As few as 4 points can suspend your license — and reinstatement runs $10 to $250 by state
The finding: across the 50 states and Washington, D.C., 39 run a driver “point system” that adds up traffic tickets toward a license suspension, and 12 do not. Where a point system exists, the first suspension can come at very different totals — as few as 4 points in 12 months in California, versus 12 to 15 in most states. And once a license is suspended, the base fee to get it back ranges from $10 in Arizona to $250 in Indiana — a 25× spread for the same step, with a median of $75. Every number below is verified against the state’s own DMV or statute.
Of the 51 jurisdictions (50 states + D.C.): 39 run a point system that can lead to a license suspension and 12 do not (they suspend on other criteria, such as repeat convictions). Reinstating a license after an ordinary suspension costs from $10 (Arizona) to $250 (Indiana) — a 25× spread for the same step; the median is $75.
| State | Point system | Suspension threshold | Reinstatement fee | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | Yes | 12 points in 24 months | $100 | points · fee |
| Alaska | Yes | 12 points in 12 months | $100 | points · fee |
| Arizona | Yes | 13 points in 12 months | $10 | points · fee |
| Arkansas | Yes | 14 points in 36 months | $100 | points · fee |
| California | Yes | 4 points in 12 months | $55 | points · fee |
| Colorado | Yes | 12 points in 12 months | $95 | points · fee |
| Connecticut | Yes | 11 points in 24 months | $175 | points · fee |
| Delaware | Yes | 14 points in 24 months | $50 | points · fee |
| District of Columbia | Yes | 10 points in 24 months | $115 | points · fee |
| Florida | Yes | 12 points in 12 months | $45 | points · fee |
| Georgia | Yes | 15 points in 24 months | $200 | points · fee |
| Hawaii | No | No point system — suspends on other criteria | $20 Varies by county; Honolulu $20 | points · fee |
| Idaho | Yes | 12 points in 12 months | $25 | points · fee |
| Illinois | Yes | 3 convictions in 12 months (points set the length) | $70 Discretionary (traffic) suspension | points · fee |
| Indiana | Yes | No fixed point total (suspends by other rules) | $250 Varies by suspension type | points · fee |
| Iowa | No | 3 convictions in 12 months (no points) | $20 | points · fee |
| Kansas | No | 3 convictions in 12 months (no points) | $100 | points · fee |
| Kentucky | Yes | 12 points in 24 months | $40 | points · fee |
| Louisiana | No | No point system — suspends on other criteria | $60 | points · fee |
| Maine | Yes | 12 points in 12 months | $50 | points · fee |
| Maryland | Yes | 8 points in 24 months | $90 | points · fee |
| Massachusetts | No | 3 speeding tickets in 12 months (no points) | $100 | points · fee |
| Michigan | Yes | 12 points in 24 months | $125 | points · fee |
| Minnesota | No | No point system — suspends on other criteria | $30 | points · fee |
| Mississippi | No | No point system — suspends on other criteria | $100 | points · fee |
| Missouri | Yes | 8 points in 18 months | $20 | points · fee |
| Montana | Yes | 15 points in 36 months | $100 | points · fee |
| Nebraska | Yes | 12 points in 24 months | $125 | points · fee |
| Nevada | Yes | 12 points in 12 months | $75 | points · fee |
| New Hampshire | Yes | 12 points in 12 months | $100 | points · fee |
| New Jersey | Yes | 12 points | $100 | points · fee |
| New Mexico | Yes | 7 points in 12 months | $25 | points · fee |
| New York | Yes | 11 points in 24 months | $50 | points · fee |
| North Carolina | Yes | 12 points in 36 months | $83.50 | points · fee |
| North Dakota | Yes | 12 points | $50 | points · fee |
| Ohio | Yes | 12 points in 24 months | $40 | points · fee |
| Oklahoma | Yes | 10 points in 60 months | $50 $25 reinstatement + $25 processing | points · fee |
| Oregon | No | No point system — suspends on other criteria | $85 | points · fee |
| Pennsylvania | Yes | 11 points | $70 | points · fee |
| Rhode Island | No | No point system — suspends on other criteria | $153.50 | points · fee |
| South Carolina | Yes | 12 points in 12 months | $100 | points · fee |
| South Dakota | Yes | 15 points in 12 months | $75 | points · fee |
| Tennessee | Yes | 12 points in 12 months | $65 | points · fee |
| Texas | No | 4 convictions in 12 months (no points) | $100 | points · fee |
| Utah | Yes | 200 points in 36 months | $40 | points · fee |
| Vermont | Yes | 10 points in 24 months | $96 | points · fee |
| Virginia | Yes | 18 points in 12 months | $145 | points · fee |
| Washington | No | 6 convictions in 12 months (no points) | $75 | points · fee |
| West Virginia | Yes | 12 points in 24 months | $50 | points · fee |
| Wisconsin | Yes | 12 points in 12 months | $60 | points · fee |
| Wyoming | No | No point system — suspends on other criteria | $50 | points · fee |
Point rules and fees verified 2026-07-01 against each state's official DMV/DPS pages and statutes. The threshold shown is the first suspension tier for an ordinary (non-commercial) adult driver; the fee is the standard reinstatement fee after an ordinary suspension, not the elevated DUI-specific fee. Verify with your state DMV before acting.
What the data shows
- A point system is the majority rule, not universal. 39 of 51 jurisdictions use one; the other 12 — Hawaii, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Oregon, Rhode Island, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming — suspend on specific convictions or a count of moving-violation convictions instead.
- The suspension threshold swings widely. California suspends a driver at just 4 points in 12 months; New Mexico at 7; Maryland and Missouri at 8; most others between 10 and 15. Utah’s scale looks different only because its per-violation points are far larger — a suspension there comes at 200 points in three years.
- Reinstatement is a fee lottery. The same step — paying to lift a suspension — costs $10 in Arizona and $250 in Indiana, with Georgia ($200) and Connecticut ($175) also near the top and Arizona, Hawaii, Iowa, Missouri, and Minnesota at the low end. Every one of the 51 jurisdictions charges something to reinstate.
- Windows matter as much as points. Points typically count only within a lookback window — 12, 18, 24, or 36 months — so timing, not just the number of tickets, decides whether a suspension triggers.
Why this matters for immigrant drivers
For many immigrant workers a driver’s license is the document that makes daily life possible — driving to work, opening a bank account, and proving identity. A run of traffic tickets can put that license at risk in the 39 point-system states, and getting it back carries a fee that depends only on where you live. Separately from the license, some traffic-related criminal convictions — and driving on a suspended license — can matter in an immigration case, depending on the charge. This page is general information, not legal advice; for how a specific charge could affect your status, consult an immigration attorney. If you are stopped while driving, know your rights at a traffic stop. Whether your state issues a license regardless of immigration status is a separate question, covered in our driver’s licenses by state guide.
Method
Every value traces to an official source: each state’s DMV, DPS, BMV, or MVD pages and, where the rule lives in statute, the state vehicle or administrative code. We record two things per jurisdiction — whether the state runs a demerit-point system and the lowest point total that triggers a first suspension for an ordinary adult driver, and the base (non-DUI) fee to reinstate a license after a suspension. Warning-only tiers below the first suspension, and the elevated DUI/DWI reinstatement fees that follow their own track, are excluded from the headline figures and noted where they matter. Two point-system states — Illinois and Indiana — suspend on conviction count or other rules rather than a fixed point total, so their point threshold is shown as such. Verified 2026-07-01; re-verified annually and whenever a state changes its rules. Per-row source links are in the table’s Source column.
Download the data: license_points.csv (spreadsheet-ready) · license_points.json (full dataset with per-cell sources). Free to reuse with attribution.
Suggested citation: MigrantUSA, “US driver-license point-suspension thresholds and reinstatement fees by state,” migrantusa.com/datasets/license-points-reinstatement/, retrieved [date].
Related
- Driver’s licenses by state — which states issue a license regardless of immigration status
- State ID by state — non-driver identification, state by state
- Know your rights at a traffic stop
- What a California traffic ticket really costs (2026) — base fine vs. total bail for the 4-point state’s most common tickets
- All open datasets — verified immigration data, free to download