Moving between states / South Dakota

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Moving from Minnesota to South Dakota as a CDL holder

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

What the move does to your paycheck

On a $60,000 salary South Dakota leaves you roughly $4,137 a year more than Minnesota does, because South Dakota has no state income tax on wages.

SalaryMinnesota state taxSouth Dakota 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 South Dakota

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

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

Reciprocity likely. South Dakota licenses electricians at state level through the South Dakota Electrical Commission, and reciprocity with a group of states for journeymen licensed by exam. 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 South 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 South Dakota to Minnesota.

Openings filed in South Dakota

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

Your own route from Minnesota to South 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 South Dakota employers.

Plan my move to South Dakota

Same move, by trade

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

From Minnesota to the states next to South Dakota

North Dakota (progressive, top rate 2.5%) · Iowa (flat 3.8% state income tax) · Nebraska (progressive, top rate 5.2%) · Wyoming (no state income tax) · Montana (progressive, top rate 5.9%)

To South Dakota from the states next to Minnesota

North Dakota · Iowa · Wisconsin

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

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