Moving between states / New Mexico

Flag of New YorkNew YorktoFlag of New MexicoNew Mexico, CNA

Moving from New York to New Mexico as a certified nursing assistant

What a certified nursing assistant licensed in New York 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 by reciprocity. Your New York certificate stays on the New York State Nurse Aide Registry (administered by Prometric for the Department of Health); 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.

What the move does to your paycheck

On a $60,000 salary New Mexico leaves you roughly $2,100 a year more than New York does, because New Mexico's rate is lower.

SalaryNew York state taxNew Mexico state taxDifference a year
$40,000$3,052$1,652+$1,400
$60,000$4,578$2,478+$2,100
$90,000$6,867$3,717+$3,150

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 New York: New York City adds up to 3.876%. Property and sales tax are not in it.

RN and LPN: New York to New Mexico

Endorsement, six to twelve weeks. New York is not in the compact, so your New York 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: New York to New Mexico

Exam likely. New Mexico licenses at state level through the New Mexico Construction Industries Division and reciprocates with other state boards, but New York licenses locally through the City and county building departments, which is not a party to those agreements. Expect to document your hours and sit the New Mexico journeyman exam.

CDL: New York to New Mexico

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 New York 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.

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.

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 New York 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

RN or LPN: New York to New Mexico · Electrician: New York to New Mexico · Truck driver: New York to New Mexico · All licences: New York to New Mexico

From New York 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 New York

Vermont · Massachusetts · Connecticut · New Jersey · Pennsylvania

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

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