Method and sources
Every bond amount on this site was read on an official page in October 2026 and is quoted with its link; every premium is an estimate built from rate grids that bond agencies publish, shown as a range for a credit score. 36 state rules for 4 kinds of state bonds were read one by one, plus five federal rules; one script turns them into the table every page uses.
A national range of 1 to 15 percent says little about your own bond, and a figure printed before the legislature changed it says even less. This site reads the required amount on the statute or the agency page of each state, links the exact line, flags the 2024 to 2026 changes, and shows at once the premium range that published rate grids give for your credit score, with no form.
1. The required amount: official pages only
For each bond and state we looked for the statute or session law, then the page of the agency that collects the bond (Secretary of State for notaries, the motor vehicle department or dealer board for dealers, the contractor licensing board, the DMV for bonded titles). When an agency site refused automated reading, the same rule was read on the state legislature's site. Each amount is stored with the address of the page, a short quotation of the line and the date it was read. A state where we found the amount only on an agency or a bond seller's page is not listed.
| State bond | States read | States |
|---|---|---|
| Notary public bond | 18 | AL, AZ, CA, CO, FL, IL, IN, LA, MI, MO, NV, OK, PA, TN, TX, UT, WA, WI |
| Motor vehicle dealer bond | 9 | CA, FL, GA, IL, NY, NC, TX, VA, WA |
| Contractor license bond | 6 | AZ, CA, FL, NV, OR, WA |
| Bonded title (lost title bond) | 3 | CA, TX, VT |
Five federal rules apply in every state and were read on eCFR and the Department of Labor:
| Bond | Rule | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Freight broker | 49 CFR § 387.307 | $75,000 |
| ERISA plan official | ERISA § 412, 29 U.S.C. § 1112; DOL Field Assistance Bulletin 2008-04 | 10 % of funds handled, $1,000 minimum, $500,000 cap ($1,000,000 with employer securities) |
| Federal construction | 40 U.S.C. §§ 3131-3134; FAR 28.102-1 and 28.102-2 | Performance and payment bonds of 100 % above $150,000 |
| Federal bid guarantee | FAR 28.101-2 | At least 20 % of the bid, up to $3,000,000 |
| Medical equipment supplier (DMEPOS) | 42 CFR § 424.57(d) | $50,000 |
2. Recent changes we caught
Bond amounts move more than people think, and pages that rank often show the old figure. These changes were read in the legislation itself:
| Bond | State | Before | Now | Since |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Notary | Alabama | $25,000 | $50,000 | see the state page |
| Notary | Louisiana | $10,000 | $50,000 | February 1, 2026 |
| Notary | Pennsylvania | $10,000 | $25,000 | March 28, 2026 |
| Auto dealer | Texas | $25,000 | $50,000 | see the state page |
| Contractor | California | $15,000 | $25,000 | see the state page |
| Contractor | Washington | $12,000 | $30,000 | see the state page |
3. The premium: an estimate, and why
Each surety files its rates with the insurance department of each state. Those filings are public in principle but sit in the SERFF filing system, which refused automated reading, and they differ from one surety to the next. We therefore built the estimate from the grids that bond agencies publish on their own pages (<a href="https://www.bryantsuretybonds.com/learn-surety/surety-bond-cost" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Bryant Surety Bonds</a>, <a href="https://suretybondcalc.com/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Surety Bond Calc</a>, <a href="https://gritinsurance.com/bonds-surety/bond-cost-calculator" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Grit Insurance</a>, <a href="https://axcess-surety.com/what-is-a-surety-bond-a-complete-guide-to-surety-bonds/surety-bonds-costs/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Axcess Surety</a>). For each credit tier we keep the lowest low and the highest high of those grids. The result is wide on purpose: it is the span within which published offers fall, not a prediction of your quote.
| Credit score | License and permit bonds | Motor vehicle dealer bonds | Freight broker bonds | Court and probate bonds | Fidelity and ERISA bonds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 700 or higher | 0.75 to 1.5 | 0.75 to 1.5 | 1.25 to 3 | 0.4 to 0.6 | 0.5 to 1 |
| 650 to 699 | 1 to 2.5 | 1 to 3 | 3.5 to 5 | 0.6 to 0.9 | 0.7 to 1.2 |
| 600 to 649 | 2.5 to 5 | 2.5 to 5 | 7.5 to 10 | 1 to 1.5 | 1 to 1.8 |
| 550 to 599 | 5 to 10 | 5 to 7.5 | 10 to 12 | 1.5 to 2.5 | 1.5 to 2.5 |
| Under 550 | 5 to 15 | 7.5 to 10 | 12 to 13 | 2.5 to 4 | 2 to 3.5 |
Most markets charge a minimum premium of $100 a year, applied to both ends of a range. A term of two or three years paid at once costs 1.5 and 2 times one year on the grid that publishes multi-year prices (<a href="https://gritinsurance.com/bonds-surety/bond-cost-calculator" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Grit Insurance</a>).
4. Bonds priced another way
Notary bonds are sold at a flat price for the whole commission, without a credit check. The estimate runs from $20 or 0.3 % of the bond, whichever is higher, to $50 or 1 % of the bond. Three states publish a price themselves and those figures replace the estimate: Michigan ($50 to $100, <a href="https://www.michigan.gov/sos/faqs/office-of-the-great-seal/notary" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Department of State</a>), Utah (about $50, <a href="https://notary.utah.gov/notarial-bond/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">state notary site</a>) and Tennessee ($30 to $55 in a <a href="https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/tacir/commission-meetings/2025-september/2025Sept_Tab5RealEstateFraud_DraftReport.pdf" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">2025 state report</a>).
Title bonds follow the schedule one agency publishes: $100 up to a $6,000 bond, then $15 per extra $1,000 (<a href="https://www.bryantsuretybonds.com/license-permit-bonds/title-bond" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Bryant title bond schedule</a>). A Texas vehicle worth $12,000 needs a bond of 1.5 times its value and the estimate is $280.
Contract bonds (performance, payment, bid) use a standard sliding scale per $1,000 of contract price for applicants with good credit and clean financial statements (<a href="https://axcess-surety.com/what-is-a-surety-bond-a-complete-guide-to-surety-bonds/surety-bonds-costs/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Axcess Surety</a>): $25 on the first $100,000, $15 on the next $400,000, $10 on the next $2,000,000, $7.50 on the next $2,500,000, $7 on the next remainder. A $1,000,000 contract comes to $13,500. Credit programs for jobs up to $500,000 are shown at 3 %; below that, no standard estimate is given.
5. A worked example
An independent dealer in Texas needs a $50,000 bond. With a score of 700 or more, the dealer grid gives 0.75 to 1.5 % a year, so $375 to $750. Under 550, the same bond is estimated at $3,750 to $5,000. A surety may also decline, ask for collateral or place the dealer in a high-risk program.
6. Figures left out
- Rates filed by individual sureties (SERFF): not read, so no surety-specific price is shown.
- States whose amount we could not verify on an official page: Ohio and Pennsylvania dealer bonds, the New York notary rule and the Arizona dealer bond, among others. They will appear when read.
- Probate and court bonds: the court sets the amount case by case, so the calculator asks you to enter it.
- Customs, utility, lottery and hundreds of local permit bonds: too many local rules to read reliably.
7. Limits
- A legislature can change an amount at any time. The amount on the official page wins over ours; each state page shows the date it was read.
- Credit score is only one input; sureties also look at experience, financial statements, claims and the industry.
- Nothing here is legal or insurance advice and nothing is a quote.
Corrections: contact page.