Moving between states / South Carolina

Flag of IllinoisIllinoistoFlag of South CarolinaSouth Carolina, Electrician

Moving from Illinois to South Carolina as a journeyman electrician

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

Exam likely. South Carolina licenses at state level through the South Carolina Contractor's Licensing Board and Residential Builders Commission and reciprocates with other state boards, but Illinois licenses locally through the City and county building departments, which is not a party to those agreements. Expect to document your hours and sit the South Carolina journeyman exam.

What the move does to your paycheck

On a $60,000 salary South Carolina leaves you roughly $366 a year more than Illinois does, because South Carolina's rate is lower.

SalaryIllinois state taxSouth Carolina state taxDifference a year
$40,000$1,980$1,736+$244
$60,000$2,970$2,604+$366
$90,000$4,455$3,906+$549

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: Illinois to South Carolina

Transfers by reciprocity. Your Illinois certificate stays on the Illinois Department of Public Health, Health Care Worker Registry; to work in South Carolina you apply to the South Carolina Nurse Aide Registry (Department of Health and Human Services, administered by Credentia) 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: Illinois to South Carolina

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

CDL: Illinois to South Carolina

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

No statewide program in South 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 South Carolina

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

Your own route from Illinois to South 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 South Carolina employers.

Plan my move to South Carolina

Same move, by trade

CNA: Illinois to South Carolina · RN or LPN: Illinois to South Carolina · Truck driver: Illinois to South Carolina · All licences: Illinois to South Carolina

From Illinois to the states next to South Carolina

North Carolina (flat 4.25% state income tax) · Georgia (flat 5.19% state income tax)

To South Carolina from the states next to Illinois

Wisconsin · Iowa · Missouri · Kentucky · Indiana

Everything about working in South 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