State calling rules

How late can telemarketers call?

Under federal law, telemarketers can call you until 9 PM your local time, and no earlier than 8 AM. Some states set an earlier cutoff: Alabama, Connecticut, Florida, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Nevada, Oklahoma, Oregon, Washington and Wyoming stop calls at 8 PM, and Rhode Island at 6 PM on weekdays. Pennsylvania moves its weekday cutoff to 7 PM on October 18, 2026. Several states also ban telemarketing calls on Sundays or state holidays.

States with stricter calling hours

Times are the local time of the person being called. Every state not listed, plus D.C. and the U.S. territories, follows the federal rule: 8 AM to 9 PM, every day.

Many of these states also ban calls on state holidays, and some limit telemarketers to 3 calls per person in 24 hours. Click a state for its holidays, limits and sources.

Getting calls too late?

Add your number to the National Do Not Call Registry at donotcall.gov, and report calls that break the rules to the FTC at reportfraud.ftc.gov or to the FCC at fcc.gov/complaints. Your state attorney general's office also takes complaints. Write down the caller's name, number, company and the time of the call.

These hours apply to telemarketing: calls selling something. Calls from companies you already do business with, debt collectors, charities, political campaigns and surveys follow different rules, and some states exempt calls you asked for.

Making the calls?

The hours follow the person you're calling, not you. A 7 PM call from California reaches New York at 10 PM. With leads in several time zones, check each contact's local time before you dial.

Rules last reviewed October 2026 and checked weekly for changes. This page is a summary, not legal advice. Federal rule: 47 C.F.R. § 64.1200(c)(1).