Moving between states / Florida

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Moving from Michigan to Florida for work

What moves with you from Michigan to Florida: 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 Florida leaves you roughly $2,550 a year more than Michigan does, because Florida has no state income tax on wages.

SalaryMichigan state taxFlorida state taxDifference a year
$40,000$1,700$0+$1,700
$60,000$2,550$0+$2,550
$90,000$3,825$0+$3,825

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. In Michigan: Detroit and some cities add a local income tax. Property and sales tax are not in it.

CNA: Michigan to Florida

Transfers by reciprocity. Your Michigan certificate stays on the Michigan Nurse Aide Registry (administered by Prometric for the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs); to work in Florida you apply to the Florida Board of Nursing (CNA certification by endorsement) for reciprocity. Endorsement for an active CNA from another state registry; Florida runs its own background screening before it certifies you. Most registries list you within two to six weeks.

RN and LPN: Michigan to Florida

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

Reciprocity likely. Florida licenses electricians at state level through the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, Electrical Contractors' Licensing Board, and Contractor licences are state-certified or county-registered; journeyman cards are county-issued, and several counties reciprocate with each other. Your Michigan licence comes from the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, Electrical Administrative Board, a state body, which is what a reciprocity application needs: ask it for a verification letter before you move.

CDL: Michigan to Florida

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

No statewide program in Florida 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 Florida

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

Your own route from Michigan to Florida

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 Florida employers.

Plan my move to Florida

Same move, by trade

CNA: Michigan to Florida · RN or LPN: Michigan to Florida · Electrician: Michigan to Florida · Truck driver: Michigan to Florida

From Michigan to the states next to Florida

Georgia (flat 5.19% state income tax) · Alabama (progressive, top rate 5%)

To Florida from the states next to Michigan

Ohio · Indiana · Wisconsin

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

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