Moving between states / New Mexico

Flag of MinnesotaMinnesotatoFlag of New MexicoNew Mexico, Truck driver

Moving from Minnesota to New Mexico as a CDL holder

What a CDL holder licensed in Minnesota has to do to work in New Mexico, what the move does to your pay, and who in New Mexico is hiring from out of state.

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

What the move does to your paycheck

On a $60,000 salary New Mexico leaves you roughly $1,659 a year more than Minnesota does, because New Mexico's rate is lower.

SalaryMinnesota state taxNew Mexico state taxDifference a year
$40,000$2,758$1,652+$1,106
$60,000$4,137$2,478+$1,659
$90,000$6,206$3,717+$2,489

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 New Mexico

Transfers by reciprocity. Your Minnesota certificate stays on the Minnesota Department of Health, Nursing Assistant Registry; to work in New Mexico you apply to the New Mexico Department of Health, 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: Minnesota to New Mexico

Endorsement, six to twelve weeks. Minnesota is not in the compact, so your Minnesota licence is single-state. Apply to the New Mexico 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 New Mexico 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: Minnesota to New Mexico

Reciprocity likely. New Mexico licenses electricians at state level through the New Mexico Construction Industries Division, and reciprocity for journeymen from states with an equivalent exam, mostly the western group. 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.

No statewide program in New Mexico 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.

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

Openings filed in New Mexico

63 open positions filed with the Department of Labor by New Mexico employers who could not fill them locally.

Your own route from Minnesota to New Mexico

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 New Mexico employers.

Plan my move to New Mexico

Same move, by trade

CNA: Minnesota to New Mexico · RN or LPN: Minnesota to New Mexico · Electrician: Minnesota to New Mexico · All licences: Minnesota to New Mexico

From Minnesota to the states next to New Mexico

Colorado (flat 4.4% state income tax) · Oklahoma (progressive, top rate 4.75%) · Texas (no state income tax) · Arizona (flat 2.5% state income tax) · Utah (flat 4.5% state income tax)

To New Mexico from the states next to Minnesota

North Dakota · South Dakota · Iowa · Wisconsin

Everything about working in New Mexico · All moves between states · All 50 states

Moving for a job? Start with your state.

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

Pick the state