Moving between states / Montana

Flag of MichiganMichigantoFlag of MontanaMontana

Moving from Michigan to Montana for work

What moves with you from Michigan to Montana: 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

Michigan and Montana take about the same from a $60,000 salary; the difference is under $150 a year either way.

SalaryMichigan state taxMontana state taxDifference a year
$40,000$1,700$1,652+$48
$60,000$2,550$2,478+$72
$90,000$3,825$3,717+$108

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 Montana

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 Montana you apply to the Montana Department of Public Health and Human 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.

RN and LPN: Michigan to Montana

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

Reciprocity likely. Montana licenses electricians at state level through the Montana State Electrical Board, and reciprocity with the western group of states for journeymen with an equivalent licence. 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 Montana

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

No statewide program in Montana 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 Montana

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

Your own route from Michigan to Montana

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 Montana employers.

Plan my move to Montana

Same move, by trade

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

From Michigan to the states next to Montana

North Dakota (progressive, top rate 2.5%) · South Dakota (no state income tax) · Wyoming (no state income tax) · Idaho (flat 5.3% state income tax)

To Montana from the states next to Michigan

Ohio · Indiana · Wisconsin

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

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