Real salary data
What Drivers actually earn in 2026.
The median for Driver is $72,800 across 162 real salary records (H-1B visa filings and tech job postings), updated Sep 14, 2026.
01 / By source
Real salary bands, by source.
Bands come from 162 real records. Each source has a different bias, disclosed below.
Density curve fitted to the observed quartiles (log-normal). $53,300–$92,500 contains the middle 50% of records in the best-represented source; the shape between them is an approximation.
| Source | Records | 25th pct | Median | 75th pct |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Job postings | 162 | $53,300 | $72,800 | $92,500 |
- Job postings that disclose salary in the ad text
Salary data updated Sep 14, 2026. Bands are percentiles, not averages; n is the number of underlying records.
02 / By city
What Drivers earn, by city.
Real records; cities with at least 10 observations.
| City | Records | Range (p25–p75) | Median |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fresno, CA | 22 | $35,443 – $84,550 | $49,920 |
| Louisville, KY | 19 | $75,400 – $91,500 | $79,000 |
| Oklahoma City, OK | 15 | $66,300 – $96,200 | $90,500 |
| Grand Rapids, MI | 13 | $66,500 – $95,000 | $78,000 |
| Nashville, TN | 12 | $56,420 – $110,500 | $81,552 |
| Chicago, IL | 11 | $55,120 – $85,800 | $77,000 |
| Houston, TX | 10 | $64,350 – $118,300 | $87,100 |
03 / By state
What Drivers earn, by state.
| State | Records | Range (p25–p75) | Median |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA | 37 | $35,443 – $83,200 | $47,840 |
| KY | 19 | $75,400 – $91,500 | $79,000 |
| MI | 16 | $66,125 – $107,000 | $78,000 |
| OK | 15 | $66,300 – $96,200 | $90,500 |
| TN | 12 | $56,420 – $110,500 | $81,552 |
| IL | 11 | $55,120 – $85,800 | $77,000 |
| TX | 10 | $64,350 – $118,300 | $87,100 |
04 / Context
How Drivers pay compares with similar roles.
| Profession | Risk | Median | Outlook |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hand Packer | Critical | $36,660 | -5.4% (2024–34) |
| Logistician | High | $91,900 | +16.7% (2024–34) |
| Stocker and Order Filler | Medium | $42,640 | +8.5% (2024–34) |
| Warehouse Worker | Critical | $42,640 | +1.5% (2024–34) |
05 / Next step
How to move up the pay band.
The skills below appear most often in higher-paid roles:
- 01CDL
- 02Customer Service
- 03SAP
- 04PHP
- 05HTML
- udemyTruck Driver Recruiter Certification CourseAdvanced
- udemyHow To Become a Truck DriverIntermediate
- udemyMillionaire Driver - Your Passenger Transportation ServiceIntermediate
- udemyTruck Driver Recruiter - How To Become A Rolling RecruiterIntermediate
- udemyHow to Get Your Class A CDL and Become a Truck DriverIntermediate
- udemyAutomotive Electrics and Automotive ElectronicsIntermediate
- udemyAutomotive 101: A Beginners Guide To Automotive RepairBeginner
- udemyHeavy Equipment Operator CertificationAdvanced
06 / FAQ
Salary questions, answered.
01Why are the bands different from the BLS median?
The BLS median covers all Driver in the US. These bands come from real records with known biases — H-1B filings skew to visa-eligible (high-skill) roles and tech postings skew to tech employers — so they sit above the national median. We disclose the source of every band.
02How often is this data updated?
The dataset refreshes weekly from live job postings and quarterly from new H-1B disclosures.