911 Fees by State: Wireless, VoIP, Prepaid, and Where the Money Goes

911 fees by state range from under $0.50 to more than $2.00 per phone line each month, with a handful of jurisdictions reaching as high as $7.00 once local surcharges are added on top of the state fee. The amount depends on where you live because state legislatures, public utility commissions, and in some places county governments each set their own rate. Federal law lets them charge whatever they want, but it requires the money be spent on 911 services.¹

Why the Rate Differs From State to State

Federal law preserves each state’s authority to impose 911 fees on wireless, landline, and internet-based voice services, so long as collections go to 911-related purposes.¹ Within that framework, states decide the rate, what services it applies to, and how the money is distributed. Some states let counties or cities layer their own surcharges on top.

Two calculation methods are common. Most states use a flat monthly fee per phone line, so you pay the same amount regardless of what your service costs. A smaller group uses a percentage of your monthly bill, which means heavier users pay more. A few states apply a flat fee to one service type and a percentage to another.

Your carrier collects the charge on its monthly bill and passes it to the designated state or local agency. Landline companies, wireless carriers, and VoIP providers all have this collection duty, and the carrier keeps none of it.

What Consumers Actually Pay

Most flat-rate residential fees fall between $0.50 and $2.00 per line per month. At the low end, several states charge under $0.50. At the high end, one major city charges $5.00 per line, and at least one state permits county-set fees as high as $7.00.

Business lines usually cost more. Commercial landline 911 surcharges generally run between $0.40 and $2.50 per line per month, so a company with dozens of lines can see a meaningful monthly total.

Rates change through legislative action, so last year’s amount may not match your current bill. The FCC publishes an annual state-by-state report; the most recent, the Seventeenth Annual Report, was released in February 2026.²

Prepaid Wireless

Prepaid customers don’t get a monthly bill, so the fee is collected at the point of sale when you buy a phone, add minutes, or reload an account. States that use a flat prepaid charge generally set it between $0.40 and $1.20 per transaction. States that use a percentage typically charge 2% to 6% of the retail price. The retailer remits the money to the state the same way a carrier does for postpaid service.

VoIP and Internet-Based Phone Services

Interconnected VoIP services, meaning those that can make and receive calls to regular phone numbers, are subject to 911 fees too. Federal rules require states to treat VoIP subscribers the same as traditional phone subscribers, so a state cannot charge a VoIP customer more than it charges a landline or wireless customer in the same class of service.³

Because VoIP can be used from anywhere with an internet connection, most states require providers to collect the fee based on the customer’s registered service address. The FCC requires interconnected VoIP providers to obtain your physical location before activating service and to transmit that location, along with a callback number, to the 911 call center on any emergency call.⁴ If you move or regularly use the service at a different address, update the registered location with your provider. That address is what determines which 911 center answers your call and where responders are sent.

Multi-Line Phone Systems Have Extra Duties

Businesses, hotels, schools, and other organizations with a multi-line telephone system have obligations beyond paying the surcharge. Every multi-line system in the United States must be configured so a user can dial 911 directly, without pressing “9” or any other prefix first. The obligation falls on manufacturers, installers, and the businesses that manage the systems.⁵

When someone dials 911 from a multi-line system, it must also send an automatic notification to a designated on-site contact, like a front desk or security office. The alert must include the fact of the call, a valid callback number, and the caller’s location.⁵ A related federal rule requires 911 calls from fixed phones and VoIP systems to transmit a “dispatchable location,” meaning a validated street address plus enough detail (floor, suite, room) to find the caller inside the building. For non-fixed devices like softphones used by remote workers, the system must provide automated dispatchable location if technically feasible, or the best available alternative.⁶

Where the Money Goes

FCC rules limit acceptable spending to supporting and implementing 911 services and covering the operating costs of Public Safety Answering Points.⁷ In practice, that means PSAP call-handling equipment, computer-aided dispatch systems, salaries and training for the telecommunicators who answer 911 calls, cybersecurity tools, and the ongoing transition to Next Generation 911, which replaces analog infrastructure with internet-based networks that support text-to-911 and more accurate location data.

Fee Diversion

Some states charge a 911 fee and then spend part of it on something else. Federal law defines diversion as spending 911 fees on any purpose the FCC hasn’t designated as acceptable.¹ Moving money into a state general fund is diversion. So is buying commercial cellular equipment, or buying police and fire gear that doesn’t directly support 911 call-taking or dispatch.⁷ A dispatch console at the 911 center counts as an eligible expense; a patrol car’s radio does not.

Between 2012 and 2018, states diverted more than $1.275 billion collected as 911 fees to non-911 purposes.⁸ The FCC’s Fifteenth Annual Report identified Nevada, New Jersey, and New York as diverting funds for the year it covered.⁹ Federal law provides no direct financial penalty for diverting states. Consequences are reputational: naming in the annual congressional report, and any public or legislative pressure that follows.

How to Find Your Exact Fee

Your 911 surcharge shows up as a separate line item on your monthly phone or wireless bill, often labeled “911 surcharge” or “E911 fee.” On prepaid service, the fee was included in what you paid at the register and may not appear as a visible line item. To confirm the amount is what your state authorized, check your state’s 911 board or public utility commission website, or look up the state entry in the FCC’s most recent annual 911 fee report.²

1
GovInfo. 47 USC 615a-1 – 911 Services and IP-Enabled Voice Service Providers
2
Federal Communications Commission. 911 Fee Reports and Reporting
3
Federal Communications Commission. Declaratory Ruling – Ensuring Regulatory Parity in 911 Fees Between VoIP Services and Traditional Telecommunications Services
4
Federal Communications Commission. VoIP and 911 Service
5
Federal Communications Commission. MLTS 911 Requirements
6
Federal Communications Commission. 911 Dispatchable Location
7
eCFR. 47 CFR Part 9 Subpart I – 911 Fees
8
Federal Communications Commission. 911 Fee Diversion Notice of Inquiry
9
Federal Communications Commission. Fifteenth Annual Report to Congress on State Collection and Distribution of 911 and Enhanced 911 Fees and Charges