Moving between states / Georgia

Flag of MichiganMichigantoFlag of GeorgiaGeorgia

Moving from Michigan to Georgia for work

What moves with you from Michigan to Georgia: 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 Georgia takes roughly $564 a year more than Michigan does.

SalaryMichigan state taxGeorgia state taxDifference a year
$40,000$1,700$2,076-$376
$60,000$2,550$3,114-$564
$90,000$3,825$4,671-$846

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 Georgia

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 Georgia you apply to the Georgia Nurse Aide Registry (Georgia Department of Community Health, 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: Michigan to Georgia

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

Exam required. Georgia licenses electricians through the Georgia State Construction Industry Licensing Board, Division of Electrical Contractors and does not reciprocate with any state. Your Michigan hours count toward eligibility, so get them certified in writing by the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, Electrical Administrative Board before you move and book the Georgia exam early.

CDL: Michigan to Georgia

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

No statewide program in Georgia 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 Georgia

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

Your own route from Michigan to Georgia

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 Georgia employers.

Plan my move to Georgia

Same move, by trade

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

From Michigan to the states next to Georgia

Florida (no state income tax) · Alabama (progressive, top rate 5%) · Tennessee (no state income tax) · North Carolina (flat 4.25% state income tax) · South Carolina (progressive, top rate 6.2%)

To Georgia from the states next to Michigan

Ohio · Indiana · Wisconsin

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

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Licence transfer, what the state takes from your pay, and who pays you to come. Free, no account.

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