Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers in Pennsylvania
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$47,451
after federal, FICA and Pennsylvania tax
Tax takes
$11,129
19.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$48,667
Pennsylvania costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Pennsylvania — 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
$58,580
Kept after tax
$47,451
Worth in national money
$48,667
State rank
30
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Pennsylvania pays this job around $58,580 at the midpoint, 30 of 51 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 492 occupations Pennsylvania reports figures for, this is number 247.
- Cost of living is unremarkable here. From $58,580, tax leaves $47,451, and adjusting for local prices barely moves it — about $48,667 in comparable terms. Averages run higher here, $59,640, since top earners drag the number up.
- For heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers the Pennsylvania median is $58,580, ranking 30 of 51 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- In Pennsylvania's occupational distribution, heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers sits at 247 of 492 — 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.
- Because Pennsylvania sits close to the national price level, the real-terms figure for heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers — median $58,580 — tracks the post-tax figure closely: $47,451 retained, $48,667 adjusted. ⚠️ Neither is a wage; the second describes what the first buys. Mean pay of $59,640 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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 | $43,560 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $58,580 |
| Top tenth earn over | $78,330 |
| This salary | $58,580 |
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 Pennsylvania | $47,451 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $49,249 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,013 |
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 | $56,342 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,435 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 98 |
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 Pennsylvania earn under $58,580 and half over. The published range runs $43,560 at the tenth percentile to $78,330 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Pennsylvania's $47,451, worked from $58,580. 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 247 of 492.
- One number stands for prices across all of Pennsylvania, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $48,667, the adjusted value of that $58,580 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 247 of 492 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers in Pennsylvania, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $43,560 to $78,330; 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.
- The Pennsylvania take-home of $47,451, on $58,580 for work ranking 247 of 492 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 247 of 492 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Pennsylvania, so $48,667 — the adjusted value of that $58,580 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 247 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $43,560 and the top tenth $78,330, so most people doing this work in Pennsylvania sit within a fairly tight band.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Pennsylvania sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $48,667 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and Pennsylvania adds its own income tax on top — which is why $47,451 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($43,560 to $78,330) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Pennsylvania rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Pennsylvania'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 $48,667 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 $47,451 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Pennsylvania 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.