Moving between states / Texas

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Moving from Rhode Island to Texas for work

What moves with you from Rhode Island to Texas: 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 Texas leaves you roughly $2,516 a year more than Rhode Island does, because Texas has no state income tax on wages.

SalaryRhode Island state taxTexas state taxDifference a year
$40,000$1,677$0+$1,677
$60,000$2,516$0+$2,516
$90,000$3,774$0+$3,774

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: Rhode Island to Texas

Transfers by reciprocity. Your Rhode Island certificate stays on the Rhode Island Department of Health, Nursing Assistant licensing; 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.

RN and LPN: Rhode Island to Texas

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

Electrician: Rhode Island 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 Rhode Island licence comes from the Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training, Board of Examiners of Electricians, a state body, which is what a reciprocity application needs: ask it for a verification letter before you move.

CDL: Rhode Island 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 Rhode Island 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 Rhode Island 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

CNA: Rhode Island to Texas · RN or LPN: Rhode Island to Texas · Electrician: Rhode Island to Texas · Truck driver: Rhode Island to Texas

From Rhode Island 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 Rhode Island

Connecticut · Massachusetts

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

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