Moving to a U.S. territory

What our calculators cover, and why not the territories

Our calculators and rankings cover the 50 states and D.C. only, because the data they run on does: BEA price levels and EIA's state electricity tables leave the territories out, the IRS state-to-state migration files count moves to Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands with moves abroad, and FEMA's National Risk Index rates every territory "Insufficient Data". A territory's income tax also isn't a state tax our engine can model. This page gives the official facts instead, each with its source and year.

Income tax: who you pay depends on residence

The territories aren't states, so the usual pattern of federal tax to the IRS plus state tax at home doesn't apply. What you owe and where you file depend on whether you are a bona fide resident. For a U.S. citizen that generally means that during the tax year you (IRS Publication 570):

• meet the presence test, most simply by spending at least 183 days in the territory;
• have no tax home outside it: your main place of work is there;
• have no closer connection to a state or a foreign country: the IRS looks at where your home, family, car, bank, driver's license and voter registration are.

In the year you move, you pass the tax home and closer connection tests if you meet them for the last 183 days of the year, weren't a bona fide resident of that territory in any of the three years before, and stay one for each of the next three years. You still have to meet the presence test for the move year (for example 183 days in the territory), so if you arrive too late in the year to meet it, you generally become a bona fide resident the following year. If your worldwide gross income is more than $75,000 in the year you become (or stop being) a bona fide resident, file Form 8898 with the IRS; leaving it out can cost a $1,000 penalty.

How each territory taxes a bona fide resident

Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands apply the U.S. tax code and rates as their own law; the Northern Mariana Islands do the same for part of their system and add local taxes. Puerto Rico and American Samoa have their own tax systems, and income from sources there is left off your U.S. return (IRC §933 in Puerto Rico, Form 4563 in American Samoa). In all five, self-employed residents owe U.S. self-employment tax (Social Security and Medicare) on net earnings of $400 or more, filed on Form 1040-SS even when no other U.S. return is due; the IRS runs an active compliance campaign on it.

Not a bona fide resident, for example because your home and family stay in a state? Then you keep filing with the IRS on your worldwide income, and the territory can also tax what you earn there. Puerto Rico's investor incentive (Act 60) only helps bona fide residents, and the rules for new applicants change on January 1, 2027: see Act 60 in Puerto Rico.

Social Security, Medicare, health coverage and voting

• Social Security retirement, disability and survivor benefits are paid in all five territories: SSA counts them as part of the U.S. for payments (SSA publication 05-10137).
• Medicare works in the territories. In Puerto Rico, people already getting Social Security are enrolled in Part A automatically, but not in Part B: sign up during your initial enrollment period around your 65th birthday, or pay a Part B premium 10% higher for each full year you could have had it and didn't (SSA, Medicare in Puerto Rico).
• SSI (Supplemental Security Income) is paid only to residents of the 50 states, D.C. and the Northern Mariana Islands. It stops if you move to Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands or American Samoa (SSA).
• Health insurance: HealthCare.gov Marketplace plans, and the premium tax credits that come with them, aren't open to territory residents unless they also qualify as residents of a state or D.C. Ask the territory's government about Medicaid and local plans (HealthCare.gov).
• Voting: residents of the territories can't vote for president, because the Electoral College has no electors for them (National Archives). The federal overseas-voting law counts Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands and American Samoa as part of the United States, so moving there doesn't make you an overseas voter in your old state (52 U.S.C. §20310). The Northern Mariana Islands are left out of that definition, so a former state resident living there can still vote absentee for president in the state where they last lived.

Cost of living: the official numbers that exist

BEA publishes no price levels for the territories, so we can't say how far a salary goes there. Census data does give incomes, rents and home values. Puerto Rico is surveyed every year (the Puerto Rico Community Survey, part of the ACS); the other four were last measured in the 2020 Census, whose income question covered 2019. Compare each territory with the U.S. row of the same period.

Median household income, gross rent and home value, with the year of each figure

Medians. Gross rent includes the utilities a renter pays. The 2020 Island Areas figures leave out military housing. Incomes, rents and home values have all risen since 2019, so compare the four smaller territories with the U.S. row for 2019, not today's.

Driving, shipping a car and moving your things

How long your state driver's license stays good after you arrive, and what it takes to get a local one:

Driving on a state license after moving to each territory

From each territory's law or motor vehicle agency: Puerto Rico's Vehicles and Traffic Law (Article 3.05) and DTOP's reciprocity form; 16 GCA §3101(d) in Guam; the U.S. Virgin Islands Bureau of Motor Vehicles and 20 V.I.C. §495; 9 CMC §2203 in the Northern Mariana Islands.

Cars and furniture go by sea. The coastwise shipping laws (the Jones Act) apply to Puerto Rico and Guam but not to the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa or, with limits, the Northern Mariana Islands (46 U.S.C. §55101). Two carriers publish their car rates:

Published prices to ship a car to a territory

Prices as published by Crowley (passenger vehicles up to 1,100 cubic feet, port and fuel surcharges included, insurance extra) and Matson (rates in effect since June 7, 2026; the $26 is Guam's invasive species fee; Matson doesn't take electric or plug-in hybrid vehicles), checked September 25, 2026. Puerto Rico also charges an excise tax on every car brought in: see bringing a car to Puerto Rico. For the U.S. Virgin Islands and American Samoa, and for household goods anywhere, ask several movers for door-to-door quotes that include port handling and delivery on the island.

Hurricanes, typhoons and earthquakes

FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025) lists every territory but rates each one "Insufficient Data", so the territories have no score to compare with the states on our disaster risk pages. Federal disaster declarations show the exposure instead: 23 major disasters across the five since 2017.

Federal major disaster declarations since 2017, by territory

FEMA major disaster declarations from January 2017 to September 25, 2026. COVID-19 declarations are left out.

Territory by territory

Puerto Rico

• About 3.2 million people (Census ACS 2024). Median rent $580 a month and median home value $142,100.
• Bona fide residents pay income tax to Puerto Rico's Department of Hacienda, at rates up to 33%; sales and use tax is 11.5%.
• Act 60 investor decrees: 0% on interest, dividends and gains after the move for applications filed by December 31, 2026; 4% for applications from January 1, 2027.
• State licenses are good for 180 days. Shipping a car from Jacksonville starts around $1,140, plus Puerto Rico's excise tax.

Moving to Puerto Rico: taxes, Act 60, costs and your car

Guam

• Income tax goes to the Guam Department of Revenue and Taxation, under the same rules and rates as the U.S. code.
• Businesses pay Guam's business privilege tax on their gross receipts: 4.5%, falling to 4% on October 1, 2026 (11 GCA §26202).
• Guam is rabies-free: dogs and cats need an entry permit from the Guam Department of Agriculture and a rabies antibody (FAVN) test, or they face up to 120 days of quarantine, so plan months ahead (Guam Customs and Quarantine Agency).
• State licenses are good for 90 days. Matson ships a car from the West Coast for $3,973.80.
• Federal major disasters since 2017: Typhoon Mangkhut (2018), Typhoon Wutip (2019), Typhoon Mawar (2023) and Super Typhoon Sinlaku (2026).

U.S. Virgin Islands

• Income tax goes to the Virgin Islands Bureau of Internal Revenue, under the same rules and rates as the U.S. code. Residents with income from outside the islands also file its Form 1040INFO.
• Traffic keeps to the left (20 V.I.C. §495). Convert your license at the Bureau of Motor Vehicles for $55.
• The Jones Act shipping rules don't apply to the islands (46 U.S.C. §55101).
• Federal major disasters since 2017: Hurricane Irma (2017), Hurricane Maria (2017) and Tropical Storm Ernesto (2024).

Northern Mariana Islands

• Income tax goes to the CNMI Division of Revenue and Taxation, under a system that mirrors the U.S. code and adds local taxes.
• The only territory where SSI is paid.
• Only people of Northern Marianas descent can own land or lease it for more than 55 years; everyone else can lease for up to 55 years or buy a condominium above the first floor on private land (CNMI Constitution, Article XII).
• State licenses are good for 30 days after arrival. Matson ships a car from the West Coast to Saipan for $4,333.38.
• Federal major disasters since 2017: Typhoon Mangkhut (2018), Super Typhoon Yutu (2018), Typhoon Mawar (2023), Super Typhoon Sinlaku (2026) and Super Typhoon Bavi (2026).

American Samoa

• American Samoa has its own tax system. Residents file an American Samoa return on worldwide income with the Tax Office, and a U.S. return with Form 4563 only for income from outside American Samoa.
• It controls its own entry: a U.S. citizen needs a valid passport or certified birth certificate plus a ticket out or proof of a job there (U.S. Department of the Interior).
• About 90% of the land is owned communally by Samoan families. Except for freehold land, land can't be sold to anyone with less than one-half Samoan ancestry, so newcomers generally rent (A.S.C.A. §37.0204, GAO).
• Federal major disasters since 2017: Tropical Storm Gita (2018) and high surf, high winds and flooding (2022).

Frequently asked questions

Planning a move within the states instead?

• Compare two states with your salary
• Take-home pay in every state
• New resident deadlines by state
• Taxes the year you move
• Moving with pets
• Shipping a car

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