Moving between states / Arkansas
Moving from Alaska to Arkansas as a journeyman electrician
What a journeyman electrician licensed in Alaska has to do to work in Arkansas, what the move does to your pay, and who in Arkansas is hiring from out of state.
Reciprocity likely. Arkansas licenses electricians at state level through the Arkansas Department of Labor and Licensing, Electrical Section, and reciprocal agreements with a group of neighbouring and western states for journeymen with the required experience. Your Alaska licence comes from the Alaska Department of Labor, Mechanical Inspection, a state body, which is what a reciprocity application needs: ask it for a verification letter before you move.
What the move does to your paycheck
On a $60,000 salary Arkansas takes roughly $1,638 a year more than Alaska does, because you are leaving a state with no income tax on wages.
| Salary | Alaska state tax | Arkansas state tax | Difference a year |
|---|---|---|---|
| $40,000 | $0 | $1,092 | -$1,092 |
| $60,000 | $0 | $1,638 | -$1,638 |
| $90,000 | $0 | $2,457 | -$2,457 |
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: Alaska to Arkansas
Transfers by reciprocity. Your Alaska certificate stays on the Alaska Board of Nursing (Certified Nurse Aide program); to work in Arkansas you apply to the Arkansas Office of Long Term Care, 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: Alaska to Arkansas
Endorsement, six to twelve weeks. Alaska is not in the compact, so your Alaska licence is single-state. Apply to the Arkansas board for licensure by endorsement (Nursys verification, fingerprints, the board's fee); six to twelve weeks is normal, so start before you give notice. Because Arkansas is a compact state, ask for the new licence to be issued as a multistate licence: from then on it works in every compact state.
CDL: Alaska to Arkansas
Transfers at the DMV. A commercial driver's licence transfers like any licence: within 30 days of becoming a Arkansas resident you surrender the Alaska CDL at a Arkansas 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 Arkansas. Your driving record follows you through the federal CDLIS system.
Does Arkansas pay you to come?
- Life Works Here (Northwest Arkansas): up to $10,000 plus a bicycle. For remote and tech workers moving to the Bentonville and Fayetteville region; runs in rounds.
Going the other way? Alaska has Permanent Fund Dividend. See moving from Arkansas to Alaska.
Openings filed in Arkansas
78 open positions filed with the Department of Labor by Arkansas employers who could not fill them locally.
- Market Financial Center Manager - Arkansas MarketBank of America · Little Rock
- Nursery Worker (45-2092.00)Aydani Wholesale Nursery LLC · Magnolia · $13.95/hr
- FARM LABORERMATTHEW TOWNLEY · CROSSETT · $13.95/hr
- Agricultural Equipment Operator/General Farm WorkerFloyd Calhoun and Son Farms · Griffithville · $13.95/hr
- Farm Equipment MechanicMoncrief Ranch LLC · Hermitage · $25.66/hr
- Ag Equipment OperatorMcGraw Farms Partnership · Gould · $13.95/hr
Your own route from Alaska to Arkansas
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CNA: Alaska to Arkansas · RN or LPN: Alaska to Arkansas · Truck driver: Alaska to Arkansas · All licences: Alaska to Arkansas
From Alaska to the states next to Arkansas
Missouri (progressive, top rate 4.7%) · Tennessee (no state income tax) · Mississippi (flat 4.4% state income tax) · Louisiana (flat 3% state income tax) · Texas (no state income tax) · Oklahoma (progressive, top rate 4.75%)
To Arkansas from the states next to Alaska
Everything about working in Arkansas · All moves between states · All 50 states