Moving between states / South Dakota

Flag of AlaskaAlaskatoFlag of South DakotaSouth Dakota, Electrician

Moving from Alaska to South Dakota as a journeyman electrician

What a journeyman electrician licensed in Alaska has to do to work in South Dakota, what the move does to your pay, and who in South Dakota is hiring from out of state.

Reciprocity likely. South Dakota licenses electricians at state level through the South Dakota Electrical Commission, and reciprocity with a group of states for journeymen licensed by exam. 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

Neither Alaska nor South Dakota taxes wages, so the move changes nothing on the state line of your paycheck.

SalaryAlaska state taxSouth Dakota state taxDifference a year
$40,000$0$0$0
$60,000$0$0$0
$90,000$0$0$0

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 South Dakota

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

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

CDL: Alaska to South Dakota

Transfers at the DMV. A commercial driver's licence transfers like any licence: within 30 days of becoming a South Dakota resident you surrender the Alaska CDL at a South 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 South Dakota. Your driving record follows you through the federal CDLIS system.

No statewide program in South 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 South Dakota to Alaska.

Openings filed in South Dakota

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

Your own route from Alaska to South 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 South Dakota employers.

Plan my move to South Dakota

Same move, by trade

CNA: Alaska to South Dakota · RN or LPN: Alaska to South Dakota · Truck driver: Alaska to South Dakota · All licences: Alaska to South Dakota

From Alaska to the states next to South Dakota

North Dakota (progressive, top rate 2.5%) · Minnesota (progressive, top rate 9.85%) · Iowa (flat 3.8% state income tax) · Nebraska (progressive, top rate 5.2%) · Wyoming (no state income tax) · Montana (progressive, top rate 5.9%)

To South Dakota from the states next to Alaska

Everything about working in South Dakota · All moves between states · All 50 states

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