Moving between states / Idaho

Flag of MichiganMichigantoFlag of IdahoIdaho

Moving from Michigan to Idaho for work

What moves with you from Michigan to Idaho: 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 Idaho takes roughly $630 a year more than Michigan does.

SalaryMichigan state taxIdaho state taxDifference a year
$40,000$1,700$2,120-$420
$60,000$2,550$3,180-$630
$90,000$3,825$4,770-$945

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 Idaho

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 Idaho you apply to the Idaho Nurse Aide Registry (administered by Prometric for the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare) 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 Idaho

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

Reciprocity likely. Idaho licenses electricians at state level through the Idaho Division of Occupational and Professional Licenses, Electrical Board, and Idaho reciprocates with most western states for journeymen who tested there and worked a year. 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 Idaho

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

No statewide program in Idaho 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 Idaho

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

Your own route from Michigan to Idaho

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 Idaho employers.

Plan my move to Idaho

Same move, by trade

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

From Michigan to the states next to Idaho

Washington (no state income tax) · Oregon (progressive, top rate 9.9%) · Nevada (no state income tax) · Utah (flat 4.5% state income tax) · Wyoming (no state income tax) · Montana (progressive, top rate 5.9%)

To Idaho from the states next to Michigan

Ohio · Indiana · Wisconsin

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

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