Guide · checked October 22, 2026
First, a word about the word: there is no reciprocity agreement between states and no compact for nursing assistants. Each destination state unilaterally decides what an incoming certification is worth. People search "reciprocity" anyway — so here is the honest map behind the word.
Free never means automatic: every one of these still runs an application and a background or registry-verification check, and several attach work-history conditions.
Alaska sits at the top at $275. Michigan charges $40 and only opens for the 39 states on LARA's published list. Washington charges $85 (and then $95 a year to stay). Indiana's current page lists no endorsement fee and no exam at all — the '$65 plus a retake' story in older guides describes the pre-Sept-2025 rules.
The dollar fee is the least interesting part of most doors. The real prices are: training-hour standards (California 160), work-history proof (Florida, Delaware's 420-hour alternative), exam retakes (Kansas's equivalency challenge, New Jersey's statutory route), and time (2–8 weeks typical). The transfer checker prices your pair in all four currencies.
