States Where Do Not Call Complaints Are Surging [2026 Report]

Telemarketers have been around for decades, often cold-calling consumers to make an unwelcome sales pitch. While those kinds of unsolicited calls aren’t new, technology has made it easier for robocallers and telemarketers to reach uninterested consumers. As a result, it can feel like the scourge of unwanted calls is worse than ever before.

Thankfully, the Federal Trade Commission’s Do Not Call Registry offers citizens some relief. Once a phone number is registered to the database, telemarketers are legally required to stop calling that number within 31 days, providing relief from unwanted sales pitches.

Unfortunately, businesses sometimes break this law, as 2.6 million violations were reported to the FTC nationwide last year. That’s an increase of more than 25% from the year before, with the problem growing more in some states than others.

To find out where violations grew fastest (and the rare places where they actually fell), the All About Cookies research team analyzed FTC Do Not Call complaint data for all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Key findings

• Complaints rose in 49 states (and D.C.) in 2025; only Delaware and Rhode Island saw declines.
• Alaska had the biggest jump at +150.2%, rising from 233 to 583 complaints per 100,000 residents.
• Arizona posted the highest overall complaint rate in the country in 2025, at 1,028 per 100,000 people.
• Nationally, Do Not Call complaints topped 2.6 million in 2025, up more than 25% from 2024.

What is the National Do Not Call Registry?

The National Do Not Call Registry is a completely free service designed to stop unwanted sales calls from actual companies. Once a user adds their phone number to the registry, either online or via a dedicated phone line, that information is added to a list of numbers sent to telemarketers, who then know they are not allowed to call any users on the registry.

Telemarketers have up to 31 days after a number is added to the Do Not Call Registry to stop calling that number, and registration never expires, so users do not need to re-register (exceptions being if a number is disconnected or reassigned). Business numbers cannot be added to the registry, as only personal phone numbers are allowed on the list.

It is important to note that the registry only applies to legitimate, law-abiding businesses and will not prevent all unwanted calls, such as scam or fraud calls.

What counts as a Do Not Call Registry violation

Companies that violate the Do Not Call Registry are subject to fines up to $50,120 per call. Since the Registry was created in 2003, the Federal Trade Commission has collected more than $290 million in court judgments from telemarketers violating the Do Not Call list.

Despite these hefty financial penalties, millions of complaints are filed annually against companies that violate the Do Not Call Registry, with 2.6 million violations reported in 2025. That was an increase of more than 25% compared to 2024, reversing a three-year trend of declining Do Not Call violations.

These violations apply only to calls from actual businesses and specifically to calls that include a sales pitch of some kind. This includes calls where a live salesperson is on the line as well as robocalls, as long as the automated message is trying to sell something. In fact, two-thirds of Do Not Call complaints involve robocalls.

Certain types of phone calls that may feel like they would fall under the Do Not Call Registry are explicitly exempt, as long as they do not involve a sales pitch of any kind. Those exemptions extend to political calls, debt-collection calls, surveys, charity-related calls, and calls that provide information exclusively without selling anything. Any company with which a user has recently conducted business is also allowed to make sales calls, even if that user’s number is on the Do Not Call Registry, but must stop again once asked.

States where Do Not Call complaints surged the most

Across the United States, Do Not Call complaints rose by more than 25% last year, from less than 2.1 million in 2024 to more than 2.6 million in 2025. The increase in Do Not Call complaints wasn't limited to a few outlier regions of the country; it was a near-universal pattern.

In 2024, Alaska had the fewest Do Not Call complaints per 100,000 of any state at just 233 per 100K. In 2025, however, that number jumped to 583 complaints per 100,000 people, an increase of 150%. That year-over-year jump was far and away the largest of any state, though plenty of other states saw massive increases of their own.

Outside Alaska, many of the largest jumps in Do Not Call complaints per capita occurred in the South. Alabama (+58.8%), Louisiana (+56.8%), Mississippi (+55.0%), and Tennessee (+50.0%) all saw complaints rise by at least 50% from the prior year, suggesting a particularly aggressive wave of illegal calling activity in the region. Tennessee, which already had an elevated complaint rate in 2024, crossed the 1,000-per-100,000 threshold in 2025, at 1,017 per 100K. That is the second-highest rate among states, behind Arizona (1,028 per 100,000). Those are the only states with more than 1,000 complaints per 100,000 in the country.

States with the biggest rise in Do Not Call complaints last year

1. Alaska

• Complaints per 100,000 people (2025): 583
• Complaints per 100,000 people (2024): 233
• Change: +150.2%

2. Alabama

• Complaints per 100,000 people (2025): 778
• Complaints per 100,000 people (2024): 490
• Change: +58.8%

3. Louisiana

• Complaints per 100,000 people (2025): 704
• Complaints per 100,000 people (2024): 449
• Change: +56.8%

4. Mississippi

• Complaints per 100,000 people (2025): 727
• Complaints per 100,000 people (2024): 469
• Change: +55.0%

5. Tennessee

• Complaints per 100,000 people (2025): 1,017
• Complaints per 100,000 people (2024): 678
• Change: +50.0%

States where Do Not Call complaints fell

Only two states bucked the national trend, registering fewer complaints per capita in 2025 than in 2024.

Delaware and Rhode Island each saw complaint rates decline last year, though the decreases were relatively modest in both cases. In Delaware, complaints per 100,000 dropped by 11.6%, while in Rhode Island they fell by 6%. Despite those drops, both states still logged hundreds of complaints per 100,000 residents. These decreases could reflect improved enforcement at the state level, shifts in calling patterns, or statistical variation in the relatively small populations of those states.

States with the biggest drops in Do Not Call complaints last year

1. Delaware

• Complaints per 100,000 people (2025): 782
• Complaints per 100,000 people (2024): 885
• Change: -11.6%

2. Rhode Island

• Complaints per 100,000 people (2025): 441
• Complaints per 100,000 people (2024): 469
• Change: -6%

Why Do Not Call complaints are rising

Several forces are likely driving the national surge in reported violations:

• Robocall technology has become cheaper and easier to deploy, allowing bad actors to dial millions of numbers at minimal cost.
• AI voice technology is enabling more convincing scam calls, with synthetic voices that can bypass some screening tools.
• Data brokers continue to sell consumer phone numbers, replenishing calling lists even as individuals register with the FTC.
• Many illegal callers operate internationally, placing them outside the reach of U.S. enforcement.

Even as awareness of data privacy rights grows, enforcement remains difficult. Illegal calls are often routed through overseas servers or spoofed caller ID numbers, making it hard for the FTC to identify and prosecute the originators. The complaint data suggests that rather than deterring violations, increased awareness may simply be prompting more Americans to report them, meaning the problem is becoming more visible even as it continues to grow.

Do Not Call complaints by state (2024–2025)

Below is the full breakdown of Do Not Call complaints per 100,000 residents for all 50 states and the District of Columbia, listed in alphabetical order.

State	Complaints	Complaints per 100K Population 2025	Complaints per 100K Population 2024	Year-Over-Year Change
Alabama	39,335	778	490	58.8%
Alaska	4,280	583	233	150.2%
Arizona	74,752	1,028	813	26.4%
Arkansas	24,063	793	595	33.3%
California	304,497	776	730	6.3%
Colorado	51,924	894	719	24.3%
Connecticut	30,895	859	639	34.4%
Delaware	7,870	782	885	-11.6%
District of Columbia	5,392	802	657	22.1%
Florida	204,702	933	699	33.5%
Georgia	89,691	829	618	34.1%
Hawaii	5,675	393	360	9.2%
Idaho	11,183	591	513	15.2%
Illinois	119,697	943	801	17.7%
Indiana	48,652	714	483	47.8%
Iowa	15,926	498	390	27.7%
Kansas	24,043	818	580	41.0%
Kentucky	34,544	766	531	44.3%
Louisiana	32,510	704	449	56.8%
Maine	7,234	525	488	7.6%
Maryland	46,490	753	680	10.7%
Massachusetts	48,190	689	475	45.1%
Michigan	86,552	861	647	33.1%
Minnesota	29,991	525	512	2.5%
Mississippi	21,459	727	469	55.0%
Missouri	42,440	688	518	32.8%
Montana	7,510	680	460	47.8%
Nebraska	15,688	798	765	4.3%
Nevada	30,159	960	752	27.7%
New Hampshire	10,951	789	717	10.0%
New Jersey	82,038	885	627	41.1%
New Mexico	12,224	578	487	18.7%
New York	125,810	633	521	21.5%
North Carolina	92,392	873	778	12.2%
North Dakota	3,310	425	298	42.6%
Ohio	106,378	903	849	6.4%
Oklahoma	34,510	864	665	29.9%
Oregon	25,311	597	545	9.5%
Pennsylvania	85,798	661	497	33.0%
Rhode Island	4,836	441	469	-6.0%
South Carolina	39,444	757	572	32.3%
South Dakota	4,902	545	445	22.5%
Tennessee	71,061	1,017	678	50.0%
Texas	228,370	770	591	30.3%
Utah	20,261	608	460	32.2%
Vermont	4,010	621	567	9.5%
Virginia	75,408	871	763	14.2%
Washington	64,053	827	629	31.5%
West Virginia	13,021	730	611	19.5%
Wisconsin	38,926	661	485	36.3%
Wyoming	3,683	635	426	49.1%

How to protect yourself from unwanted calls

• Remove your personal data from data broker sites: Even with Do Not Call Registry registration, telemarketers can still obtain your number through data brokers who legally sell consumer contact lists. A data removal service can help reduce your exposure over time.
• Use an ad blocker to limit your digital footprint: Robocallers often rely on data brokers that compile personal details from your online activity, app sign-ups, and form submissions. An ad blocker can reduce the number of trackers collecting your data across sites, making it harder for these data brokers to build detailed profiles that may include or be linked to your phone number.
• Consider identity theft protection if you've been targeted: Scam calls are often the opening move in a broader identity theft scheme; an identity theft protection service can monitor your personal information and alert you if your data appears somewhere it shouldn't.

Methodology

To compile this report, the All About Cookies research team analyzed Federal Trade Commission Do Not Call Registry complaint data for fiscal year 2025 and fiscal year 2024, comparing per-capita complaint rates (reported per 100,000 residents) across all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Complaint totals and per-capita figures were sourced directly from FTC consumer complaint data using current population estimates.