Birth certificate cost by state in 2026

Why the second copy is the one to buy now

Most people order one copy, use it for a passport or a driver's license, and come back a year later for school enrollment, a Social Security card or a marriage license. The second visit costs the full first-copy fee again. In 20 jurisdictions the extra copies of the same record are cheaper when they are part of the same order: New Jersey ($25 then $2), Georgia ($25 then $5), Michigan ($34 then $16) and Wisconsin ($20 then $3). In Georgia, three copies ordered together cost $35, against $75 in three separate orders. New Jersey charges $25 for the first copy and $2 for each extra one, so ten copies of a death certificate cost $43.

The other offices charge the same price for every copy. California asks $31 per birth certificate however many you order, New York State $30 and Texas $22. There, ordering several copies at once saves only the second shipping fee and the second wait.

What ordering online really adds

Almost every state sells copies online, but rarely itself: it signs a contract with a vendor that collects the state fee, adds its own charge and forwards the order. 20 offices publish that charge as a single figure. It runs from $2 in Vermont to $22 in Massachusetts. In Massachusetts the online price of the first copy is $54 instead of $32 by mail. New York City adds $9.30 to an online order and New York State charges priority handling on every online copy. Express shipping by courier comes on top and is optional.

The calculator above fills in the vendor charge when the office publishes it. When the office does not, the field is empty and you type the amount shown on the last screen before payment, so the total matches what you will actually pay. Mail and counter orders carry no vendor fee: you pay the state fee by check, money order or card at the office.

State office, county office or city hall

A birth certificate is kept by the state where the birth took place, not the state where you live now. In 29 jurisdictions a county, city or town office can also print certified copies from the same statewide database, often the same day at the counter. The fee may differ: Texas county and local registrars may charge a little more or less than the state's $22, Florida county health departments add their own charges to the state's $9, and in Ohio local health departments often charge more than the state office. In Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont the town or city clerk is the usual counter.

New York is the case that sends the most orders to the wrong place. A person born in the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens or Staten Island orders from the New York City health department ($15 a copy). A person born anywhere else in the state orders from the New York State Department of Health ($30) or the local registrar of the town of birth. The two offices do not hold each other's records.

Certified copy, informational copy, short and long form

For a passport, a REAL ID driver's license, Social Security, school enrollment or a foreign visa you need a certified copy: printed on security paper, with the raised or multicolored seal of the issuing office and the registrar's signature. An informational or "not for official use" copy carries the same details but cannot be used as identity proof; some states sell it to anyone, while certified copies are limited to the person named, close family and legal representatives. Several states also issue a short form (an abstract, sometimes wallet-sized) and a long form with the parents' names; the State Department asks for the parents' names, so a long-form copy is the safe choice for a passport. The certified copy guide explains which form each use requires.

Who may order a birth certificate

Every state limits certified copies. The person named on the certificate, once an adult, can always order. So can a parent named on it, and a legal guardian or attorney with proof. Many states add the spouse, children, siblings and grandparents; some require a notarized sworn statement with mail orders. You will be asked for a government photo ID, and an order without it is returned. Old birth records open to the public only after a period that each state sets by law, and many then move to the state archives. The step-by-step guide walks through the identity documents each channel accepts.

How long it takes

Counter service is often the same day. Mail orders take from a few days to several weeks, plus mail time both ways, and some offices publish their current backlog. The processing time page gives the time each office states and works out an arrival date.

Death and marriage records

A death certificate costs from $5 to $35 for the first copy, and an estate usually needs several: the copy counter estimates how many. A marriage license is a different document, bought before the wedding from a county or town clerk, with a waiting period in some states and an expiry date in most; the license and certificate page explains how one becomes the other.