Moving between states / Alaska

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Moving from Minnesota to Alaska for work

What moves with you from Minnesota to Alaska: 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 Alaska leaves you roughly $4,137 a year more than Minnesota does, because Alaska has no state income tax on wages.

SalaryMinnesota state taxAlaska state taxDifference a year
$40,000$2,758$0+$2,758
$60,000$4,137$0+$4,137
$90,000$6,206$0+$6,206

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. Property and sales tax are not in it.

CNA: Minnesota to Alaska

Transfers by reciprocity. Your Minnesota certificate stays on the Minnesota Department of Health, Nursing Assistant Registry; to work in Alaska you apply to the Alaska Board of Nursing (Certified Nurse Aide program) 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: Minnesota to Alaska

Endorsement needed. Neither Minnesota nor Alaska is in the Nurse Licensure Compact. You apply to the Alaska Board of Nursing for licensure by endorsement: verification of your Minnesota licence through Nursys, a fingerprint background check and the fee. Start before you give notice; six to twelve weeks is normal.

Electrician: Minnesota to Alaska

Reciprocity likely. Alaska licenses electricians at state level through the Alaska Department of Labor, Mechanical Inspection, and State certificate of fitness for journeymen; Alaska takes part in the western reciprocity group, so a journeyman card from a partner state can be endorsed. Your Minnesota licence comes from the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry, a state body, which is what a reciprocity application needs: ask it for a verification letter before you move.

CDL: Minnesota to Alaska

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

  • Permanent Fund Dividend: roughly $1,000 to $1,700 a year. For every resident after a full calendar year in the state; not a relocation grant, but paid every year.

Going the other way? Minnesota has Harmony new-home rebate. See moving from Alaska to Minnesota.

Openings filed in Alaska

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

Your own route from Minnesota to Alaska

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 Alaska employers.

Plan my move to Alaska

Same move, by trade

CNA: Minnesota to Alaska · RN or LPN: Minnesota to Alaska · Electrician: Minnesota to Alaska · Truck driver: Minnesota to Alaska

From Minnesota to the states next to Alaska

To Alaska from the states next to Minnesota

North Dakota · South Dakota · Iowa · Wisconsin

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

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