Moving between states / South Dakota

Flag of IowaIowatoFlag of South DakotaSouth Dakota, Truck driver

Moving from Iowa to South Dakota as a CDL holder

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

What the move does to your paycheck

On a $60,000 salary South Dakota leaves you roughly $2,280 a year more than Iowa does, because South Dakota has no state income tax on wages.

SalaryIowa state taxSouth Dakota state taxDifference a year
$40,000$1,520$0+$1,520
$60,000$2,280$0+$2,280
$90,000$3,420$0+$3,420

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: Iowa to South Dakota

Transfers by reciprocity. Your Iowa certificate stays on the Iowa Direct Care Worker Registry (Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals and Licensing); to work in South Dakota you apply to the South Dakota Board of Nursing, 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: Iowa to South Dakota

Works on day one. Both Iowa and South Dakota are in the Nurse Licensure Compact. A multistate RN or LPN licence from Iowa is valid in South Dakota the day you arrive. Once South Dakota is your primary residence, apply there for a South Dakota multistate licence; most boards allow 30 to 60 days.

Electrician: Iowa to South Dakota

Reciprocity likely. South Dakota licenses electricians at state level through the South Dakota Electrical Commission, and reciprocity with a group of states for journeymen licensed by exam. Your Iowa licence comes from the Iowa Electrical Examining Board, a state body, which is what a reciprocity application needs: ask it for a verification letter before you move.

No statewide program in South Dakota 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.

Going the other way? Iowa has Newton Housing Initiative. See moving from South Dakota to Iowa.

Openings filed in South Dakota

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

Your own route from Iowa to South Dakota

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 Dakota employers.

Plan my move to South Dakota

Same move, by trade

CNA: Iowa to South Dakota · RN or LPN: Iowa to South Dakota · Electrician: Iowa to South Dakota · All licences: Iowa to South Dakota

From Iowa to the states next to South Dakota

North Dakota (progressive, top rate 2.5%) · Minnesota (progressive, top rate 9.85%) · Nebraska (progressive, top rate 5.2%) · Wyoming (no state income tax) · Montana (progressive, top rate 5.9%)

To South Dakota from the states next to Iowa

Minnesota · Wisconsin · Illinois · Missouri · Nebraska

Everything about working in South Dakota · All moves between states · All 50 states

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