |
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| 23 | Ohio | 26 |
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| 23 | South Carolina | 26 |
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| 24 | Arkansas | 25 |
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| 24 | Wisconsin | 25 |
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| 25 | Illinois | 24 |
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| 26 | Montana | 23 |
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| 27 | Oklahoma | 22 |
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| 28 | Idaho | 21 |
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| 29 | Louisiana | 18 |
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| 30 | Kentucky | 10 |
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| 31 | Wyoming | 8 |
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| 32 | Indiana | 4 |
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| 32 | Mississippi | 4 |
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| 33 | West Virginia | 0 | No scored statutory protections |
The score is a 0–100 normalization of 8 statutory factors (raw max 100 points), computed by iterating Honestkey™'s verified deposit, late-fee, rent-control, and entry-notice datasets. The weighting is a Honestkey™ editorial choice — this is an index, not an official government ranking. Local city ordinances can add protections beyond the state statutes scored here.
Honestkey™'s analysis of publicly available state landlord-tenant statutes as of July 2, 2026. Each factor below maps to a specific verified field in our data. A state earns up to the listed points for each protection; stronger versions (a shorter deadline, a longer grace period) earn more. Points are summed out of 100 and normalized to a 0–100 score. This weighting is Honestkey™'s opinion, not a legal determination.
| Factor | Weight | What earns points | Data source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Statutory security-deposit cap | 15 pts | The state caps how large a security deposit can be (vs. no statutory limit). | lib/deposit-rules.ts → maxDeposit |
| Shorter deposit-return deadline | 15 pts | A shorter statutory deadline to return the deposit scores higher (≤14 days full; 60+ days or no fixed deadline scores lowest). | lib/deposit-rules.ts → returnDeadline |
| Deposit interest required | 10 pts | The state requires the landlord to pay the tenant interest on the deposit. | lib/deposit-rules.ts → interestRequired |
| Wrongful-withholding penalty | 10 pts | The state lets a tenant recover a multiple of the deposit (double/treble) when a landlord wrongfully withholds it. | lib/deposit-rules.ts → penaltyForLateReturn |
| Statutory late-fee cap | 15 pts | The state caps how large a rent late fee can be by statute. | lib/late-fee-rules.ts → hasStatutoryCap |
| Late-fee grace period | 10 pts | The state requires a grace period before any late fee (longer grace scores higher). | lib/late-fee-rules.ts → gracePeriodDays |
| Statewide rent-increase cap | 15 pts | The state caps annual rent increases statewide (full credit for a universal cap; partial for an opt-in / covered-units-only standard). | rent-control-by-state-data.ts → hasStatewideCap / coveredUnitsOnly |
| Landlord entry-notice period | 10 pts | The state requires advance notice before a landlord enters (longer notice scores higher; no statutory period scores lowest). | lib/notices/state-notice-rules.ts → noticeOfEntry |
| Raw maximum | 100 pts | Sum of all factor weights. Each state's raw total is normalized to a 0–100 score (raw ÷ 100 × 100). | |
Scope: the index covers the 50 states and Washington, D.C. — the jurisdictions present across all four source datasets. U.S. territories are excluded. The index scores statewide statutes only; it does not score local (city or county) ordinances, which can add further protections. Every underlying figure is shown in the ranking table so the score is auditable against the source law.
The index turns 8 verified statutory features into a single 0–100 score for each of the 51 jurisdictions. Each feature — a deposit cap, a fast return deadline, required deposit interest, a wrongful-withholding penalty, a late-fee cap, a grace period, a statewide rent-increase cap, and a landlord entry-notice requirement — is a real protection written into a state's landlord-tenant code. A state earns points for each protection it has (and more for stronger versions, like a shorter return deadline or a longer grace period), and the raw total is normalized to 0–100. The full weighting is disclosed in the Methodology section below.
Every underlying FACT — each cap, deadline, and notice period — is verified against the state's official statute publisher and is shown in the table so you can check it. What the index adds is a WEIGHTING: a judgment about how much each protection matters relative to the others. Reasonable people can weight these differently, so the score is Honestkey™'s opinion, not a government determination or legal advice. Two states with the same score can protect renters in very different ways; always read the specific rules for your state.
A higher score means a state's statutes, taken together, give renters more built-in protection on money and process — it does not guarantee any outcome in your situation, and local city ordinances can add protections on top of state law. Use your state's row as a map: the "key factors" show exactly which protections you have, and each state name links to its full Honestkey™ tenant-rights guide with the governing statutes. If your lease conflicts with a protection your state guarantees, that is worth a closer look.
In the Honestkey™ Renter Protection Index, District of Columbia score highest at 84 out of 100, based on 8 statutory protection factors (deposit caps, return deadlines, deposit interest, wrongful-withholding penalties, late-fee caps and grace periods, statewide rent caps, and entry notice). This is a Honestkey™ index — an opinion of how to weight verified statutes — not an official government ranking, and a high score does not guarantee any specific outcome.
Each of the 51 jurisdictions is scored on 8 factors, each mapped to a verified field in Honestkey™'s statute data. A state earns points for having a protection — and more for a stronger version, such as a shorter deposit-return deadline or a longer late-fee grace period. The points are summed (out of 100) and normalized to a 0–100 score. Every factor, its weight, and its exact data source are listed in the Methodology section on this page.
No. The Honestkey™ Renter Protection Index is a Honestkey™ analysis of publicly available state landlord-tenant statutes. The underlying facts (deposit caps, notice periods, and so on) are verified against each state's official statute publisher, but the way they are weighted into a single score is Honestkey™'s editorial choice, not a determination by any government body. It is informational, not legal advice.
No. A high score means the state's statutes give renters more built-in protection on average — it is not a guarantee about your specific lease or situation, and it does not override the facts of your case. Local city ordinances can also add protections beyond state law. Check your state's row for the exact protections, read the linked state guide, and consult a licensed attorney for advice on your situation.
Eight statutory factors: a security-deposit cap, a shorter deposit-return deadline, required deposit interest, a wrongful-withholding penalty, a statutory late-fee cap, a late-fee grace period, a statewide rent-increase cap, and a landlord entry-notice requirement. Each maps to a verified field in Honestkey™'s deposit, late-fee, rent-control, and notice datasets. 27 of 51 jurisdictions have a deposit cap and 17 cap late fees by statute — see the Methodology section for the full weighting.
Want the raw rules behind each score? Tenant rights by state