Moving between states / North Dakota

Flag of AlaskaAlaskatoFlag of North DakotaNorth Dakota, Truck driver

Moving from Alaska to North Dakota as a CDL holder

What a CDL holder licensed in Alaska has to do to work in North Dakota, what the move does to your pay, and who in North Dakota 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 North Dakota resident you surrender the Alaska CDL at a North Dakota 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 North Dakota. Your driving record follows you through the federal CDLIS system.

What the move does to your paycheck

On a $60,000 salary North Dakota takes roughly $1,050 a year more than Alaska does, because you are leaving a state with no income tax on wages.

SalaryAlaska state taxNorth Dakota state taxDifference a year
$40,000$0$700-$700
$60,000$0$1,050-$1,050
$90,000$0$1,575-$1,575

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 North Dakota

Transfers by reciprocity. Your Alaska certificate stays on the Alaska Board of Nursing (Certified Nurse Aide program); to work in North Dakota you apply to the North Dakota Board of Nursing, 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 North Dakota

Endorsement, six to twelve weeks. Alaska is not in the compact, so your Alaska licence is single-state. Apply to the North Dakota 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 North Dakota 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.

Electrician: Alaska to North Dakota

Reciprocity likely. North Dakota licenses electricians at state level through the North Dakota State Electrical Board, and reciprocity with a group of upper-midwest and western states for journeymen. 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.

No statewide program in North Dakota 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? Alaska has Permanent Fund Dividend. See moving from North Dakota to Alaska.

Openings filed in North Dakota

67 open positions filed with the Department of Labor by North Dakota employers who could not fill them locally.

Your own route from Alaska to North Dakota

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 North Dakota employers.

Plan my move to North Dakota

Same move, by trade

CNA: Alaska to North Dakota · RN or LPN: Alaska to North Dakota · Electrician: Alaska to North Dakota · All licences: Alaska to North Dakota

From Alaska to the states next to North Dakota

Minnesota (progressive, top rate 9.85%) · South Dakota (no state income tax) · Montana (progressive, top rate 5.9%)

To North Dakota from the states next to Alaska

Everything about working in North Dakota · 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.

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