Noncompete Agreements: Updated Income Thresholds For 2025

As our readers know, in 2024 the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) proposed regulation to eliminate almost all noncompete agreements did not come to fruition — at least for now. As we reported earlier this month, however, the failure of the FTC ban has not stopped states from sharpening their hostility toward employer noncompete agreements.

One method many states use to restrict noncompete agreements is income thresholds, which prohibit employers from entering into noncompete agreements or other restrictive covenants with employees who earn below a certain wage. We previously wrote about these restrictions here. In several states, the threshold increases annually. Specifically, thresholds in Washington, Colorado, Maine, Rhode Island, Oregon, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. increase each year. So, as we ring in 2025, we also ring in higher income thresholds in those states.