Moving between states / North Dakota

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Moving from Pennsylvania to North Dakota for work

What moves with you from Pennsylvania to North Dakota: 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 North Dakota leaves you roughly $792 a year more than Pennsylvania does, because North Dakota's rate is lower.

SalaryPennsylvania state taxNorth Dakota state taxDifference a year
$40,000$1,228$700+$528
$60,000$1,842$1,050+$792
$90,000$2,763$1,575+$1,188

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 North Dakota

Transfers by reciprocity. Your Pennsylvania certificate stays on the Pennsylvania Nurse Aide Registry (Pennsylvania Department of Education, administered by Credentia); to work in North Dakota you apply to the North Dakota 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: Pennsylvania to North Dakota

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

Electrician: Pennsylvania to North Dakota

Exam likely. North Dakota licenses at state level through the North Dakota State Electrical 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 North Dakota journeyman exam.

CDL: Pennsylvania to North Dakota

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

No statewide program in North Dakota 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 North Dakota

67 open positions filed with the Department of Labor by North Dakota employers who could not fill them locally.

Your own route from Pennsylvania to North Dakota

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 North Dakota employers.

Plan my move to North Dakota

Same move, by trade

CNA: Pennsylvania to North Dakota · RN or LPN: Pennsylvania to North Dakota · Electrician: Pennsylvania to North Dakota · Truck driver: Pennsylvania to North Dakota

From Pennsylvania to the states next to North Dakota

Minnesota (progressive, top rate 9.85%) · South Dakota (no state income tax) · Montana (progressive, top rate 5.9%)

To North Dakota from the states next to Pennsylvania

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

Everything about working in North Dakota · All moves between states · All 50 states

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