Courts · Small Claims
Small Claims Court Limits by State
The most-searched fact, the most you can sue for in small claims, for every state, plus the filing-fee range and whether a lawyer is allowed. Cited to the statute or court rule.
How high is the limit where you live?
Colored by the state's small-claims dollar ceiling. Tap a state for the fee, the lawyer rule, and the exact citation.
Read this first: the limit isn't always one number
For most states the answer is a single figure: Texas $20,000, Georgia $15,000, California $12,500 (but only $6,250 for a business), Ohio $6,000. Two states break the pattern, and flattening them would mislead you. New York is tiered by court: $10,000 in New York City and the city courts, $5,000 in the Nassau and Suffolk district courts, and $3,000 in town and village courts, so the widely-repeated "$5,000 statewide" is simply wrong. North Carolina sets a $10,000 ceiling that each county may lower (often to $5,000), so the honest answer there is "up to $10,000, check your county."
Two more things vary more than people expect. The filing fee is a range almost everywhere (set per county or per claim size), not a single number; the only genuinely uniform fees are North Carolina's $96 and New Jersey's $35. And lawyers are barred or restricted at the hearing in 12 states (California, Michigan, Virginia, Washington, and Arizona among them), where small claims is meant to be argued by the parties themselves.
Have a number in mind already? The small claims checker compares your claim amount to your state's ceiling and shows the fee and the lawyer rule next to it.
Type a state to jump straight to its full small claims guide.
Every state in one table
The claim ceiling, the filing-fee range, the lawyer rule, and the citation for all 50 states, in alphabetical order.
All 50 states (50)
| State | Max claim | Filing fee | Lawyers at hearing | Statute |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | $6,000 | ~$35–$200by claim size and county | Allowed | Ala. Code §12-12-31 |
| Alaska | $10,000 | $50 or $100by claim size | Allowed | AS §22.15.040 |
| Arizona | $5,000 | ~$26–$40+by county | Not allowed | A.R.S. §22-503 (limit); §22-512 (attorneys) |
| Arkansas | $5,000 | ~$30–$65by district court | Not allowed | Ark. Code §16-17-704 (limit); §16-17-606 (no attorneys) |
| California | $12,500businesses: $6,250 | $30–$100per claim value | Not allowed | Cal. Civ. Proc. Code §116.221 (individuals); §116.231 (entities) |
| Colorado | $7,500 | $31–$55by claim size | Not allowed | C.R.S. §13-6-403 |
| Connecticut | $5,000 | $95 | Allowed | Conn. Gen. Stat. §51-15; Conn. Practice Book §24 |
| Delaware | $25,000 | $35–$45by claim size (debt actions) | Allowed | 10 Del. C. §9301 |
| Florida | $8,000 | ~$55–$300per claim-value tier | Allowed | Fla. Sm. Cl. R. 7.010(b) |
| Georgia | $15,000 | ~$54–$60 filing + ~$35–$50 servicesignificantly by county | Allowed | O.C.G.A. §15-10-2 |
| Hawaii | $5,000 | $35 | Allowed | Haw. Rev. Stat. §633-27 |
| Idaho | $15,000 | ~$35–$70by claim amount | Not allowed | Idaho Code §1-2301 (limit); §1-2308 (no attorneys) |
| Illinois | $10,000 | ~$90–$379sharply by county | Allowed | Ill. Sup. Ct. Rules 281–288 (Rule 281 defines small claims) |
| Indiana | $10,000 | ~$35–$100by county and court | Allowed | Ind. Code §33-29-2-4 (statewide); §33-28-3-4 (circuit court docket); §33-34-3-2 (Marion County) |
| Iowa | $6,500 | $95 filing fee (about $115 with the $20 service charge) | Allowed | Iowa Code §631.1(1)(b) |
| Kansas | $10,000 | $35 for claims of $500 or less. $55 for claims over $500by claim size | Not allowed | K.S.A. §61-2703(a) |
| Kentucky | $2,500 | ~$25–$30 filing fee, plus service costsby county | Allowed | KRS §24A.230(1) |
| Louisiana | $5,000 | ~$35–$150 per caseby city court | Allowed | La. R.S. 13:5200 et seq. (13:5202 jurisdiction) |
| Maine | $10,000 | ~$50–$120by claim size | Allowed | 14 M.R.S. §7482 |
| Maryland | $5,000 | ~$11 filing + service (about $10 certified mail or $60 sheriff per defendant)set statewide (service costs vary) | Allowed | Md. Code, Cts. & Jud. Proc. §4-405 |
| Massachusetts | $7,000 | $40 / $50 / $100 / $150by claim tier | Allowed | M.G.L. c.218 §21; Uniform Small Claims Rules |
| Michigan | $7,000 | $30–$70by claim tier | Not allowed | MCL §600.8401 |
| Minnesota | $20,000 | ~$65–$80$65 base plus county add-ons | Allowed | Minn. Stat. §491A.01, subd. 3a |
| Mississippi | $3,500 | ~$84–$100set at the county level | Allowed | Miss. Code §9-11-9 |
| Missouri | $5,000 | ~$35–$45by county | Allowed | Mo. Rev. Stat. §482.305 |
| Montana | $7,000 | ~$30–$60per court | Not allowed | Mont. Code Ann. §25-35-502 (limit); §25-35-505 (representation) |
| Nebraska | $7,500 | ~$25–$35per county court, plus service | Not allowed | Neb. Rev. Stat. §25-2802 (limit); §25-2803 (no attorneys) |
| Nevada | $10,000 | ~$50–$200by court and claim size | Allowed | Nev. Rev. Stat. §73.010 (jurisdiction); §73.012 (entity representation) |
| New Hampshire | $10,000 | $90 or $145by claim size | Allowed | N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. (RSA) §503:1 |
| New Jersey | $5,000 | $35 + $5 per extra defendant | Allowed | N.J. Court Rule 6:1-2 (Small Claims Section) |
| New Mexico | $10,000 | ~$77–$87set by statute (service extra) | Allowed | N.M. Stat. Ann. §35-3-3 (magistrate court); §34-8A-3 (metropolitan court) |
| New York | $10,000lower in some courts | ~$15–$20statewide by claim size | Allowed | NYC Civil Court Act §1801; Uniform District Court Act §1801; Uniform Justice Court Act §1801 |
| North Carolina | $10,000counties may set it lower | $96 (uniform statewide) + ~$30 service | Allowed | N.C.G.S. §7A-210 (ceiling) & §7A-211 (assignment) |
| North Dakota | $15,000 | $20 | Allowed | N.D. Cent. Code §27-08.1-01 |
| Ohio | $6,000 | ~$50–$80by court | Allowed | Ohio Rev. Code §1925.02 |
| Oklahoma | $10,000 | ~$42–$80by county and claim amount | Allowed | 12 O.S. §1751 |
| Oregon | $10,000 | $57 or $102set statewide by claim size | Not allowed | ORS 46.405 |
| Pennsylvania | $12,000 | ~$67.75–$116.75+by claim tier and defendants | Allowed | 42 Pa.C.S. §1515(a)(3) |
| Rhode Island | $5,000 | $75.75 | Allowed | R.I. Gen. Laws §10-16-1 |
| South Carolina | $7,500 | ~$80 + $10 per extra defendantstatewide rule (collected by counties) | Allowed | S.C. Code §22-3-10 |
| South Dakota | $12,000 | ~$24–$43 + $11.26 per extra defendantsliding scale by claim size | Allowed | SDCL §16-12C-13 (procedure under SDCL ch. 15-39) |
| Tennessee | $25,000 | ~$120–$250 total (about $42 statutory base plus county costs and service)$42 base plus county taxes | Allowed | Tenn. Code §16-15-501 |
| Texas | $20,000 | ~$54–$86per county | Allowed | Tex. Gov’t Code §27.031(a)(1) |
| Utah | $20,000 | $60–$185by claim size | Allowed | Utah Code §78A-8-102 (limit); §78A-2-301 (fees) |
| Vermont | $10,000 | $65–$90by claim size | Allowed | 12 V.S.A. §5531 (limit); 32 V.S.A. §1431 (fees) |
| Virginia | $5,000 | ~$50–$74by locality and service | Not allowed | Va. Code §16.1-122.2 (jurisdiction); §16.1-122.4 (no attorneys) |
| Washington | $10,000businesses: $5,000 | $35–$50$35 base plus dispute-resolution surcharge | Not allowed | RCW §12.40.010 (limit); §12.40.020 (fee); §12.40.080 (attorneys) |
| West Virginia | $20,000 | $30–$50 + service costsby amount claimed | Allowed | W. Va. Code §50-2-1 (limit, as amended by HB 2761, 2025); §50-3-1 (fees) |
| Wisconsin | $10,000 | ~$94.50statutory base (county charges vary) | Allowed | Wis. Stat. §799.01(1) |
| Wyoming | $6,000 | ~$10service costs are extra | Allowed | Wyo. Stat. §1-21-201 (through §1-21-205) |
Jump to your state
Open any state for its full detail, cited to the statute or court rule.
What these pages are (and aren't)
Each state page is a reference for the dollar limit, the fee, and the lawyer rule: the facts you need before deciding whether small claims is the right venue. They are deliberately not a "how to file" walkthrough or a "will I win" predictor: filing procedure is county-specific and giving case-outcome advice crosses into legal advice. For forms and procedure, each page links to the state's official court self-help resource. This is legal information, not legal advice.