Moving between states / Kentucky

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Moving from Oregon to Kentucky for work

What moves with you from Oregon to Kentucky: 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

On a $60,000 salary Kentucky leaves you roughly $1,758 a year more than Oregon does, because Kentucky's rate is lower.

SalaryOregon state taxKentucky state taxDifference a year
$40,000$2,772$1,600+$1,172
$60,000$4,158$2,400+$1,758
$90,000$6,237$3,600+$2,637

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 Kentucky: many cities and counties add an occupational tax. In Oregon: Portland metro adds local taxes on higher incomes. Property and sales tax are not in it.

CNA: Oregon to Kentucky

Transfers by reciprocity. Your Oregon certificate stays on the Oregon State Board of Nursing, Certified Nursing Assistant registry; to work in Kentucky you apply to the Kentucky 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: Oregon to Kentucky

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

Reciprocity likely. Kentucky licenses electricians at state level through the Kentucky Department of Housing, Buildings and Construction, Electrical Licensing, and State electrician and master electrician licences; limited reciprocity, most applicants qualify by hours and take the exam. Your Oregon licence comes from the Oregon Building Codes Division, Electrical and Elevator Board, a state body, which is what a reciprocity application needs: ask it for a verification letter before you move.

CDL: Oregon to Kentucky

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

No statewide program in Kentucky 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 Kentucky

58 open positions filed with the Department of Labor by Kentucky employers who could not fill them locally.

Your own route from Oregon to Kentucky

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 Kentucky employers.

Plan my move to Kentucky

Same move, by trade

CNA: Oregon to Kentucky · RN or LPN: Oregon to Kentucky · Electrician: Oregon to Kentucky · Truck driver: Oregon to Kentucky

From Oregon to the states next to Kentucky

Indiana (flat 3% state income tax) · Ohio (progressive, top rate 3.5%) · West Virginia (progressive, top rate 4.82%) · Virginia (progressive, top rate 5.75%) · Tennessee (no state income tax) · Missouri (progressive, top rate 4.7%) · Illinois (flat 4.95% state income tax)

To Kentucky from the states next to Oregon

Washington · Idaho · Nevada · California

Everything about working in Kentucky · All moves between states · All 50 states

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