Moving between states / Mississippi

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Moving from California to Mississippi for work

What moves with you from California to Mississippi: 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 Mississippi leaves you roughly $2,946 a year more than California does, because Mississippi's rate is lower.

SalaryCalifornia state taxMississippi state taxDifference a year
$40,000$3,724$1,760+$1,964
$60,000$5,586$2,640+$2,946
$90,000$8,379$3,960+$4,419

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 Mississippi

Transfers by reciprocity. Your California certificate stays on the California Department of Public Health, Aide and Technician Certification Section; to work in Mississippi you apply to the Mississippi State 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: California to Mississippi

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

Reciprocity likely. Mississippi licenses electricians at state level through the Mississippi State Board of Contractors, and The state licenses electrical contractors; journeymen are licensed by cities where at all. Contractor reciprocity with a handful of states. Your California licence comes from the Division of Industrial Relations (certification) and Contractors State License Board (C-10), a state body, which is what a reciprocity application needs: ask it for a verification letter before you move.

CDL: California to Mississippi

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

No statewide program in Mississippi 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 Mississippi

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

Your own route from California to Mississippi

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 Mississippi employers.

Plan my move to Mississippi

Same move, by trade

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

From California to the states next to Mississippi

Tennessee (no state income tax) · Alabama (progressive, top rate 5%) · Louisiana (flat 3% state income tax) · Arkansas (progressive, top rate 3.9%)

To Mississippi from the states next to California

Oregon · Nevada · Arizona

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

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