Moving between states / West Virginia

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Moving from Illinois to West Virginia for work

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

SalaryIllinois state taxWest Virginia state taxDifference a year
$40,000$1,980$1,350+$630
$60,000$2,970$2,024+$946
$90,000$4,455$3,037+$1,418

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 West Virginia

Transfers by reciprocity. Your Illinois certificate stays on the Illinois Department of Public Health, Health Care Worker Registry; to work in West Virginia you apply to the West Virginia Office of Health Facility Licensure and Certification, 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: Illinois to West Virginia

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

Exam likely. West Virginia licenses at state level through the West Virginia State Fire Marshal, Electrician Licensing 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 West Virginia journeyman exam.

CDL: Illinois to West Virginia

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

  • Ascend West Virginia: $12,000 over two years plus outdoor perks. For remote workers who move to one of the participating communities (Morgantown, Lewisburg, Shepherdstown and others).

Openings filed in West Virginia

14 open positions filed with the Department of Labor by West Virginia employers who could not fill them locally.

Your own route from Illinois to West Virginia

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 West Virginia employers.

Plan my move to West Virginia

Same move, by trade

CNA: Illinois to West Virginia · RN or LPN: Illinois to West Virginia · Electrician: Illinois to West Virginia · Truck driver: Illinois to West Virginia

From Illinois to the states next to West Virginia

Ohio (progressive, top rate 3.5%) · Pennsylvania (flat 3.07% state income tax) · Maryland (progressive, top rate 5.75%) · Virginia (progressive, top rate 5.75%) · Kentucky (flat 4% state income tax)

To West Virginia from the states next to Illinois

Wisconsin · Iowa · Missouri · Kentucky · Indiana

Everything about working in West Virginia · All moves between states · All 50 states

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