Moving between states / Alaska

Flag of South CarolinaSouth CarolinatoFlag of AlaskaAlaska

Moving from South Carolina to Alaska for work

What moves with you from South Carolina to Alaska: 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 Alaska leaves you roughly $2,604 a year more than South Carolina does, because Alaska has no state income tax on wages.

SalarySouth Carolina state taxAlaska state taxDifference a year
$40,000$1,736$0+$1,736
$60,000$2,604$0+$2,604
$90,000$3,906$0+$3,906

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: South Carolina to Alaska

Transfers by reciprocity. Your South Carolina certificate stays on the South Carolina Nurse Aide Registry (Department of Health and Human Services, administered by Credentia); to work in Alaska you apply to the Alaska Board of Nursing (Certified Nurse Aide program) 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: South Carolina to Alaska

Endorsement needed. Alaska is not in the Nurse Licensure Compact, so your South Carolina multistate licence does not work there. Apply to the Alaska Board of Nursing for licensure by endorsement before you move; it commonly takes six to twelve weeks. Your South Carolina licence stays valid for compact states.

Electrician: South Carolina to Alaska

Reciprocity likely. Alaska licenses electricians at state level through the Alaska Department of Labor, Mechanical Inspection, and State certificate of fitness for journeymen; Alaska takes part in the western reciprocity group, so a journeyman card from a partner state can be endorsed. Your South Carolina licence comes from the South Carolina Contractor's Licensing Board and Residential Builders Commission, a state body, which is what a reciprocity application needs: ask it for a verification letter before you move.

CDL: South Carolina to Alaska

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

  • Permanent Fund Dividend: roughly $1,000 to $1,700 a year. For every resident after a full calendar year in the state; not a relocation grant, but paid every year.

Openings filed in Alaska

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

Your own route from South Carolina to Alaska

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 Alaska employers.

Plan my move to Alaska

Same move, by trade

CNA: South Carolina to Alaska · RN or LPN: South Carolina to Alaska · Electrician: South Carolina to Alaska · Truck driver: South Carolina to Alaska

From South Carolina to the states next to Alaska

To Alaska from the states next to South Carolina

North Carolina · Georgia

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

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