The states that have reciprocity with Pennsylvania depend entirely on what kind of reciprocity you’re asking about. Pennsylvania has income tax agreements with six states, recognizes concealed carry permits from 29, honors driver’s licenses from every state, and participates in a growing set of professional and healthcare compacts that each have their own member list. Here’s how each one breaks down.
Income Tax: Six Reciprocal States
Pennsylvania has reciprocal income tax agreements with Indiana, Maryland, New Jersey, Ohio, Virginia, and West Virginia.1Department of Revenue | Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Determining Residency for PA Personal Income Tax Purposes These agreements prevent double taxation on wages for people who live in one state and work in the other. A Pennsylvania resident working in any of those six states owes Pennsylvania income tax on the wages, not the state where the job is located. The reverse is also true: a New Jersey or Ohio resident commuting into Pennsylvania pays income tax only to their home state.
Making the agreement work takes paperwork. If you live in a reciprocal state and work in Pennsylvania, give your employer a completed Form REV-419, the Employee’s Nonwithholding Application Certificate.2Department of Revenue | Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Requirements for Employers to Withhold Personal Income Tax Without it, your employer will withhold Pennsylvania tax by default and you’ll have to file for a refund. Pennsylvania residents working in Maryland or another reciprocal state should tell that employer to withhold Pennsylvania tax at the flat 3.07% rate instead of the other state’s tax.3Department of Revenue | Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Tax Rates When an employer in a reciprocal state withholds its own state’s tax by mistake, which happens more often with large multistate employers, you have to file a return in that state to recover the money.1Department of Revenue | Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Determining Residency for PA Personal Income Tax Purposes
If you work in a state Pennsylvania does not have an agreement with, like New York or Connecticut, both states will tax the same income. Pennsylvania addresses that with a resident credit claimed on Schedule G-L, but the credit cannot exceed what Pennsylvania itself would have charged, which caps it at 3.07% of the income the other state taxed. You must attach a copy of the other state’s return and W-2s. The credit does not apply to taxes paid to the six reciprocal states, since those states should not be taxing your wages in the first place, and it does not cover local or municipal taxes paid to subdivisions of other states.4PA Department of Revenue. PA Personal Income Tax Guide – Deductions and Credits
Concealed Carry: 29 Recognized States
Pennsylvania recognizes concealed carry permits from 29 states. To carry in Pennsylvania on an out-of-state permit, you must be a resident of the state that issued it and at least 21 years old.5PA Office of Attorney General. Concealed Carry Reciprocity The recognized states are:
Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.
Travel in the other direction is slightly broader. Beyond those 29 states, Virginia, Maine, and Vermont will let a Pennsylvania License to Carry Firearms holder carry concealed. Maine and Vermont are permitless-carry states, so anyone who can legally possess a firearm can carry concealed there without a permit at all, though Maine still requires a permit for certain locations like state parks.6PA Office of Attorney General. Concealed Carry Reciprocity – Section: Maine Laws
Firearms reciprocity changes more often than almost any other area of interstate recognition. States add and drop agreements as legislative priorities shift. Check the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s reciprocity page and the destination state’s laws before traveling with a concealed firearm.
Driver’s License and Vehicle Sales Tax
Pennsylvania recognizes valid driver’s licenses from every other U.S. state for visitors and temporary residents. Once you move here, you have 60 days to get a Pennsylvania non-commercial license, or 30 days if you hold a commercial driver’s license.7Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Moving to Pennsylvania – Driver and Vehicle Services You must apply for a Pennsylvania title and registration within 20 days of establishing residency, and the vehicle has to pass a safety inspection within 10 days after that.8Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Motor Vehicle Information for New Residents
For vehicle sales tax, Pennsylvania will credit tax you already paid to another state against the Pennsylvania use tax owed at registration, but only if that state grants a reciprocal credit for Pennsylvania sales tax. The credit cannot exceed 6% statewide, 7% in Allegheny County, or 8% in Philadelphia.9PA Department of Revenue. Pennsylvania Sales and Use Tax Credit Chart – REV-227 West Virginia, South Dakota, North Dakota, Oklahoma, and the District of Columbia do not grant a reciprocal credit on vehicles, so a vehicle moved from any of those jurisdictions can face the full Pennsylvania use tax even if sales tax was already paid.
Professional Licenses
There is no single agreement covering all professions. Each of Pennsylvania’s 29 licensing boards and commissions sets its own rules for out-of-state credentials.10Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Bureau of Professional and Occupational Affairs Act 41 of 2019 added a statewide framework for licensure by endorsement, letting boards grant a Pennsylvania license to someone already licensed in another state if that state’s requirements are substantially equivalent and the applicant’s license is active, in good standing, and free of disciplinary action.11Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Real Estate Commission Licensure Guide It was designed with military families in mind but applies to any qualifying applicant.
How reciprocity shakes out in a few common fields:
- Real estate salesperson and broker licenses have formal reciprocity agreements with five states: Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, and Massachusetts. Licensees from other states can still apply through the Act 41 endorsement process.11Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Real Estate Commission Licensure Guide
- Professional engineers can seek a Pennsylvania license by comity if their original state’s requirements were equal to Pennsylvania’s at the time of initial licensure, or are now substantially equivalent. Holding an NCEES Council Record replaces most of the supplemental documentation.12Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Professional Engineer Licensure Guide
- CPAs certified in another state can get a Pennsylvania certificate without retaking the exam. Those practicing under reciprocity or automatic mobility meet the continuing education rules of the state where their principal license is held, unless that state has none, in which case Pennsylvania’s rules apply.13Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Certified Public Accountant Pennsylvania Licensure Requirements Snapshot
Healthcare Compacts
Pennsylvania belongs to several interstate compacts that let healthcare professionals practice across state lines without a separate license in each one. Most took effect in 2025.
- The Nurse Licensure Compact (NLC) was fully implemented on July 7, 2025. Pennsylvania-resident RNs and LPNs can hold a single multistate license good in all 43 member states, in person and via telehealth, and nurses from other NLC states can practice in Pennsylvania on their home-state multistate license. Applicants need to pass the NCLEX, hold an unencumbered license, and clear a federal and state fingerprint background check.14NCSBN. Pennsylvania to Fully Implement Nurse Licensure Compact July 7, 2025
- The Interstate Medical Licensure Compact (IMLC), also live July 7, 2025, gives physicians an expedited path to licensure across more than 40 member states. Physicians from other IMLC states can designate Pennsylvania as a practice state and receive an unrestricted Pennsylvania medical license. Pennsylvania adds two state-specific requirements: three hours of training in child abuse recognition and reporting, and four hours in pain management and opioid prescribing.15Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Interstate Medical Licensure Compact
- Pennsylvania is a PSYPACT participating state, so psychologists licensed in other member states can practice telepsychology in Pennsylvania or conduct temporary in-person work without a separate Pennsylvania license. PSYPACT covers more than 40 jurisdictions.16Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Psychologist Licensure Snapshot
- Pennsylvania joined REPLICA, the EMS Compact, in 2022, letting EMS personnel licensed in member states practice across state lines on their home credentials.17EMS Compact. Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania has not yet joined the Social Work Licensure Compact. As of March 2026, House Bill 554 to adopt it has passed second consideration in the Senate but was re-referred to the Appropriations Committee.18Pennsylvania General Assembly. House Bill 554 Information
Admission to the Pennsylvania Bar
Experienced attorneys can join the Pennsylvania bar without sitting for the bar exam through two routes. Under Pennsylvania Rule 204, an attorney licensed in a reciprocal jurisdiction can apply for admission by motion. The list runs to more than 40 states and territories, including New York, New Jersey, Illinois, Texas, Florida, and the District of Columbia; California is not on it.19Pennsylvania Bar Examiners. Reciprocity Information You must have devoted a major portion of your time to the practice of law for five of the last seven years, hold a J.D. or LL.B. from an accredited school, and be in good standing with every bar you’ve been admitted to.20Pennsylvania Code and Bulletin. 204 Pa Code Rule 204 – Admission by Reciprocity
The second route is transferring a Uniform Bar Exam score from another state. The minimum qualifying score is 270 for exams taken in February 2024 or later, and 272 for earlier exams. The score is valid for 30 months from the exam date, with no extension or appeal if yours falls outside that window.21PA Board of Law Examiners. UBE FAQs
Teacher Certification
Pennsylvania participates in the NASDTEC Interstate Agreement, which covers most U.S. states and lets Pennsylvania evaluate an out-of-state teacher’s credentials under that framework rather than starting from zero.22Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Department of Education. Out-of-State Educators Applicants generally need a bachelor’s degree with at least a 3.0 GPA, an approved preparation program with student teaching, and passing scores on Pennsylvania’s required content tests.
The content exam can be waived if you hold a current professional-level certificate from another state, finished an approved preparation program with student teaching, passed that state’s content tests, and have two recent years of satisfactory teaching experience in the subject area. All four conditions must be met.22Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Department of Education. Out-of-State Educators Out-of-state applicants enter at the Level I credential. If your state is not a NASDTEC member, your preparation program is evaluated directly against Pennsylvania’s certification guidelines, which takes longer.