Moving between states / Texas

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Moving from Kansas to Texas as a CDL holder

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

What the move does to your paycheck

On a $60,000 salary Texas leaves you roughly $2,344 a year more than Kansas does, because Texas has no state income tax on wages.

SalaryKansas state taxTexas state taxDifference a year
$40,000$1,562$0+$1,562
$60,000$2,344$0+$2,344
$90,000$3,515$0+$3,515

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: Kansas to Texas

Transfers by reciprocity. Your Kansas certificate stays on the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services, Nurse Aide Registry; to work in Texas you apply to the Texas Health and Human Services, Nurse Aide Registry for reciprocity. Reciprocity for an active, unencumbered CNA from another state registry; Texas adds you to its registry rather than issuing a certificate. Most registries list you within two to six weeks.

RN and LPN: Kansas to Texas

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

Electrician: Kansas to Texas

Exam likely. Texas licenses at state level through the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation and reciprocates with other state boards, but Kansas 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 Texas journeyman exam.

No statewide program in Texas 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? Kansas has Choose Topeka and Rural Opportunity Zones. See moving from Texas to Kansas.

Openings filed in Texas

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

Your own route from Kansas to Texas

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 Texas employers.

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Same move, by trade

CNA: Kansas to Texas · RN or LPN: Kansas to Texas · Electrician: Kansas to Texas · All licences: Kansas to Texas

From Kansas to the states next to Texas

New Mexico (progressive, top rate 5.9%) · Oklahoma (progressive, top rate 4.75%) · Arkansas (progressive, top rate 3.9%) · Louisiana (flat 3% state income tax)

To Texas from the states next to Kansas

Nebraska · Missouri · Oklahoma · Colorado

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

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