Per signature means the state maximum, not a salary
Searchers asking how much a notary makes per signature usually want the legal ceiling for a single notarization, not BLS occupational wages. Commissioned notaries may charge up to the state maximum, charge less, or, when employed by a bank or title company, collect no personal fee because the employer absorbs the act.
BLS occupation medians are illustrated in dental hygienist salary.
Loan signing agents sometimes quote package prices for a refinance closing. Those packages bundle travel, printing, and multiple notarizations; they are commercial rates, not the statutory per-act caps in the table below.
Three large-state caps compared
| State | Authority | Cap relevant to a signature / act |
|---|---|---|
| California | Gov. Code §8211 | $15 for each signature taken on an acknowledgment (seal and certificate included in that statutory line) |
| New York | Executive Law §136 | $2 for taking/certifying acknowledgment or proof by one person; $2 for each additional person; separate $2 lines for oaths/affirmations; electronic notarial acts under §136(3) are set by Secretary of State regulation, not a higher fixed dollar amount in the statute itself |
| Florida | Fla. Stat. §117.05(2)(a) | Not more than $10 for any one notarial act under that part (with stated exceptions elsewhere in chapter 117) |
California's wording is explicitly per signature on the acknowledgment. New York's schedule is per person for the acknowledgment/proof lines. Florida's cap is per notarial act. Those three phrasings are why a national "average per signature" figure is usually marketing copy rather than statute.
What changes the money you actually keep
A walk-in acknowledgment at the $15 California ceiling is a different business from a mobile signing that adds mileage. States that allow travel or after-hours surcharges say so in fee schedules or attorney-general guidance; do not invent a travel fee where the statute is silent.
Employer notaries (bank platform, hospital admissions, university registrar) often cannot pocket the statutory fee. Independent notaries who advertise mobile service set package prices in a competitive market that still cannot exceed the state maximum for the notarial act itself.
California fee path after 2026
As of the October 19, 2026 check of California Public Law's text of Government Code §8211, the acknowledgment line still reads fifteen dollars ($15) per signature. National Notary Association reporting on AB 1597 describes a planned increase to $20 beginning January 1, 2027. Until that effective date, publish and charge against the $15 statute, not the future figure.