Moving between states / Tennessee

Flag of AlaskaAlaskatoFlag of TennesseeTennessee, Electrician

Moving from Alaska to Tennessee as a journeyman electrician

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

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 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 Tennessee taxes wages, so the move changes nothing on the state line of your paycheck.

SalaryAlaska state taxTennessee 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 Tennessee

Transfers by reciprocity. Your Alaska certificate stays on the Alaska Board of Nursing (Certified Nurse Aide program); 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: Alaska to Tennessee

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

Transfers at the DMV. A commercial driver's licence transfers like any licence: within 30 days of becoming a Tennessee resident you surrender the Alaska 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.

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? Alaska has Permanent Fund Dividend. See moving from Tennessee to Alaska.

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 Alaska 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: Alaska to Tennessee · RN or LPN: Alaska to Tennessee · Truck driver: Alaska to Tennessee · All licences: Alaska to Tennessee

From Alaska 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) · Alabama (progressive, top rate 5%) · 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 Alaska

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

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