Moving between states / South Carolina

Flag of North CarolinaNorth CarolinatoFlag of South CarolinaSouth Carolina

Moving from North Carolina to South Carolina for work

What moves with you from North Carolina to South Carolina: 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

North Carolina and South Carolina take about the same from a $60,000 salary; the difference is under $150 a year either way.

SalaryNorth Carolina state taxSouth Carolina state taxDifference a year
$40,000$1,700$1,736-$36
$60,000$2,550$2,604-$54
$90,000$3,825$3,906-$81

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: North Carolina to South Carolina

Transfers by reciprocity. Your North Carolina certificate stays on the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, Nurse Aide I Registry; to work in South Carolina you apply to the South Carolina Nurse Aide Registry (Department of Health and Human Services, administered by Credentia) 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: North Carolina to South Carolina

Works on day one. Both North Carolina and South Carolina are in the Nurse Licensure Compact. A multistate RN or LPN licence from North Carolina is valid in South Carolina the day you arrive. Once South Carolina is your primary residence, apply there for a South Carolina multistate licence; most boards allow 30 to 60 days.

Electrician: North Carolina to South Carolina

Reciprocity likely. South Carolina licenses electricians at state level through the South Carolina Contractor's Licensing Board and Residential Builders Commission, and Electrical contractors are state-licensed; journeymen are licensed by some cities and counties. Contractor reciprocity with a few states. Your North Carolina licence comes from the North Carolina State Board of Examiners of Electrical Contractors, a state body, which is what a reciprocity application needs: ask it for a verification letter before you move.

CDL: North Carolina to South Carolina

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

No statewide program in South Carolina 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 South Carolina

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

Your own route from North Carolina to South Carolina

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 Carolina employers.

Plan my move to South Carolina

Same move, by trade

CNA: North Carolina to South Carolina · RN or LPN: North Carolina to South Carolina · Electrician: North Carolina to South Carolina · Truck driver: North Carolina to South Carolina

From North Carolina to the states next to South Carolina

Georgia (flat 5.19% state income tax)

To South Carolina from the states next to North Carolina

Virginia · Tennessee · Georgia

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

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