The card: rules, age, cost
Boating license requirements in every state
The rule of each state and DC side by side, as it stands today, with the check above to apply it to your own birth date, boat and day on the water.
Florida · Motorboat
Yes, you need the card
You were born on or after the cut-off date.
| Your age that day | 30 yrs |
| Minimum age to operate alone | not confirmed |
| Credential | Boating Safety Education Identification Card |
| State fee | none published |
| Free BoatUS course | accepted |
| Cheapest legal route | Free coursestate fee not published |
Anyone born on or after Jan. 1, 1988 needs an approved course and an FWC Boating Safety Education ID Card to run a motorboat of 10 hp or more.
Official page: Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) · Archived copy (web.archive.org) of February 8, 2026, June 6, 2026
Boater education is required in 46 of the 50 jurisdictions we verified on an official page, and 4 have no general requirement for adult recreational operators. The rules fall into two families. In 28 states the card is required only from people born on or after a cut-off date, which runs from January 1, 1955 in Washington to July 2, 2007 in South Carolina; older operators may go out without it. In 10 others every operator of a covered boat needs it, whatever the age. On top of that, most states only count motors above a set power, almost all include personal watercraft, and Massachusetts, Minnesota and Utah are still widening the rule in stages. 1 jurisdictions are not verified yet and are shown as such. Each line of the table links to the state page when there is one, and the check gives the answer for a given birth date and day.
Compare two states
Florida / Georgia
Born on or after January 1, 1988 / Born on or after January 1, 1998
| State fee | none published / none published |
| Minimum age, motorboat | – / 16 |
| Free BoatUS course | accepted / accepted |
State rules read and practice questions written by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · How each state is checked
The rule in each state today
The table reads the state file built from each agency page. "Who needs it" is the rule in force on October 24, 2026; "Power" is the engine size from which the rule applies to motorboats; the two ages are the youngest a person may operate a motorboat or a personal watercraft without an older person aboard, when the state publishes one.
| State | Who needs it | Power | Motorboat alone | PWC alone | Credential |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | All operators | any motor | 14 | 14 | Vessel operator license (class V) |
| Alaska | No general requirement | – | – | – | – |
| Arizona | not verified yet | – | – | – | – |
| Arkansas | Born on or after January 1, 1986 | any motor | 12 | 16 | Boating education certificate |
| California | All operators | any motor | 16 | – | California Boater Card |
| Colorado | Up to age 17 | any motor | 14 | 14 | Boating safety course certificate |
| Connecticut | All operators | any motor | – | 16 | Safe Boating Certificate (SBC) / Certificate of Personal Watercraft Operation (CPWO) |
| Delaware | Born on or after January 1, 1978 | any motor | – | 16 | Delaware Boating Safety Certificate |
| District of Columbia | All operators | any motor | – | – | Boating Safety Certificate |
| Florida | Born on or after January 1, 1988 | 10 hp or more | – | – | Boating Safety Education Identification Card |
| Georgia | Born on or after January 1, 1998 | any motor | 16 | 16 | Boater education card |
| Hawaii | All operators | more than 10 hp (sailboats with an auxiliary engine over 10 hp included) | – | – | Boating safety course certificate (+ thrill craft operator certification for PWC) |
| Idaho | No general requirement | – | – | – | – |
| Illinois | Born on or after January 1, 1998 | more than 10 hp | 12 | 12 | Illinois Boating Safety Certificate |
| Indiana | All operators | more than 10 hp | 15 | – | Boater education certificate |
| Iowa | Up to age 17 | more than 10 hp | – | – | Iowa boater education certificate |
| Kansas | Born on or after January 1, 1989 | any motor | – | – | Boater safety education certificate |
| Kentucky | Up to age 17 | more than 10 hp | 12 | 12 | Kentucky Safe Boating Certificate |
| Louisiana | Born on or after January 2, 1984 | more than 10 hp | – | 16 | Boater education certificate |
| Maine | Born on or after January 1, 1999 | more than 25 hp | 12 | 16 | Boating Safety Education Card |
| Maryland | Born on or after July 1, 1972 | any motor | – | – | Certificate of boating safety education |
| Massachusetts | Born on or after January 2, 1989 | any motor | – | 16 | Boater safety certificate |
| Michigan | Born on or after July 1, 1996 | motor more than 6 hp (PWC: anyone born after Dec. 31, 1978) | 12 | 14 | Boating safety certificate (boater education card) |
| Minnesota | Born on or after July 1, 2000 | motor factory-rated over 25 hp (any PWC) | 12 | 12 | Watercraft operator's permit |
| Mississippi | Born on or after July 1, 1980 | any motor | – | – | Boater education card |
| Missouri | Born on or after January 2, 1984 | any motor | – | – | Boating safety identification card |
| Montana | Up to age 14 | motor rated at more than 10 hp (motorboat or PWC) | 13 | 13 | Montana Motorboat Operator's Safety Certificate |
| Nebraska | Born on or after January 1, 1986 | any motor | 14 | 14 | Boater Education Card (boating safety certificate) |
| Nevada | Born on or after January 1, 1983 | motor of more than 15 hp, PWC included; only on interstate waters (e.g. Lake Tahoe, Lake Mead, Lake Mohave, Colorado River) | – | 14 | Boater education card |
| New Hampshire | By age band | motorboat over 25 hp | – | – | Safe Boater Education Certificate |
| New Jersey | All operators | any motor | 13 | 16 | New Jersey Boating Safety Certificate |
| New Mexico | Born on or after January 1, 1989 | any motor | – | – | New Mexico boater education card |
| New York | All operators | any motor | – | 14 | Safe Boating Certificate |
| North Carolina | Born on or after January 1, 1988 | motor of 10 hp or greater (PWC included) | – | 16 | Boating safety certification card |
| North Dakota | Up to age 15 | motor over 10 hp (statute); Game and Fish page says at least 10 hp | 12 | 12 | Boat North Dakota boater education card |
| Ohio | Born on or after January 1, 1982 | boat powered by more than 10 hp (PWC included) | 12 | 16 | Ohio Boater Education Card / certificate |
| Oklahoma | Up to age 15 | motor of more than 10 hp; also any PWC and sailboats 16 ft or longer | – | – | Boating safety education card |
| Oregon | All operators | more than 10 hp | – | – | Oregon Boater Education Card |
| Pennsylvania | Born on or after January 1, 1982 | motor greater than 25 hp (PWC: every operator, any age) | 12 | 12 | Boating Safety Education Certificate |
| Rhode Island | Born on or after January 1, 1986 | propulsion machinery of more than 10 hp; any PWC operator regardless of age | – | – | Certificate of boating safety education |
| South Carolina | Born on or after July 2, 2007 | engine of 10 hp or greater, any PWC or specialty propcraft | – | – | South Carolina boating safety certificate |
| South Dakota | No general requirement | – | 12 | 14 | – |
| Tennessee | Born on or after January 2, 1989 | more than 8.5 hp | – | – | Boating Safety Certification of Completion (wallet card) |
| Texas | Born on or after September 1, 1993 | more than 15 hp | 13 | 13 | Boater Education Certificate |
| Utah | Up to age 17 | any motor | 16 | 12 | Boating safety certificate (PWC youth course); from 2027 also proof of the annual watercraft operator safety course |
| Vermont | Born on or after January 2, 1974 | any motor | – | – | Certificate of boating safety education |
| Virginia | All operators | 10 hp or more | – | 14 | Boating safety education card (Virginia Lifetime Boater's Card available) |
| Washington | Born on or after January 1, 1955 | motor of 15 hp or greater (PWC included) | 12 | 14 | Washington State Boater Education Card |
| West Virginia | Born on or after December 31, 1986 | any motor | – | – | Boater education card (certificate of boating safety education) |
| Wisconsin | Born on or after January 1, 1989 | any motor | 12 | 12 | Boating safety certificate |
| Wyoming | No general requirement | – | 16 | 16 | – |
How to read a cut-off date
"Born on or after January 1, 1988" means a person whose birthday is that day or later needs the card; someone born on December 31, 1987 does not, whatever their experience. 28 states use such a date. When a state also sets a power threshold, both conditions apply together: a person born after the date who runs a 9.9 hp outboard in a state that counts only motors of 10 hp or more needs no card. Personal watercraft are covered in 42 of the 46 states with a requirement, often with their own minimum age.
Compare two states
Useful before a trip or a move: the mini-tool puts two state rules side by side.
Compare two states
Florida / Georgia
Born on or after January 1, 1988 / Born on or after January 1, 1998
| State fee | none published / none published |
| Minimum age, motorboat | – / 16 |
| Free BoatUS course | accepted / accepted |
What the table does not show
Exemptions differ from state to state and do not fit in a column: an adult card holder on board, a rental with the livery's briefing, a Coast Guard captain's license, a visit with another state's card. Each state page lists those its agency publishes. The table also leaves out registration, titling and the equipment you must carry, which follow the federal rules in 33 CFR part 175 and the state's own additions.