Moving between states / Alaska

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Moving from Texas to Alaska as a CDL holder

What a CDL holder licensed in Texas has to do to work in Alaska, what the move does to your pay, and who in Alaska is hiring from out of state.

Transfers at the DMV. A commercial driver's licence transfers like any licence: within 30 days of becoming a Alaska resident you surrender the Texas 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.

What the move does to your paycheck

Neither Texas nor Alaska taxes wages, so the move changes nothing on the state line of your paycheck.

SalaryTexas state taxAlaska state taxDifference a year
$40,000$0$0$0
$60,000$0$0$0
$90,000$0$0$0

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: Texas to Alaska

Transfers by reciprocity. Your Texas certificate stays on the Texas Health and Human Services, Nurse Aide Registry; 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: Texas to Alaska

Endorsement needed. Alaska is not in the Nurse Licensure Compact, so your Texas 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 Texas licence stays valid for compact states.

Electrician: Texas 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 Texas licence comes from the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, a state body, which is what a reciprocity application needs: ask it for a verification letter before you move.

  • 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 Texas 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

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CNA: Texas to Alaska · RN or LPN: Texas to Alaska · Electrician: Texas to Alaska · All licences: Texas to Alaska

From Texas to the states next to Alaska

To Alaska from the states next to Texas

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

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