Age of consent in the US

1. What the law generally says: state control, 16–18 range

Every U.S. state and territory determines its own age of consent by statute or common law, producing a range across the country with most jurisdictions fixing the threshold at either 16, 17, or 18 years old; authoritative compilations used in public reporting concur that the minimum across states is 16 and the maximum is 18 ^{[4] [1] [2]}. Multiple state guides and maps that track these laws emphasize the same 16–18 spread and note that legislatures occasionally change their statutes, which is why up‑to‑date, state‑specific checking is necessary ^{[1] [5]}.

2. The close‑in‑age exception and how it matters

A critical practical caveat is the widespread use of close‑in‑age or “Romeo and Juliet” exemptions that mitigate criminal exposure when partners are near in age; these carveouts exist precisely to avoid prosecuting consensual relationships between teenagers who are both under a state’s statutory age of consent ^{[1] [2]}. Reporting repeatedly flags these exceptions because they alter enforcement outcomes—what would be statutory rape in a strict reading can be decriminalized when the parties are within a legislatively prescribed age gap ^{[1] [6]}.

3. Federal law: limited overlay, not a single national age

Federal statutes do apply in certain circumstances—most notably in interstate cases, online sexual exploitation, trafficking, or where federal jurisdiction is invoked—but they do not universally replace state ages of consent with a single nationwide threshold in ordinary state‑law sexual‑consent cases; reliable sources note federal statutes “play a role” while the states retain primary authority ^{[3] [4]}. Some legal summaries and secondary sources suggest an effective federal benchmark of 18 in specific contexts, but those assertions reflect limited federal offenses rather than a blanket federal age of consent applicable to all sexual activity across states ^{[7] [3]}.

4. Enforcement, historical shifts, and legislative churn

Age‑of‑consent rules have changed over time and remain politically and socially contested; examples of legislative change include Wyoming and New Mexico’s adjustments upward between 2018 and 2019, and legal commentators warn that statutory details and enforcement priorities differ state by state ^{[5] [1]}. Public‑facing law guides and government offices emphasize that statutory language, mandatory reporting rules, marriage laws, and prosecutorial discretion all affect whether an act becomes a criminal case, underscoring that the nominal age is only one part of enforcement practice ^{[8] [9] [6]}.

5. Where common reporting overreaches and what this reporting cannot confirm

Many mainstream compilations succinctly state the 16–18 spread and summarize close‑in‑age exceptions, but they sometimes imply a simple national rule where nuance exists; sources here agree on the range but differ on how strongly to state a federal ceiling of 18—some secondary sites phrase federal involvement as establishing an 18‑year rule in specific federal offenses, a claim that conflates distinct statutory schemes ^{[7] [3] [4]}. This reporting cannot substitute for reading a specific state statute or for legal advice: it does not list each state’s precise statutory text or account for all individual exceptions or case law that shape prosecution and defense ^{[1] [4]}.

6. Bottom line for readers seeking clarity

The concise answer: there is no single nationwide “age of consent” number; state laws set the ages, which range mainly from 16 to 18, and those laws commonly include close‑in‑age exceptions and interact with limited federal statutes in particular circumstances—consult the statute or an attorney in the relevant state for the precise rule in any given case ^{[1] [2] [3]}.