Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers in Kentucky
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$45,595
after federal, FICA and Kentucky tax
Tax takes
$10,745
19.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$50,399
Kentucky costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Kentucky — 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
$56,340
Kept after tax
$45,595
Worth in national money
$50,399
State rank
39
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is on the low side in Kentucky. The middle earner gets $56,340. That is 39 of 51 states, and about 3.92% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 242 among 491 occupations Kentucky publishes pay for.
- Kentucky is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $56,340 the take-home is $45,595; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $50,399 would nationally. The average comes to $59,870, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers, Kentucky sits in the lower band at $56,340, ranking 39 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 3.92%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Position 242 of 491 in Kentucky places heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- Post-tax income for heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers in Kentucky, on $56,340, is $45,595 — equivalent to $50,399 once regional price parity is applied. ⚠️ The adjustment uses a statewide index that describes no particular address; within-state price variation, concentrated in housing, routinely exceeds the difference between two states. At $59,870 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $38,670 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $56,340 |
| Top tenth earn over | $85,630 |
| This salary | $56,340 |
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 Kentucky | $45,595 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $47,449 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,570 |
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 | $54,032 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,899 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers in Kentucky earn under $56,340 and half over. The published range runs $38,670 at the tenth percentile to $85,630 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Kentucky the take-home figure of $45,595, from $56,340, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 242 of 491 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $50,399 uses one figure for the whole of Kentucky. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 491 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 242.
- Figures are distribution medians for heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers in Kentucky, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $38,670 to $85,630; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- Take-home for Kentucky is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $45,595 from $56,340. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 242 of 491 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $50,399, worked from $56,340, 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 Kentucky address, on work sitting at 242 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $59,870 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $38,670 and the top tenth $85,630 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Kentucky sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $50,399 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Four deductions, stacked. The federal layer and the two payroll taxes apply wherever you work; Kentucky then takes its own share, leaving $45,595.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
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 Kentucky is $59,870. 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 ($38,670) and the ninetieth ($85,630) 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.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Kentucky's regional price parity is at or below the national average, so nominal wages understate purchasing power. Take-home deflated by the state price level is $50,399 in national-average terms. The adjustment uses an all-items index and does not isolate housing.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $45,595 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Kentucky income tax for a single filer with no adjustments. The state layer is levied in addition to the federal one; only its rate and base differ between states.
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.