Moving between states / North Carolina

Flag of HawaiiHawaiitoFlag of North CarolinaNorth Carolina, Truck driver

Moving from Hawaii to North Carolina as a CDL holder

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

What the move does to your paycheck

On a $60,000 salary North Carolina leaves you roughly $2,070 a year more than Hawaii does, because North Carolina's rate is lower.

SalaryHawaii state taxNorth Carolina state taxDifference a year
$40,000$3,080$1,700+$1,380
$60,000$4,620$2,550+$2,070
$90,000$6,930$3,825+$3,105

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: Hawaii to North Carolina

Transfers by reciprocity. Your Hawaii certificate stays on the Hawaii Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Nurse Aide Registry (administered by Prometric); to work in North Carolina you apply to the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, Nurse Aide I 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: Hawaii to North Carolina

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

Reciprocity likely. North Carolina licenses electricians at state level through the North Carolina State Board of Examiners of Electrical Contractors, and The state licenses electrical contractors in classes; journeymen are not licensed at state level. Limited contractor reciprocity with neighbouring states. Your Hawaii licence comes from the Hawaii Board of Electricians and Plumbers, a state body, which is what a reciprocity application needs: ask it for a verification letter before you move.

No statewide program in North Carolina 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 North Carolina

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

Your own route from Hawaii to North Carolina

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 Carolina employers.

Plan my move to North Carolina

Same move, by trade

CNA: Hawaii to North Carolina · RN or LPN: Hawaii to North Carolina · Electrician: Hawaii to North Carolina · All licences: Hawaii to North Carolina

From Hawaii to the states next to North Carolina

Virginia (progressive, top rate 5.75%) · Tennessee (no state income tax) · Georgia (flat 5.19% state income tax) · South Carolina (progressive, top rate 6.2%)

To North Carolina from the states next to Hawaii

Everything about working in North Carolina · 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.

Pick the state