Moving between states / Florida

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Moving from Pennsylvania to Florida for work

What moves with you from Pennsylvania to Florida: 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 Florida leaves you roughly $1,842 a year more than Pennsylvania does, because Florida has no state income tax on wages.

SalaryPennsylvania state taxFlorida state taxDifference a year
$40,000$1,228$0+$1,228
$60,000$1,842$0+$1,842
$90,000$2,763$0+$2,763

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 Pennsylvania: municipalities add an earned income tax, 1% in most places and 3.75% in Philadelphia. Property and sales tax are not in it.

CNA: Pennsylvania to Florida

Transfers by reciprocity. Your Pennsylvania certificate stays on the Pennsylvania Nurse Aide Registry (Pennsylvania Department of Education, administered by Credentia); to work in Florida you apply to the Florida Board of Nursing (CNA certification by endorsement) for reciprocity. Endorsement for an active CNA from another state registry; Florida runs its own background screening before it certifies you. Most registries list you within two to six weeks.

RN and LPN: Pennsylvania to Florida

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

Electrician: Pennsylvania to Florida

Exam likely. Florida licenses at state level through the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, Electrical Contractors' Licensing Board and reciprocates with other state boards, but Pennsylvania 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 Florida journeyman exam.

CDL: Pennsylvania to Florida

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

No statewide program in Florida 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 Florida

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

Your own route from Pennsylvania to Florida

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 Florida employers.

Plan my move to Florida

Same move, by trade

CNA: Pennsylvania to Florida · RN or LPN: Pennsylvania to Florida · Electrician: Pennsylvania to Florida · Truck driver: Pennsylvania to Florida

From Pennsylvania to the states next to Florida

Georgia (flat 5.19% state income tax) · Alabama (progressive, top rate 5%)

To Florida from the states next to Pennsylvania

New York · New Jersey · Delaware · Maryland · West Virginia · Ohio

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

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