All states / California

Moving from Arkansas to California
Flag of California

Working in California: licences, taxes and who pays you to come

California in one page for someone moving in for a job. Who keeps each licence, whether yours transfers, what the state takes out of your pay, and the openings filed there this month.

CNA reciprocity in California

A nurse aide certificate is kept on a state registry, not a national one, so moving means getting on the California registry. The registry is the California Department of Public Health, Aide and Technician Certification Section. Reciprocity needs an active certificate in good standing and recent paid nurse aide work; California issues its own certificate rather than endorsing yours.

  1. Check your current listing. Your certificate must be active and without findings on the Arkansas registry. A lapsed certificate cannot be transferred; it has to be renewed or retested first.
  2. Apply to the California registry. The California Department of Public Health, Aide and Technician Certification Section handles reciprocity (some states call it endorsement or transfer). Expect to give your home-state certificate number, a copy of your ID, and in most states a fingerprint background check.
  3. Show recent work if asked. Many states require paid nurse aide work in the last 24 months. If you have been out of the job, say so before you move: a retest is cheaper than a wasted application.
  4. Wait for the listing, then start. Most registries list you within two to six weeks. Employers in California check the registry, not your old card, so do not start before you appear on it.

Fees change by the year and sit between nothing and about $50 in most states; the registry's own site has the current figure and form. Do not pay a third-party site to "transfer" a CNA certificate: the registry does it, and only the registry.

RN and LPN: does your nursing licence transfer to California?

California is not in the Nurse Licensure Compact. A multistate licence from another state does not work here. You apply to the California Board of Nursing for a licence by endorsement: verification of your original licence through Nursys, a background check, and the board's fee. Start before you move; endorsement commonly takes four to twelve weeks.

Other compact states, if the compact matters to where you go next: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas and more.

Electrician licence in California

California issues electrician licences at state level, through the Division of Industrial Relations (certification) and Contractors State License Board (C-10). General electricians must hold the state certification exam; no reciprocity with any state, and the contractor licence is a separate exam.

Whatever the state's rule, the fastest route is the same: get your hours certified by your current licensing body before you move, carry the exam result if you passed one, and apply the week you arrive. A journeyman who waits until the first job offer to apply loses the offer to the wait.

What California takes out of your pay

Progressive, top rate 13.3%; plus a 1.1% payroll tax for disability insurance. Arkansas: Progressive, top rate 3.9%. California: Progressive, top rate 13.3%.

A state with no income tax is not a state with no tax: Texas, Florida and Tennessee take it in sales and property tax instead. For a renter on wages, the no-tax states still come out ahead on take-home pay. For a homeowner, property tax decides it.

There is no statewide program in California that pays people to move in. Individual towns sometimes list an offer through MakeMyMove, and employers in short-staffed trades (nursing, trucking, skilled trades) pay relocation themselves: ask for it in writing before you accept.

Amounts are the program's own "up to" figure and change with each funding round. Every program has a residence condition, usually a year, and claws the money back if you leave early.

Openings filed in California

337 open positions filed with the Department of Labor by California employers who could not fill them locally. These are the employers already paying to bring people in.

All US openings by trade and state

Your own route to California

Tell us your trade, your licence and where you are now. We write the steps for your case, check the job offer for scams, and keep your resume ready for California employers.

Plan my move to California

Moving to California from another state

from Alabama · from Alaska · from Arizona · from Arkansas · from Colorado · from Connecticut · from Delaware · from Florida · from Georgia · from Hawaii · from Idaho · from Illinois · from Indiana · from Iowa · from Kansas · from Kentucky · from Louisiana · from Maine · from Maryland · from Massachusetts · from Michigan · from Minnesota · from Mississippi · from Missouri · from Montana · from Nebraska · from Nevada · from New Hampshire · from New Jersey · from New Mexico · from New York · from North Carolina · from North Dakota · from Ohio · from Oklahoma · from Oregon · from Pennsylvania · from Rhode Island · from South Carolina · from South Dakota · from Tennessee · from Texas · from Utah · from Vermont · from Virginia · from Washington · from West Virginia · from Wisconsin · from Wyoming

Next door

Oregon (progressive, top rate 9.9%) · Nevada (no state income tax) · Arizona (flat 2.5% state income tax)

All 50 states

Moving for a job? Start with your state.

Licence transfer, what the state takes from your pay, and who pays you to come. Free, no account.

Pick the state