All right, so you just want to pass the easiest bar exam in the easiest state and get it over with.
No honor, no warrior spirit, or any of that shit—just gimme the bar card! This is especially true if you plan to practice in a state that accepts UBE scores (or MBE scores). You may be able to transfer your UBE score from an “easier” state.
You also want to avoid the hardest bar exams, naturally. Why waste a good six months torturing yourself again just because you missed a few points?
No judgment from me. You’re here to move on with your life and forget I ever existed. That’s cool.
So what are we going to look at to figure out the easiest bar exams to pass? (This is for the legacy UBE, not the NextGen UBE being rolled out in 2026-2028.)
- Recent pass rates by state
- Minimum passing UBE scores
- Number of applicants by state
- Score portability and transferability
- The verdict – a shortlist of three states to consider, and states to avoid
Bar exam pass rates by state
I looked at the 2019 pass rates in each of the 50 states (excluding Puerto Rico, Guam, Palau, etc.) and sorted them from highest to lowest. The pass rate gives you a ROUGH indication of how difficult the exam might be in that state going forward.
I say ROUGH because pass rate percentages have no bearing on YOUR OWN chances of passing. Maybe the grading is more forgiving. Maybe the students are better. Maybe there aren’t enough applicants to give you a precise number.
If you succeed, you succeed. It’s still up to you to know how to use and apply the material.
That said, pass rates are the lowest-hanging fruit and one of the first factors to consider if you just wanna fuckin’ pass. The assumption is that pass rates haven’t changed much and that trends apply across the board.
Below, I sort by the highest composite pass rates by state first based on statistics from the 10-year period of 2016-2025. This includes stats broken down into first timers and repeaters.
| Jurisdiction | 10-year Average | First Time | Repeater |
|---|---|---|---|
| Utah | 78% | 85% | 71% |
| Montana | 75% | 80% | 69% |
| Kansas | 74% | 81% | 68% |
| Iowa | 74% | 81% | 66% |
| Missouri | 74% | 83% | 64% |
| Minnesota | 72% | 82% | 62% |
| Nebraska | 72% | 80% | 65% |
| Virginia | 71% | 78% | 63% |
| Oklahoma | 70% | 79% | 61% |
| Oregon | 69% | 77% | 62% |
| New Mexico | 69% | 79% | 59% |
| Colorado | 69% | 77% | 60% |
| Kentucky | 67% | 75% | 58% |
| Ohio | 67% | 78% | 55% |
| Pennsylvania | 67% | 78% | 56% |
| Hawaii | 66% | 76% | 57% |
| Wyoming | 66% | 71% | 61% |
| Massachusetts | 66% | 80% | 53% |
| District of Columbia | 66% | 75% | 56% |
| Idaho | 66% | 76% | 56% |
| South Carolina | 65% | 75% | 56% |
| Illinois | 65% | 78% | 53% |
| Mississippi | 65% | 74% | 56% |
| Washington | 65% | 75% | 55% |
| Texas | 64% | 76% | 53% |
| Louisiana | 64% | 73% | 55% |
| South Dakota | 64% | 74% | 54% |
| Indiana | 63% | 75% | 51% |
| AVERAGES | 63% | 74% | 53% |
| Arkansas | 63% | 75% | 51% |
| West Virginia | 63% | 72% | 54% |
| North Carolina | 62% | 74% | 50% |
| Delaware | 62% | 70% | 54% |
| North Dakota | 62% | 73% | 51% |
| Maine | 61% | 71% | 52% |
| Tennessee | 61% | 74% | 47% |
| New Hampshire | 60% | 68% | 53% |
| Rhode Island | 60% | 66% | 54% |
| New York | 60% | 75% | 46% |
| Michigan | 60% | 72% | 48% |
| Georgia | 59% | 75% | 43% |
| Vermont | 59% | 66% | 52% |
| Wisconsin | 59% | 72% | 45% |
| Alaska | 59% | 69% | 48% |
| Arizona | 58% | 72% | 44% |
| Nevada | 58% | 67% | 48% |
| Maryland | 57% | 71% | 43% |
| Connecticut | 56% | 69% | 43% |
| New Jersey | 56% | 70% | 42% |
| Florida | 55% | 69% | 41% |
| Alabama | 48% | 71% | 25% |
| California | 46% | 62% | 30% |
Based on pass rates alone, we might narrow the list down to these states that have overall pass rates of 70% or higher, along with their passing scores where applicable:
- Utah (UBE 260)
- Montana (UBE 266)
- Kansas (UBE 266)
- Iowa (UBE 266)
- Missouri
- Minnesota (UBE 260)
- Nebraska (UBE 270)
- Virginia (UBE 270)
- Oklahoma (UBE 260)
Speaking of passing scores, let’s look at some other factors as to where the easiest bar exams are.
Minimum passing UBE (Uniform Bar Exam) scores
You still want to make it easier to score high enough to pass. The lower the score requirement, the better, assuming grading is as lenient across the board.
This is simple to compare for UBE states. Below are the UBE bar exam passing scores by state:
| Passing UBE Score | Jurisdiction |
| 260 | Alabama, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Utah |
| 264 | Indiana |
| 266 | Connecticut, District of Columbia, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Montana, New Jersey, New York, South Carolina, Virgin Islands, Washington |
| 268 | Michigan |
| 270 | Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Idaho, Maine, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, West Virginia, Wyoming |
What if we want to consider the states that only need 260 points, the lowest pass score? Alabama, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Utah
(*Iowa’s passing score is 260 for the July 2026 and future legacy UBE administrations.)
Let’s refer back to our composite table above and pull out these states and their total pass rates:
| Alabama | 48% |
| Iowa | 74% |
| Minnesota | 72% |
| Missouri | 74% |
| New Mexico | 69% |
| North Dakota | 62% |
| Oklahoma | 70% |
| Utah | 78% |
Why are we even comparing these pass rates when the UBE is uniform? It’s all the same test, right? Right, but the leniency of graders and the quality of candidates may be different.
Among the states that only require a 260 to pass, we find that Utah, Iowa, Missouri, Minnesota, and Oklahoma have the highest composite pass rates at 78%, 74%, 74%, 72%, and 70%, respectively. These states overlap with our list above in terms of highest pass rate.
This means Utah, Iowa, Missouri, Minnesota, and Oklahoma have a low cut score and a high pass rate (that is, probably easier grading).
Notes: Iowa is lowering its passing score as of July 2026. While this is conjecture, this appears to signal a willingness to admit more people in Iowa. Missouri hasn’t adopted the UBE yet.
Let’s keep this shortlist of states in mind as we continue.
Number of applicants in each state
Statistically, the lower the sample size, the less precise the data derived becomes, with a higher margin of error.
Example
To illustrate, consider a hypothetical jurisdiction with 10 applicants with 3 of them failing one year, meaning 7 of them pass.
How precise is this 70% pass rate? What if there were 5 applicants with 2 failing (60% pass rate)?
Compare that 100 applicants with 25 failing (75% pass rate).
All similar percentages—but we’re most confident with the last one.
That’s why I want to consider the number of applicants to see how much weight to give to the pass rates. On the other hand, I’d conjecture that the fewer applicants there are, the laxer the state bar would be in administering the exam (e.g., faster results, more lenient grading).
Luckily, all the states we’ve picked out above have 200-1000 applicants per year, making the pass rates fairly statistically relevant.
So the states we’ve picked out so far (Utah, Iowa, Missouri, Minnesota, and Oklahoma) all have decent pass rates, low passing thresholds, at decent confidence levels. These states also likely offer a relatively lenient and simple administration of the exam.
UBE score transfer and portability
First off, the NCBE allows you to transfer your score to other UBE jurisdictions…even if you didn’t pass in the state you took it in!
- “Examinees who take the UBE earn a portable score that can be transferred to seek admission in other UBE jurisdictions.”
- “UBE jurisdictions will accept transferred scores that meet their own passing standards whether or not the score met the passing standard in the testing jurisdiction, assuming all other admission requirements of the jurisdiction are met.”
In other words, you can apply for admission in any UBE state as long as the score you got is high enough for your target state (see the passing UBE score table above).
Our shortlist includes one non-UBE state: Missouri.
Since Utah, Iowa, Minnesota, and Oklahoma are UBE states, you’d be able to take the bar in any of these three states and transfer your score to another UBE jurisdiction (assuming your score hasn’t expired).
If you pass in Utah, Iowa, Minnesota, and Oklahoma, which are 260 jurisdictions, you’ll be able to practice in at least 8 jurisdictions that need a score of 260 or below. More if your score is high enough, so getting a higher score increases your location flexibility.
You’d also be able to transfer your MBE score to a jurisdiction that accepts transferred MBE scores:
- Alabama
- Florida (non-UBE)
- Idaho
- Kansas
- Michigan (reciprocal only)
- Minnesota
- Mississippi (non-UBE)
- Missouri
- North Dakota
- Oklahoma (concurrent only)
- South Dakota (non-UBE)
- Virginia (non-UBE)
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin (non-UBE)
So which state bar is the easiest to pass these days (in 2026 and beyond)?
Based on the above, here’s a shortlist of states to consider which have the easiest bar exams:
- Utah
- Iowa
- Missouri
- Minnesota
- Oklahoma
Going purely by recent pass rate data, the winner for the easiest bar exam is in Utah.
The other states (other than Missouri) are also contenders because of their high pass rates and lowest minimum UBE score of 260.
So you might also consider balancing the differences of a few percentage points with ease of travel from where you live, transferability and portability (see above), and any preference you have about where you’d want to practice after you pass.
As an aside, the previous shortlist based on 2019 data was: Kansas, Missouri, Utah, Oklahoma, and Montana. Worth noting that there is overlap in Utah, Missouri, and Oklahoma.
Interestingly, “Passachusetts” (nickname for Massachusetts because it was considered easy) doesn’t qualify as the easiest bar exam here—at least according to recent data. It has a 66% total pass rate and a 270 minimum UBE score. Not the hardest but nowhere near the easiest.
Admission on motion, reciprocity agreements, and other caveats to be aware of
There’s a fee for the admission process (called admission without examination or admission on motion), which can cost you up to $2,500. For example, it’s $1,250 for Kansas, $2,500 for Montana, and $1,240 for Missouri, but only $850 for Utah (Utah wins again).
Another caveat is that some of these states do not have reciprocity agreements with some states, including some UBE states. Kansas, for example, “does not have a reciprocal agreement with California, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Louisiana, Maryland, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Vermont, West Virginia, or Wisconsin.”
Check the Admission on Motion—Legal Education and Reciprocity Requirements page on the NCBE website for more information on both.
The biggest pain may be getting fingerprinted as an out-of-state resident, but you can’t avoid this with any of the jurisdictions.
But at the end of the day, the scores you earn in any of these states are portable to many other jurisdictions.
Even if you don’t earn a score high enough to transfer to your desired state, at least you will have passed the bar and be able to do law somewhere, anywhere! That’s what you’re looking for, right?
So if you plan to practice in a UBE state (or even one of the non-UBE states that accept transferred scores, listed above), look into Utah (or Iowa, Minnesota, or Oklahoma) for a relatively easy experience.
But make sure that the state you eventually want to practice in will take your score from one of these states.
Which bar exam is the hardest?
California is the hardest bar exam.
There are reasons why California has a low pass rate, such as its deluge of unaccredited law schools, overpopulation leading to ruthless culling of fresh admissions to the bar (can you guys please leave so that they stop jacking up my rent), and people not finding MTYLT soon enough.
Because of that, or in addition to that, California boasts some of the lowest pass rates. According to the 10-year stats above, California had the lowest composite pass rate of 46%. (In 2019, it had some of the lowest pass rates of 31% in February and 50% in July.)
It has five one-hour-long essays. The essay grading is notoriously inconsistent and tough. Having thousands of people taking the California Bar Exam means you’ll be crammed in large, crowded spaces, making logistics another challenge (including when they cause more issues trying to do remote exams using an unreputable testing company).
California (like Florida) is a special snowflake when it comes to trying to administer its own exam while the State Bar is losing money. Remember when it contracted with Kaplan Bar Review (ugh) and it turns out at least some of their questions were “developed with the assistance of AI”?
And, if you pass the California Bar Exam, your pass status is NOT transferrable to any other state, nor does California take other jurisdictions, making the fruits of your endeavor limited to within California. No one else will know your struggle.
If you want to take the California Bar Exam, you should have a specific reason for wanting to join the California crowd. Some of my readers wanted to move to California to be with their fiancé(e) or expand a practice to California. If you’re one of those people who can find happiness here, go ahead by all means.
If you’re already a practicing attorney in another U.S. state, you can take the California Attorneys’ Examination, which is only one day. The Attorneys’ Exam consists of five essays and a performance test (PT), no multiple choice. Read this post to see if you should take the Attorney’s Exam or the full two-day General Bar Exam.
All bar exams are difficult, but there are states to avoid if you can help it
The bar exam is a professional licensing exam, so it isn’t supposed to be a breeze in the park by its very nature.
Also, minimum competence doesn’t mean the bare minimum. It’s the minimum needed to pass this professional licensing exam.
If we take a look at the stats again, there are other states with low passage rates with unique grading systems and non-transferable scores… Florida, Georgia, Nevada to name a few.
But plenty of people still pass the bar exam (including the California Bar Exam). Others’ pass rates have no bearing on your own chances of success. You can be one of them with the right resources and approach for you.
Your own anxieties and fears hold you back. Your own preparation and training determine your outcome.
But it’s OK if something feels easy. You don’t have to make it difficult or earn it through a lot of stress.
If you just want to fuckin’ pass: There’s no need to be a martyr. There’s no need to go out of your way to take difficult exams unless you have a reason to be in those states.
Bottom line
Easiest bar exam in 2026: Utah.
If you want a more reasonable likelihood of passing, consider Utah and other “easiest” bar exams we discussed above.
Hardest bar exam in 2026: California.
Where are you going to take your bar exam? Leave a comment below if people still do that these days 👇🏻 (I usually just get people emailing me referencing this article)
I won’t take it until February, 2029, but have narrowed the states down to Oklahoma, Missouri, Kansas, and Iowa. So, the cities would be Oklahoma City, Kansas City, Wichita, or Des Moines.