Moving between states / Arizona

Flag of CaliforniaCaliforniatoFlag of ArizonaArizona

Moving from California to Arizona for work

What moves with you from California to Arizona: your licence, your take-home pay, and the programs that pay people to come. Every line below is computed from the two states' rules.

What the move does to your paycheck

On a $60,000 salary Arizona leaves you roughly $4,086 a year more than California does, because Arizona's rate is lower.

SalaryCalifornia state taxArizona state taxDifference a year
$40,000$3,724$1,000+$2,724
$60,000$5,586$1,500+$4,086
$90,000$8,379$2,250+$6,129

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. In California: plus a 1.1% payroll tax for disability insurance. Property and sales tax are not in it.

CNA: California to Arizona

Transfers by reciprocity. Your California certificate stays on the California Department of Public Health, Aide and Technician Certification Section; to work in Arizona you apply to the Arizona State Board of Nursing (CNA and LNA certification) 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: California to Arizona

Endorsement, six to twelve weeks. California is not in the compact, so your California licence is single-state. Apply to the Arizona 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 Arizona 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: California to Arizona

Licensed by the city. Arizona has no state electrician licence; the Arizona Registrar of Contractors decide what card you need, and it can differ between cities. No state journeyman licence; contractors license through the Registrar and cities run their own electrician cards where they require one. Ask the contractor hiring you which municipality the first job is in and apply to that one. Your California state licence is evidence of hours, not a licence there.

CDL: California to Arizona

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

No statewide program in Arizona 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.

Openings filed in Arizona

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

Your own route from California to Arizona

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 Arizona employers.

Plan my move to Arizona

Same move, by trade

CNA: California to Arizona · RN or LPN: California to Arizona · Electrician: California to Arizona · Truck driver: California to Arizona

From California to the states next to Arizona

Nevada (no state income tax) · Utah (flat 4.5% state income tax) · Colorado (flat 4.4% state income tax) · New Mexico (progressive, top rate 5.9%)

To Arizona from the states next to California

Oregon · Nevada

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

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