This article delineates the age of candidacy laws of the federal government and individual states of the United States. The US has historically had minimum age requirements for many positions, ranging from President to local members of city council. While there is no maximum age limit or point of forced retirement—other countries like Canada enforce retirement ages on judges and senators —there are term limits in some cases, most notably a limit of 2 full terms for the President of the United States.

Federal Government

In the United States, a person must be aged 35 or over to serve as president. To be a senator, a person must be aged 30 or over. To be a Representative, a person must be aged 25 or older. This is specified in the U.S. Constitution. Most states in the U.S. also have age requirements for the offices of Governor, State Senator, and State Representative.[74] Some states have a minimum age requirement to hold any elected office (usually 21 or 18).

State government

• Qualified elector/registered voter requirement. † State Senate membership requirement. N.A. implies that such a position does not exist in that state.

Alaska

Arizona

California

Colorado

Connecticut

Georgia

Hawaii

Idaho

Illinois

Indiana

Iowa

Louisiana

Maryland

Massachusetts

Michigan

Governor or Lieutenant Governor: 30 State Senate or State House: 21 Judge: Licensed to practice law All other offices: 18 (must be a registered and qualified elector)

Minnesota

Montana

Nebraska

Nevada

New Mexico

New York

North Carolina

North Dakota

Oklahoma

Oregon

Pennsylvania

Rhode Island

South Carolina

South Dakota

Tennessee

Texas

Vermont

Virginia

Washington

Wisconsin

Wyoming

Local government

Many states require elected municipal officers to be over 18 years of age or be a registered voter in the city thereof. Montana requires mayors to be at least 21 years of age. As of November 2016, most U.S. cities with populations exceeding 200,000 required their mayor to be a registered voter in the city thereof or at least 18 years of age. Here are the following exceptions:

Baltimore