USA: 24 May 2023-State-by-State Guide to Face Mask Requirements

The last statewide orders broadly requiring people to wear masks in indoor public places ended in early 2022. Several state and local governments continued to mandate face-covering in high-risk settings such as health care and long-term care facilities into 2023, but those orders have almost all lapsed.

The U.S. government’s nationwide mask order for public transit, commercial flights and transportation hubs such as airports and train stations formally expired with the end of federal public health emergency May 11. It had not been enforced for more than a year due to an April 2022 court order. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) continues to recommend masking while on public transportation and at transportation hubs.

Over the course of the pandemic, 39 states, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia had orders at some point broadly requiring people to wear masks in public. Eleven states did not impose mandates at any point. Several states have moved via legislation or executive action to prevent local governments and school districts from doing so.

The Navaho Nation, the largest U.S. tribal nation, ended its mask mandate Jan. 20. The order had been in effect across the Navajo reservation, which covers more than 27,000 square miles in Arizona, New Mexico and Utah, for nearly three years.

Some states now direct health care workers to follow CDC recommendations on mask use in medical settings and nursing homes. In most places, business or private entities may set their own mask policies where there are no state, local or tribal requirements.

Alabama 

Alabama’s mask mandate expired April 9, 2021. The state Department of Public Health recommends face-covering in public as part of its COVID-19 safety guidance. Municipal mask mandates in Birmingham and Montgomery expired in May 2021.

Learn more: Read the Alabama health department’s COVID-19 prevention guidelines.

Alaska 

Mask orders covering state government facilities and the Alaska State Capitol building ended in May 2021. A mask mandate in Anchorage, the state’s largest city, was rescinded the same month. The capital city of Juneau downgraded its indoor mask requirement to a recommendation in February 2022.

Learn more: See the Alaska Department of Health’s COVID-19 guidance.

Arizona 

Then-Gov. Doug Ducey issued an executive order in March 2021 lifting all state COVID-19 restrictions on businesses and restricting local governments’ ability to impose and enforce face-covering orders. Ducey signed legislation April 25 that bars school districts and local governments from requiring anyone under age 18 to mask up without the consent of a parent or guardian. He also signed legislation May 20 that prohibits mask mandates in buildings run by state or local governments.

Learn more: Read the Arizona Department of Health Services’ mask guidance.

Arkansas 

Then-Gov. Asa Hutchinson lifted his 8-month-old mask mandate March 31, 2021. Health officials continue to recommend that Arkansans wear masks in public when unable to maintain 6 feet of distance from people outside their households. A state law barring local governments from imposing mask orders, enacted in April 2021, was struck down by an Arkansas judge later that year.

Learn more: Read the Arkansas health department’s mask guidance.

California 

Gov. Gavin Newsom lifted California’s general indoor mask mandate March 1, 2022. A mask order covering health care and long-term care facilities, correctional facilities, and homeless and emergency shelters ended April 3.

Los Angeles County maintains more restrictive rules for health care workers, continuing to require that they mask up when in patient care areas or directly providing care. The county health department says it will reassess the order in September.

Oakland requires masks in city government buildings and other municipal facilities such as libraries, senior centers and recreation centers through at least July 1. Mask orders for public transportation in Los Angeles County and the San Francisco Bay Area ended in the fall of 2022.

Learn more: Read California’s updated face-covering guidance.

Colorado 

Gov. Jared Polis ended Colorado’s statewide mandate May 14, 2021. Health care and long-term care facilities are directed to follow the CDC guidance on masking.

Learn more: Read the Colorado health department’s mask guidance.

Connecticut 

Gov. Ned Lamont lifted Connecticut’s face-covering order Feb. 28, 2022. Previously, masks were required for unvaccinated people age 2 and over in indoor public places. Masking remains mandatory for all in health care settings such as hospitals, doctors’ offices and urgent care centers; long-term care facilities; and shelters. The cities of New Haven and Bridgeport also ended indoor mask mandates in early 2022.

Learn more: Read Connecticut’s current COVID-19 health guidance.

Delaware 

Gov. John Carrey’s indoor mask order was lifted Feb. 11, 2022. Staff at medical and long-term care facilities are directed to follow CDC face-covering guidelines.

Learn more: Read Delaware’s face-covering guidance.

District of Columbia 

The District’s order requiring masks for people over age 2 in most indoor public places ended March 1, 2022. Mandates for specific settings were phased out over the remainder of that year. The only current requirement is for masking in health care facilities when COVID-19 community levels are high, according to DC Health, the District’s public-health agency.

Learn more: Read the District’s latest mask guidance.

Florida 

A law passed by the state legislature May 3 and signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis May 11 permanently prohibits private businesses and government entities from imposing mask mandates. Local governments and school systems were already barred from establishing mask rules and other COVID-19 restrictions under a May 2021 gubernatorial order.

Learn more: Read the Florida health department’s COVID-19 guidance.

Georgia 

Gov. Brian Kemp issued an executive order in August 2021 prohibiting local governments from imposing mask rules on private businesses. Mandates in Atlanta and Savannah that required most individuals to mask up in indoor public places were rescinded in late February.

An indoor mask mandate enforced in Athens and Clarke County during periods of high community spread was fully lifted Oct. 6 as the county’s COVID-19 emergency declaration expired.

Learn more: Read the Georgia Department of Public Health’s COVID-19 guidance.

Hawaii 

The state’s indoor face-covering order, in place since April 2020, expired March 25, 2022. Previously, people age 5 and up are required to wear a mask in most indoor public settings.

Learn more: Read Hawaii’s mask guidance.

Idaho 

Boise, Idaho’s capital and largest city, dropped its mask mandate in May 2021, as did several other jurisdictions. Gov. Brad Little signed an executive order May 28, 2021, restoring local governments’ authority to make their own mask rules, reversing a move by then-Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin to strip such local control in an order she issued while Little was at a conference out of state.

Learn more: Read the Idaho health department’s pandemic recommendations.

Illinois 

Gov. J.B. Pritzker eliminated the state’s order requiring people to mask up in indoor public spaces Feb. 28, 2022. Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot lifted a similar citywide mandate the same day.

Pritzker lifted a face-covering order for health care settings Oct. 17. Masking is recommended at facilities in communities at high risk for COVID-19 spread.

Learn more: See the Illinois Department of Public Health’s COVID-19 resources.

Indiana 

The state’s mask mandate became a “mask advisory” April 6, 2021. Face-covering is required for all people in state-run congregate facilities such as prisons, state hospitals and veterans homes.

Learn more: Read the Indiana Department of Health’s COVID-19 control guidance.

Iowa 

Gov. Kim Reynolds lifted the state’s mask order in February 2021. The following May, she signed legislation barring local governments from compelling businesses to require masks.

Iowa City’s indoor mask mandate, which municipal officials said was legal because it was binding on individuals, not businesses, was rescinded March 1, 2022. Cedar Rapids lifted a face-covering requirement in city buildings on August 11.

A federal appeals court panel ruled on May 16 that Iowa school districts cannot issue mask mandates unless they’re needed to comply with other federal or state laws.

Learn more: Read Iowa’s COVID-19 prevention guidance.

Kansas 

Kansas lawmakers revoked the state’s mask requirement April 1, 2021, hours after Gov. Laura Kelly issued an executive order intended to extend it, under a state law passed the previous month that gave a panel of top legislators authority to overturn the governor’s emergency orders. Kansas City and Wyandotte County, which have a unified government, repealed their indoor mask mandate Dec. 16, 2021.

Learn more: Read the Kansas health department’s mask guidance.

Kentucky 

Kentucky’s general mask mandate ended June 11, 2021, along with the state’s remaining COVID-19 health restrictions. Masking is encouraged for Kentuckians when they are with people from outside their household and required for adults in some health care, day care and early education settings.

Learn more: Read the Kentucky Department of Public Health’s COVID-19 prevention and treatment guidance.

North Dakota

The North Dakota Department of Health recommends residents follow CDC masking guidance. There has been no statewide mandate since Jan. 18, 2021.

Learn more: Read the state health department’s mask guidance.

Ohio

The state’s mask order expired June 2, 2021, as the Ohio Department of Health lifted most other pandemic health orders.

Learn more: Read Ohio’s mask and social distancing guidance.

Oklahoma

Gov. Kevin Stitt called on Oklahomans to wear masks in public but rejected calls for a state mandate. Local mask mandates in the state’s largest cities, Oklahoma City and Tulsa, ended April 30 and May 1, 2021, respectively.

Learn more: Read the Oklahoma health department’s COVID-19 guidance.

Oregon

Then-Gov. Kate Brown lifted the state’s mask mandate March 12, 2022. The Oregon Health Authority announced in early March that a face-covering requirement for workers, patients and visitors at health care facilities ended April 3.

Learn more: Read Oregon’s mask guidance.

Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania’s mask mandate was rescinded June 28, 2021. The state Department of Health recommends that Pennsylvanians follow CDC face-covering guidelines. Philadelphia’s most recent indoor mask order was listed April 22, 2022.

Learn more: Read the Pennsylvania health department’s COVID-19 prevention guidance.

Puerto Rico 

Gov. Pedro Pierluisi lifted the territory’s face-covering mandate for indoor public places March 10, 2022. Masking is still required in health care and long-term care facilities.

Learn more: See Puerto Rico’s COVID-19 guidelines and protocols (Spanish).

Rhode Island

Gov. Dan McKee’s mask-or-vaccine order — which mandated masking at large indoor businesses but gave smaller establishments an option to require either face-covering or proof of vaccination — expired Feb. 11, 2022, about two months after it went into effect. Masking remains mandatory for unvaccinated staff at health care facilities in communities where the weekly COVID-19 case count exceeds 50 per 100,000 people (as tracked at the state Department of Health’s COVID-19 data hub.

Learn more: Read Rhode Island’s mask guidance.

South Carolina

Gov. Henry McMaster has encouraged unvaccinated South Carolinians to mask up but did not impose a statewide mandate and issued an executive order May 11, 2021, invalidating existing local face-covering rules in several jurisdictions. Columbia, the state’s capital and second-largest city, repealed its indoor mask mandate in November, and a face-covering order in surrounding Richland County expired May 1.

Learn more: Read the South Carolina health department’s mask guidance.

South Dakota

The South Dakota Department of Health recommends “wearing cloth face coverings in public settings where other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain, especially in areas of significant community-based transmission.”

Learn more: Read the state health department’s COVID-19 information page.

Tennessee

Gov. Bill Lee did not impose a statewide mandate and signed legislation Nov. 12, 2021, that severely limits local governments’ authority to enact their own mask rules.

Learn more: Read the Tennessee health department’s mask guidance.

Texas

Gov. Greg Abbott lifted the state’s 8-month-old mask mandate March 10, 2021. The following May, he issued an executive order barring local government bodies, including school districts and public health agencies, from instituting their own face-covering mandates.

Learn more: Read a roundup of Texas’ mask laws.

Utah

Utah’s order requiring masks in most public settings ended April 10, 2021, five months after it was issued, under a state law that phased out various COVID-19 public health restrictions. Indoor mask mandates implemented in Salt Lake and Summit counties in January 2022 were overturned by the state legislature.

Learn more: Read Utah’s mask guidance.

Vermont

Gov. Phil Scott lifted Vermont’s mask mandate and all other COVID-19 restrictions June 15, 2021.

Learn more: Read the Vermont Department of Health’s COVID-19 guidance.

Virginia

Then-Gov. Ralph Northam’s order ending statewide COVID-19 restrictions took effect May 28, 2021, two weeks after he effectively lifted Virginia’s universal mask mandate to align with CDC guidance at the time.

Learn more: Read the Virginia Department of Health’s mask guidance.

Washington

The state lifted its general indoor mask order March 12, 2022, about three weeks after a mandate for masking at large outdoor events ended. A mask mandate for people age 5 and older in health care, long-term care and correctional facilities was lifted April 3.

Learn more: Read the state Department of Health’s mask guidance.

West Virginia

Gov. Jim Justice signed an executive order June 20, 2021, revoking the state’s 11-month-old mask mandate. In its final weeks the directive had covered unvaccinated people age 9 and up in indoor public spaces.

Learn more: Read West Virginia’s past face-covering orders.

Wisconsin

The Wisconsin Supreme Court struck down Gov. Tony Evers’ mask mandate March 31, 2021. In a 4-3 vote on a case brought by Republican state legislators, the court ruled that Evers, a Democrat, overstepped his authority by repeatedly extending pandemic-related emergency orders without lawmakers’ approval.

Indoor mask mandates in the city of Milwaukee and Dane County, which includes Madison, expired March 1, 2022. Milwaukee County, which continued to require face-covering on public buses and in the county courthouse into 2023, lifted all its mask orders May 9.

Learn more: Read the Wisconsin health department’s mask guidance.

Wyoming

Gov. Mark Gordon rescinded the state’s 3-month-old mask mandate March 16, 2021. The state health department recommends that residents “consider wearing a well-fitting face mask that covers your nose and mouth in indoor public settings.”

Learn more: Read the Wyoming Department of Health’s COVID-19 guidance.