Moving between states / Kansas

Flag of MichiganMichigantoFlag of KansasKansas, RN or LPN

Moving from Michigan to Kansas as a registered or practical nurse

What a registered or practical nurse licensed in Michigan has to do to work in Kansas, what the move does to your pay, and who in Kansas is hiring from out of state.

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

What the move does to your paycheck

On a $60,000 salary Kansas leaves you roughly $206 a year more than Michigan does, because Kansas's rate is lower.

SalaryMichigan state taxKansas state taxDifference a year
$40,000$1,700$1,562+$138
$60,000$2,550$2,344+$206
$90,000$3,825$3,515+$310

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 Kansas

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 Kansas you apply to the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services, 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.

Electrician: Michigan to Kansas

Licensed by the city. Kansas has no state electrician licence; the City and county building departments decide what card you need, and it can differ between cities. No state electrician licence; Wichita, Topeka, Kansas City and most counties license locally and many reciprocate with each other. Ask the contractor hiring you which municipality the first job is in and apply to that one. Your Michigan state licence is evidence of hours, not a licence there.

CDL: Michigan to Kansas

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

  • Choose Topeka: up to $15,000. For people who take a job in Shawnee County or move there as remote workers; the employer matches part of it.
  • Rural Opportunity Zones: student loan repayment up to $15,000 over five years, plus an income tax waiver in some counties. For graduates moving to one of the designated rural counties.

Openings filed in Kansas

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

Your own route from Michigan to Kansas

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 Kansas employers.

Plan my move to Kansas

Same move, by trade

CNA: Michigan to Kansas · Electrician: Michigan to Kansas · Truck driver: Michigan to Kansas · All licences: Michigan to Kansas

From Michigan to the states next to Kansas

Nebraska (progressive, top rate 5.2%) · Missouri (progressive, top rate 4.7%) · Oklahoma (progressive, top rate 4.75%) · Colorado (flat 4.4% state income tax)

To Kansas from the states next to Michigan

Ohio · Indiana · Wisconsin

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

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