Moving between states / Tennessee

Flag of AlabamaAlabamatoFlag of TennesseeTennessee, Truck driver

Moving from Alabama to Tennessee as a CDL holder

What a CDL holder licensed in Alabama has to do to work in Tennessee, what the move does to your pay, and who in Tennessee is hiring from out of state.

Transfers at the DMV. A commercial driver's licence transfers like any licence: within 30 days of becoming a Tennessee resident you surrender the Alabama CDL at a Tennessee driver licence office, pass the vision test, pay the fee, and your endorsements carry over. A hazmat endorsement needs a fresh TSA threat assessment in Tennessee. Your driving record follows you through the federal CDLIS system.

What the move does to your paycheck

On a $60,000 salary Tennessee leaves you roughly $2,100 a year more than Alabama does, because Tennessee has no state income tax on wages.

SalaryAlabama state taxTennessee state taxDifference a year
$40,000$1,400$0+$1,400
$60,000$2,100$0+$2,100
$90,000$3,150$0+$3,150

Rough figures for a single filer: exact in the flat-rate and no-tax states, approximated at 70% of the top bracket in the progressive ones. Property and sales tax are not in it.

CNA: Alabama to Tennessee

Transfers by reciprocity. Your Alabama certificate stays on the Alabama Nurse Aide Registry (Alabama Department of Public Health); to work in Tennessee you apply to the Tennessee Department of Health, Nurse Aide Registry for reciprocity. It accepts an active certificate in good standing from another state; there is no retest if your record is clean. Most registries list you within two to six weeks.

RN and LPN: Alabama to Tennessee

Works on day one. Both Alabama and Tennessee are in the Nurse Licensure Compact. A multistate RN or LPN licence from Alabama is valid in Tennessee the day you arrive. Once Tennessee is your primary residence, apply there for a Tennessee multistate licence; most boards allow 30 to 60 days.

Electrician: Alabama to Tennessee

Reciprocity likely. Tennessee licenses electricians at state level through the Tennessee Board for Licensing Contractors, and Electrical contractors are state-licensed; journeyman cards are local where required. Contractor reciprocity with a few neighbouring states. Your Alabama licence comes from the Alabama Electrical Contractors Board, a state body, which is what a reciprocity application needs: ask it for a verification letter before you move.

No statewide program in Tennessee pays people to move in. Towns sometimes list an offer through MakeMyMove, and employers in short-staffed trades pay relocation themselves; ask for it in writing before you accept.

Going the other way? Alabama has Remote Shoals. See moving from Tennessee to Alabama.

Openings filed in Tennessee

153 open positions filed with the Department of Labor by Tennessee employers who could not fill them locally.

Your own route from Alabama to Tennessee

Tell us your trade and your licence. We write the steps for your case, check the job offer for scams, and keep your resume ready for Tennessee employers.

Plan my move to Tennessee

Same move, by trade

CNA: Alabama to Tennessee · RN or LPN: Alabama to Tennessee · Electrician: Alabama to Tennessee · All licences: Alabama to Tennessee

From Alabama to the states next to Tennessee

Kentucky (flat 4% state income tax) · Virginia (progressive, top rate 5.75%) · North Carolina (flat 4.25% state income tax) · Georgia (flat 5.19% state income tax) · Mississippi (flat 4.4% state income tax) · Arkansas (progressive, top rate 3.9%) · Missouri (progressive, top rate 4.7%)

To Tennessee from the states next to Alabama

Mississippi · Georgia · Florida

Everything about working in Tennessee · All moves between states · All 50 states

Moving for a job? Start with your state.

Licence transfer, what the state takes from your pay, and who pays you to come. Free, no account.

Pick the state