Moving between states / North Dakota

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Moving from Minnesota to North Dakota as a CDL holder

What a CDL holder licensed in Minnesota has to do to work in North Dakota, what the move does to your pay, and who in North Dakota 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 North Dakota resident you surrender the Minnesota CDL at a North Dakota 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 North Dakota. Your driving record follows you through the federal CDLIS system.

What the move does to your paycheck

On a $60,000 salary North Dakota leaves you roughly $3,087 a year more than Minnesota does, because North Dakota's rate is lower.

SalaryMinnesota state taxNorth Dakota state taxDifference a year
$40,000$2,758$700+$2,058
$60,000$4,137$1,050+$3,087
$90,000$6,206$1,575+$4,631

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 North Dakota

Transfers by reciprocity. Your Minnesota certificate stays on the Minnesota Department of Health, Nursing Assistant Registry; to work in North Dakota you apply to the North Dakota Board of Nursing, 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 North Dakota

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

Reciprocity likely. North Dakota licenses electricians at state level through the North Dakota State Electrical Board, and reciprocity with a group of upper-midwest and western states for journeymen. 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 North Dakota 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 North Dakota to Minnesota.

Openings filed in North Dakota

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

Your own route from Minnesota to North Dakota

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 North Dakota employers.

Plan my move to North Dakota

Same move, by trade

CNA: Minnesota to North Dakota · RN or LPN: Minnesota to North Dakota · Electrician: Minnesota to North Dakota · All licences: Minnesota to North Dakota

From Minnesota to the states next to North Dakota

South Dakota (no state income tax) · Montana (progressive, top rate 5.9%)

To North Dakota from the states next to Minnesota

South Dakota · Iowa · Wisconsin

Everything about working in North Dakota · All moves between states · All 50 states

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