There is no single “interstate compact” that states join or skip. More than 270 active interstate compacts exist in the United States, each covering a different subject, so the question of what states are not part of the interstate compact only has an answer once you specify which compact. The gaps that affect everyday life — driving records, traffic ticket enforcement, nursing and therapy licenses — fall in a handful of well-known compacts, and the non-member lists for each are short and specific.
Driver License Compact Non-Member States
The Driver License Compact (DLC) is the agreement that lets your home state learn about traffic violations you pick up elsewhere. When you’re ticketed in another member state, that state reports the offense to your home state, which can then add points, impose surcharges, or suspend your license as if the violation happened at home. The guiding idea is one driver, one license, one record.
Three states do not participate in the DLC: Georgia, Michigan, and Wisconsin.1CSG National Center for Interstate Compacts. Driver License Compact Older sources sometimes list Massachusetts and Tennessee as holdouts, but Massachusetts joined in 1988 and Tennessee joined in 2020.
If your license was issued by Georgia, Michigan, or Wisconsin, an out-of-state traffic violation may not flow automatically onto your home driving record through the DLC. That is not a free pass. The state where you were cited can still pursue the matter directly, including issuing a warrant, and ignoring the ticket can create problems the next time you drive through that state or try to renew a license there.
Nonresident Violator Compact Non-Member States
The Nonresident Violator Compact (NRVC) sits beside the DLC and handles enforcement rather than record-keeping. If a driver from a member state is ticketed in another member state and fails to answer the citation, the issuing state tells the driver’s home state, which can suspend the driver’s license until the ticket is resolved.2American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators. Nonresident Violator Compact Administrative Procedures Manual
Six states are not in the NRVC: Alaska, California, Michigan, Montana, Oregon, and Wisconsin.3American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators. Driver License Compact Non-Resident Violator Compact Michigan and Wisconsin sit outside both the DLC and NRVC, which puts their drivers outside both the information-sharing and the enforcement sides of the system.
Being from a non-member state can cut both ways on the roadside. You may avoid an automatic home-state suspension for ignoring an out-of-state ticket, but the citing state may require a bond or cash deposit at the time of the stop rather than letting you sign a promise to appear. Some states handle non-compact drivers more cautiously for exactly that reason.
Nurse Licensure Compact Non-Member States
The Nurse Licensure Compact (NLC) lets registered nurses and licensed practical nurses hold a single multistate license that works in every member state. For a workforce stretched by shortages and expanding telehealth, membership determines how quickly a nurse can start working across a state line.4Nurse Licensure Compact. Nurse Licensure Compact
Forty-three jurisdictions have enacted the NLC, and the list has been growing.4Nurse Licensure Compact. Nurse Licensure Compact If you want to work in a non-member state, you’ll need a separate single-state license: transcripts, background check, license verification, and application fees that commonly run into the hundreds of dollars. Temporary licenses are sometimes available while an application is pending, but the full process can take weeks or months. Because states join regularly, verify current membership on the NLC’s own site before making a career decision.
Physical Therapy Compact Non-Member States
The Physical Therapy Compact (PT Compact) lets licensed physical therapists and physical therapist assistants obtain a “compact privilege” to work in other member states without a full separate license.5Physical Therapy Licensure Compact. Physical Therapy Licensure Compact It currently covers 37 member jurisdictions.
States that have not joined include California, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Minnesota, New Mexico, New York, and Wyoming.6Physical Therapy Licensure Compact. PT Compact Map The absence of California, Florida, and New York matters because of the size of those healthcare markets. A therapist who wants to practice in a non-member state goes through that state’s full licensing process on its own terms.
Other Professional Compacts with Holdouts
The Psychology Interjurisdictional Compact (PSYPACT), which allows psychologists to practice telepsychology and limited in-person work across member lines, had not been joined by Alaska, Hawaii, Iowa, Louisiana, Montana, New Mexico, or Oregon as of 2025. The Interstate Medical Licensure Compact for physicians has expanded steadily but still does not include every state.
A pattern runs through these professional compacts. Certain states — California and New York among them — repeatedly stay out, keeping their own licensing frameworks rather than adopting a multistate standard. For a clinician planning to work across state lines, non-membership in any of these compacts means handling each state’s application, fees, and timeline separately.
Compacts Where Every State Participates
Not every compact has holdouts. Several of the highest-profile ones cover every state, so there’s no gap to worry about.
The Interstate Compact for Adult Offender Supervision (ICAOS), which governs probation and parole transfers across state lines, includes every state along with the District of Columbia, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico.7Interstate Commission for Adult Offender Supervision. About the Interstate Commission for Adult Offender Supervision The Interstate Compact for Juveniles (ICJ) covers minors under court supervision and runaways across all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.8The Council of State Governments National Center for Interstate Compacts. Interstate Compact for Juveniles The Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC), which lets states send personnel and resources to each other during disasters, has been enacted in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Northern Mariana Islands.9Emergency Management Assistance Compact. Emergency Management Assistance Compact
Why Some States Stay Out
States decline compacts for substantive reasons, and the reasons differ by compact. Some already have information-sharing arrangements they consider sufficient. Michigan, for instance, sits outside both driving compacts but still exchanges driving record data through other channels. Others worry about ceding regulatory authority or being pulled toward standards that conflict with existing state law.
For professional licensure compacts, the sticking point is often quality control. A state licensing board may believe its own standards exceed the compact’s baseline, or it may want to keep full authority over discipline against practitioners in its state. Politics plays a role as well. Compact bills have to pass a state legislature, and competing priorities, industry positions, and ordinary inertia can keep legislation stalled for years.
Membership also moves. States enact compact legislation on their own schedule, and a non-member list that is accurate today may be out of date by next session. Before you rely on compact status — whether you’re assuming an out-of-state ticket won’t follow you home, or planning a job that requires practicing in another state — check the current membership roster on the compact’s own website.