Legality of prostitution in the Americas varies by country. Most countries only legalized prostitution, with the act of exchanging money for sexual services legal. The level of enforcement varies by country. One country, the United States, is unique as legality of prostitution is not the responsibility of the federal government, but rather state, territorial, and federal district's responsibility.

Prostitution is legal in Bermuda but related activities such as running a brothel are illegal under the Criminal Code. Women coming to the island to work as prostitutes, or is a known prostitute, may be refused entry under the immigration laws. Many of the prostitutes in the country are from Philippines, Dominican Republic and Panama. In 2010 the visa requirements for people from these countries was changed to attempt to curb prostitution. Street prostitution occurs in the capital, Hamilton, on Front Street.

Prostitution was traditionally legal as there were no laws prohibiting the exchange of sex for money or other consideration. On 20 December 2013, the Supreme Court of Canada found the laws prohibiting brothels, public communication for the purpose of prostitution, and living on the profits of prostitution to be unconstitutional. The ruling gave the Canadian parliament 12 months to rewrite the prostitution laws with a stay of effect so that the current laws remain in force. Amending legislation came into effect on 6 December 2014, which made the purchase of sexual services illegal, using the Swedish approach.

Prostitution in Greenland is illegal. Although the country is subject to the law of Denmark in most areas of legislation, Denmark's decriminalization of prostitution in 1999 has not been applied in Greenland. In addition, Greenland is exempt from the obligations of the Palermo Protocol on human trafficking to which Denmark is a signatory, but there is little evidence of human trafficking in Greenland. A report published in 2008 indicated that Greenland had no signs of visible or organised prostitution, no services directed specifically at prostitutes and no instances of prostitution-related court cases. It did, however, refer to claims that transactional sex had sometimes been used, for example, in return for temporary housing. In a tradition associated with Greenlandic Inuit, hosts have been reported to have offered their wives to guests in a form of "hospitable prostitution". The colonists who founded the country's capital Nuuk in 1728 included prostitutes among their number.

Prostitution in Mexico is legal under Federal law. Each of the 31 states enacts its own prostitution laws and policies. 13 of the states of Mexico allow and regulate prostitution. Prostitution involving minors under 18 is illegal. Some Mexican cities have enacted "tolerance zones" ("zonas de tolerancia") which allow regulated prostitution and function as red light districts. In Tuxtla Gutiérrez, capital of the state of Chiapas, there is a state-run brothel at the Zona Galáctica. In most parts of the country, pimping is illegal, although pimp-worker relationships still occur, sometimes under female pimps called "madrotas". The government provides shelter for former prostitutes.

Prostitution laws in the United States are determined at the state level. The practice is illegal in all but two of its 50 states and is illegal in all U.S. territories.

Nevada is the only U.S. jurisdiction which allows some legal prostitution in some of its counties. Currently 7 out of Nevada's 16 counties have active brothels. Prostitution outside these brothels is illegal throughout the state; prostitution is illegal in the major metropolitan areas (Las Vegas, Reno, and Carson City). Prostitution is heavily regulated by the state of Nevada (see Prostitution in Nevada).

Maine partially decriminalized prostitution following the Nordic model in 2023.