Moving between states / Texas

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Moving from Oregon to Texas as a certified nursing assistant

What a certified nursing assistant licensed in Oregon has to do to work in Texas, what the move does to your pay, and who in Texas is hiring from out of state.

Transfers by reciprocity. Your Oregon certificate stays on the Oregon State Board of Nursing, Certified Nursing Assistant registry; to work in Texas you apply to the Texas Health and Human Services, Nurse Aide Registry for reciprocity. Reciprocity for an active, unencumbered CNA from another state registry; Texas adds you to its registry rather than issuing a certificate. Most registries list you within two to six weeks.

What the move does to your paycheck

On a $60,000 salary Texas leaves you roughly $4,158 a year more than Oregon does, because Texas has no state income tax on wages.

SalaryOregon state taxTexas state taxDifference a year
$40,000$2,772$0+$2,772
$60,000$4,158$0+$4,158
$90,000$6,237$0+$6,237

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 Oregon: Portland metro adds local taxes on higher incomes. Property and sales tax are not in it.

RN and LPN: Oregon to Texas

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

Reciprocity likely. Texas licenses electricians at state level through the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, and TDLR reciprocates journeyman and master licences with a handful of states and otherwise waives the exam for nobody. 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 Texas

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

No statewide program in Texas 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 Texas

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

Your own route from Oregon to Texas

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 Texas employers.

Plan my move to Texas

Same move, by trade

RN or LPN: Oregon to Texas · Electrician: Oregon to Texas · Truck driver: Oregon to Texas · All licences: Oregon to Texas

From Oregon to the states next to Texas

New Mexico (progressive, top rate 5.9%) · Oklahoma (progressive, top rate 4.75%) · Arkansas (progressive, top rate 3.9%) · Louisiana (flat 3% state income tax)

To Texas from the states next to Oregon

Washington · Idaho · Nevada · California

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

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