SALARY · 983,300 JOBS NATIONWIDE

How much do light truck drivers make?

Pay for light truck drivers in every state, what it comes to after tax, and how far it goes after local prices and rent.

The short answer

Light truck drivers earn a median of $44,860 a year, or $21.57 an hour, 12.0% less than the $50,980 median for all jobs. Pay is highest in Alaska ($57,190) and lowest in Arkansas ($37,080). Occupation code 53-3033 in the Bureau of Labor Statistics survey.

The pay range

What light truck drivers earn, low to high.

Half of the 983,300 light truck drivers in the survey earn between $37,270 and $52,310. The bottom tenth earn under $30,800, the figure the Bureau itself uses as a rough guide to starting pay, and the top tenth more than $80,310. The average is $48,770; it sits above the median because the top earners pull it up.

NationallyPer yearPer hour
Bottom 10% earn less than$30,800$14.81
Bottom quarter earn less than$37,270$17.92
Median$44,860$21.57
Top quarter earn more than$52,310$25.15
Top 10% earn more than$80,310$38.61

Hourly figures divide the yearly ones by 2,080 hours, the survey's own full-time year. Convert any salary.

By state

Where light truck drivers are paid most.

The highest state medians are in Alaska ($57,190), District of Columbia ($49,330), Washington ($49,070), Minnesota ($48,880) and Colorado ($48,410). The lowest are in Arkansas ($37,080), South Carolina ($37,680), Mississippi ($38,140), Alabama ($38,490) and West Virginia ($38,860).

Higher pay often comes with higher prices. Adjusted for each state's price level, pay goes furthest in Alaska ($55,872 at national prices), North Dakota ($53,901), Missouri ($50,101), Minnesota ($49,563) and Montana ($49,046).

The most light truck drivers work in California (111,950), Texas (78,540) and Florida (67,390). Relative to all jobs, the work is most common in South Dakota (10.5 per 1,000 jobs), Tennessee (10.3) and Delaware (8.7).

After tax

What the paycheck looks like.

On the national median of $44,860, a single filer in a state with no income tax takes home about $38,225 a year after federal tax, Social Security and Medicare, or $1,470 every two weeks. On each state's own median and taxes, take-home ranges from $30,969 in Arkansas to $48,132 in Alaska. Work out your own paycheck.

Rent and a home

What one delivery driver's pay covers.

The typical rent in each state's median county takes a median 41.8% of a delivery driver's gross pay, and stays under the usual 30% guideline in 1 of the 50 states and DC. With 10% down at a 7.03% mortgage rate, a single delivery driver earning the state median could afford the typical home in its median county in 0 of the 50 states and DC, under the 28% guideline. On the national median alone, that guideline stretches to about $120,917. Try it with your own numbers, or see where this pay covers the typical rent.

Every state

Pay for light truck drivers in all 50 states and DC.

Alabama$38,490$18.50−14.2%$43,333$31,22242.8%13,980
Alaska$57,190$27.50+27.5%$55,872$48,13238.3%1,790
Arizona$45,140$21.70+0.6%$44,836$37,32144.4%18,400
Arkansas$37,080$17.83−17.3%$42,652$30,96935.5%9,340
California$46,790$22.50+4.3%$42,260$38,43362.9%111,950
Colorado$48,410$23.28+7.9%$46,976$38,94750.1%15,810
Connecticut$44,500$21.39−0.8%$42,950$36,18353.7%10,720
Delaware$43,990$21.15−1.9%$44,075$35,47151.6%4,200
District of Columbia$49,330$23.72+10.0%$44,886$39,01061.5%540
Florida$41,810$20.10−6.8%$40,430$35,77454.9%67,390
Georgia$44,050$21.18−1.8%$45,746$35,37645.6%26,050
Hawaii$45,930$22.08+2.4%$41,773$36,69582.8%3,690
Idaho$44,370$21.33−1.1%$46,464$35,48041.7%7,120
Illinois$47,380$22.78+5.6%$47,400$37,90530.5%47,190
Indiana$44,560$21.42−0.7%$47,745$36,66931.9%19,880
Iowa$42,750$20.56−4.7%$48,711$34,90529.0%9,680
Kansas$43,730$21.03−2.5%$48,552$34,96434.7%9,140
Kentucky$43,230$20.78−3.6%$47,949$35,40234.9%15,630
Louisiana$39,440$18.96−12.1%$44,713$32,68740.6%14,300
Maine$44,550$21.42−0.7%$45,904$35,22944.6%3,120
Maryland$48,150$23.15+7.3%$45,875$38,63448.3%18,420
Massachusetts$48,110$23.13+7.2%$45,491$38,43160.9%23,350
Michigan$43,000$20.67−4.1%$44,691$34,90337.4%26,160
Minnesota$48,880$23.50+9.0%$49,563$38,61431.6%17,360
Mississippi$38,140$18.34−15.0%$43,863$31,70045.4%7,030
Missouri$45,500$21.88+1.4%$50,101$36,78134.0%16,210
Montana$46,420$22.32+3.5%$49,046$37,29739.4%2,960
Nebraska$44,120$21.21−1.6%$48,966$35,92435.2%4,210
Nevada$43,760$21.04−2.5%$43,769$37,34149.7%9,520
New Hampshire$46,260$22.24+3.1%$44,410$39,35053.9%4,670
New Jersey$46,820$22.51+4.4%$43,031$38,70658.8%33,900
New Mexico$42,360$20.37−5.6%$45,938$34,63441.8%4,220
New York$46,330$22.27+3.3%$42,930$37,06940.1%56,490
North Carolina$39,910$19.19−11.0%$42,311$32,65548.6%31,810
North Dakota$47,950$23.05+6.9%$53,901$40,70830.3%1,950
Ohio$42,600$20.48−5.0%$45,918$35,95436.6%35,130
Oklahoma$39,840$19.15−11.2%$45,354$32,61338.2%10,020
Oregon$47,150$22.67+5.1%$45,617$36,25843.5%11,120
Pennsylvania$44,120$21.21−1.6%$45,218$36,27635.7%42,380
Rhode Island$45,660$21.95+1.8%$44,642$37,15664.8%3,110
South Carolina$37,680$18.12−16.0%$40,192$31,45948.5%11,950
South Dakota$43,240$20.79−3.6%$48,811$36,92335.9%4,820
Tennessee$45,050$21.66+0.4%$49,037$38,37839.6%33,710
Texas$42,500$20.43−5.3%$43,789$36,32941.6%78,540
Utah$45,860$22.05+2.2%$46,387$36,98845.6%9,930
Vermont$45,090$21.68+0.5%$46,030$36,89947.1%2,050
Virginia$42,450$20.41−5.4%$41,986$34,10551.8%25,170
Washington$49,070$23.59+9.4%$45,854$41,60844.7%23,290
West Virginia$38,860$18.68−13.4%$43,420$32,33434.1%3,330
Wisconsin$45,670$21.96+1.8%$48,536$37,00231.8%19,140
Wyoming$43,780$21.05−2.4%$47,232$37,35736.6%1,450

Click a column to sort it. “After local prices” divides the median by the state's price level (national average = 100). Take-home is for a single filer on the state median with no retirement or health deductions. Rent share is a year of the typical rent in the state's median county against the median pay. A dash means the survey publishes no figure.

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Where this comes from
Pay and jobs
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, national and state estimates. Employees only; the self-employed are not counted.
Take-home
The site's paycheck calculator: 2026 federal tables and each state's own tax tables.
Prices, rent and homes
Bureau of Economic Analysis price parities, 2024. Zillow rent and home value indexes by county, July 2026. Freddie Mac 30-year rate of 7.03% on September 24, 2026, with 1.1% property tax and $1,700 a year of insurance.
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