State energy code tracker

How the 51 places split into bands, counted from the table below:

The full table, strongest band first, alphabetical within each band. Status as of the ACEEE State Policy Database, reviewed November 2024.

A visual version of this table, colored by band, lives as Figure 1 on the R-value hub. This page is the prose and table of record behind it.

• The band is the leading edition actually in force. A status like "2009 IECC with amendments; transitioning to 2021 IECC" sits in the 2012 IECC or older band until the transition lands. Counting a state at the edition it is moving toward would flatter it.
• "2021 IECC or newer" includes state-written codes. Several states enforce their own code rather than the IECC text, and the band reflects the edition basis their status states.
• Amendments cut both ways. States amend the model code as they adopt it, sometimes weakening it, so the edition year alone overstates or understates what an inspector will ask for. The code text as adopted is the authority.
• "No mandatory statewide code" does not mean no code anywhere in the state. Home rule pushes the decision to cities and counties, and many adopt an IECC edition on their own.
• Every row carries an anchor. Link a state directly by adding #state-texas or #state-new-york to this page's address.

"Code requires R-60 in your attic" is one of the most repeated sentences in insulation content, and it fails two separate checks. First, the edition. R-60 for ceilings in climate zones 4 through 8 enters the model code with the 2021 IECC. As of the last review, 12 of 51 jurisdictions enforce the 2021 IECC or a newer or equivalent state code, which leaves 39 on something older, and 8 with no mandatory statewide residential energy code at all.

The spread is huge. Wyoming's status reads "Voluntary, 1989 MEC basis; some cities on 2006 to 2012 IECC". Rhode Island's reads "2024 IECC (adopted 2023-06-20)". Quoting one national rule across a gap that wide is not rounding off. It is wrong for most addresses. That is why the claim has its own entry in the corrections list.

Second, what the code covers. This one holds even in a 2021 IECC state. Energy codes attach to new building and to work done under a permit. Choosing on your own to blow more insulation into an attic you already have does not normally trigger the code. So "what does code require me to add" usually has no answer at all. No code is asking. For a job you choose to do, the numbers worth using are recommendations. Those are on the R-value hub.

The adopted code binds work that goes through the permit office. New building. Additions. Remodels done under a permit where you live. On those jobs the ceiling R-value in the enforced edition, plus any local changes, is a real requirement. An inspector can hold the work to it. Which projects need a permit, and which ones pull in the energy code, is decided locally. That is one more reason your local building department is the only authority worth quoting.

Topping up on your own is different. With no permit in play, you are picking a target, not meeting one. Three things help you pick. Your climate zone, which the climate zone lookup gives you from a ZIP. The level recommended for that zone, on the R-value hub. And what closing the gap costs in your state, which the Insulation Cost Index works out row by row.

On a job with no permit, the law is not forcing your hand. We do not sell insulation and we do not install it, which is why this page can say that plainly. Whether the job is worth doing anyway is a different question. Often the answer is yes, for reasons that have nothing to do with code. The worth-it guide runs that math honestly, including the cases where the answer is no.

Three separate tables get mashed together into "the required R-value." They make three different claims. The 2021 IECC ceiling table is what the International Code Council publishes. It binds nobody until a state or a city adopts it. What your state actually enforces is the table above. And the ENERGY STAR levels are advice for a home that already exists. That last one is the number a homeowner topping up an attic actually wants.

Already have 3 to 4 inches up there? Your target is lower, and those numbers are on the R-value hub, which carries the full charts. This table shows only the one contrast this tracker is about: the code minimum against the recommendation.

The two columns match on purpose. ENERGY STAR says its advice is based on the 2021 IECC ceiling table. What differs is the force behind them. The recommendation applies to your attic because you choose it. The code minimum applies only where it has been adopted, and only to work under a permit. Most homes that already exist should read the middle column, or the lower number if 3 to 4 inches are already down. One code allowance also matters on permitted jobs. Where the 2021 IECC asks for R-60 in the ceiling, R-49 is enough on one condition. The insulation has to run all the way out over the top of the outside wall at its full depth, with nothing squashing it. That normally takes a raised-heel truss, which lifts the roof to make room.

Planning permitted work?

If your job does go through the permit office, the adopted code applies. A licensed contractor who works under it every day will know what the inspector wants to see. Tell us the job and your ZIP, and we pass it to a licensed contractor who works in your area.

A marketing service, not a licensed contractor. Insulation work is performed by independent licensed local contractors.

What does it cost?

A 1,200 square foot attic blown to R-49 runs about $2,600 to $3,200 installed, from this site's own cost model dated August 2026. Two of its parts are estimates, so read it as a range and not a quote. See the full working and the price by attic size.

What happens next?

Your request goes to a licensed insulation contractor near you, usually within about an hour during the day.

First name Last name Phone Email ZIP code Project type Choose one Insulation removalRemoval and replacementRodent or pest contaminationSuspected asbestos or vermiculiteAdd insulation over existingNew attic insulationWall insulationCrawl space or basement insulationAir sealingAttic ventilationNot sure yet Anything else? (optional)

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• It is second-hand, and a snapshot. We check status against the ACEEE State Policy Database, reviewed November 2024. DOE's energycodes.gov pages are the original source, but a computer cannot read them and they block automated access. So we use a solid second-hand source and name it.
• It goes out of date. States adopt new editions every year. We recheck this page at least once a year. It was last checked 2026-08-09. Never treat it as accurate to the day.
• It does not show local changes. Cities and counties change the state code, adopt a newer one first, or opt out. No table built by state can show that, and this one does not try.
• It cannot approve your project. For anything under a permit, only one answer counts: the code text as adopted where you live, read by your local building department.