Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers in Florida
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$42,869
after federal, FICA and Florida tax
Tax takes
$7,771
15.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$41,439
Florida costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Florida — roughly, since only five points along the band are published.
One filer, standard deduction, no dependants and nothing paid in before tax — the same household the rest of this page uses, so the comparison holds. City and school-district income taxes are not included.
Median here
$50,640
Kept after tax
$42,869
Worth in national money
$41,439
State rank
48
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Florida is among the lower-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $50,640, ranking 48 of 51 states — about 13.64% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 493 occupations Florida reports figures for, this is number 271.
- Florida is an expensive state, and the adjusted figure shows it. From $50,640 the take-home is $42,869; in national-average money that behaves like $41,439. The average comes to $54,850, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Florida ranks 48 of 51 for heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers, with a median of $50,640 — about 13.64% below the national figure. A nominal shortfall is not by itself a real one: lower-paying states frequently carry lower tax and lower price levels, and the adjusted figures below are where that is settled rather than assumed.
- In Florida's occupational distribution, heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers sits at 271 of 493 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- Take-home for heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers in Florida, on $50,640, is $42,869; deflated by the state's price level, $41,439. ⚠️ The deflator is statewide, so it understates the erosion in the state's metropolitan areas and overstates it outside them. At $54,850 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $37,700 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $50,640 |
| Top tenth earn over | $74,330 |
| This salary | $50,640 |
Positions between the published tenth, quarter, half, three-quarter and ninetieth points are estimated by straight line.
The same pay, somewhere else
The state median for this job
| Take-home in Florida | $42,869 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $42,869 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,677 |
The raise and the real gain point in opposite directions here.
State income tax and state price levels only. No city income tax, and no housing market.
What you would need there
The state median for this job
| To match take-home only | $50,640 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$3,237 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 103 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $50,640 as a midpoint for Florida, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $37,700 and the ninetieth is $74,330 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Florida's $42,869, worked from $50,640. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 271 of 493.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $41,439 uses one figure for the whole of Florida. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 493 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 271.
- The Florida median of $50,640 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $37,700 to $74,330. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The Florida take-home of $42,869, on $50,640 for work ranking 271 of 493 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 271 of 493 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $41,439, worked from $50,640, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular Florida address, on work sitting at 271 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $54,850, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $37,700 at the bottom tenth to $74,330 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
A larger wage in a dearer place is not automatically more. Adjusted for local prices, this pay behaves like $41,439 of national purchasing power.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
No. $42,869 survives, because Florida levies no wage income tax. The federal share does not change with the state you work in.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
How does the published median differ from the mean for this occupation?
The median is the midpoint of the distribution; the mean for this occupation in Florida is $54,850. Wage distributions are right-skewed, so the mean exceeds the median wherever a minority earn substantially more. BLS publishes both because substituting one for the other misstates a typical worker's pay.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($37,700) and the ninetieth ($74,330) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
Florida's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $41,439 in national-average terms. ⚠️ RPPs are an all-items index; housing parities vary far more widely than the headline figure.
Why is the take-home ratio comparatively high in this state?
Florida levies no personal income tax on wages, so take-home of $42,869 reflects the federal layer and FICA alone. Federal income tax and FICA are unchanged; states without a wage income tax generally recover revenue through consumption and property bases instead.
Is this occupation's state coverage complete?
State-level estimates are published for all 51 jurisdictions for this occupation, so cross-state comparison is not confounded by suppression. ⚠️ Estimates remain survey-based and carry sampling error; small differences between adjacent states should not be over-read.