Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers in Mississippi
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$41,837
after federal, FICA and Mississippi tax
Tax takes
$9,983
19.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$47,927
Mississippi costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Mississippi — 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
$51,820
Kept after tax
$41,837
Worth in national money
$47,927
State rank
44
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is on the low side in Mississippi. The middle earner gets $51,820. That is 44 of 51 states, and about 11.63% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Against other work in Mississippi, this sits in the middle: 208 of 486 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Here is where Mississippi does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $51,820 you keep $41,837, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $47,927 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $55,910, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers, Mississippi sits in the lower band at $51,820, ranking 44 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 11.63%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers ranks 208 of 486 occupations in Mississippi by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- After federal, FICA and Mississippi income tax, retained pay for heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers on $51,820 is $41,837. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $47,927 in national-average terms. ⚠️ That figure is purchasing power, not a wage, and nobody is paid it; it is what the take-home buys. The mean of $55,910 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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 | $35,710 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $51,820 |
| Top tenth earn over | $79,550 |
| This salary | $51,820 |
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 Mississippi | $41,837 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $43,817 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,836 |
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 | $49,355 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,430 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 87 |
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 Mississippi earn under $51,820 and half over. The published range runs $35,710 at the tenth percentile to $79,550 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Mississippi the take-home figure of $41,837, from $51,820, 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 208 of 486 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of Mississippi, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $47,927, the adjusted value of that $51,820 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 208 of 486 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers in Mississippi, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $35,710 to $79,550; 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 Mississippi is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $41,837 from $51,820. 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 208 of 486 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Mississippi, so $47,927 — the adjusted value of that $51,820 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 208 of 486 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $55,910, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $35,710, the highest tenth $79,550, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
A smaller wage in a cheaper place is not automatically less. Adjusted for local prices, this is worth $47,927.
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; Mississippi then takes its own share, leaving $41,837.
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 Mississippi is $55,910. 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 ($35,710) and the ninetieth ($79,550) 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?
Mississippi'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 $47,927 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 $41,837 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Mississippi 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.