COVID-19 US Travel Restrictions: State-By-State Guide for January 2021

The year 2021 has finally arrived, bearing on its back the hopes and frustrations that we Americans have collectively amassed while waiting out the pandemic for the better part of 2020. The recent arrival of multiple COVID-19 vaccines to market has bolstered optimism among many who are eager to start traveling safely and confidently again. Yet, the current COVID surges occurring throughout the U.S. make stepping outside one’s door more daunting than ever, and things promise to get worse before they get better, due to people’s increased movements and social gatherings over the holiday season.

Still, there has been no unified national response or set of federal measures implemented to curb the viral spread, with public health and safety policy being decided at the state, and even jurisdictional, levels. At this point, close to half of the country’s states have instituted some form of restriction on travelers entering from out of state—whether they be quarantine or testing requirements, or some combination of both—in hopes of preventing the import of fresh infection from outside their borders. Here is a state-by-state breakdown of the interstate travel restrictions, or lack thereof, to be found throughout the union as we head into January 2021.