Light Truck Drivers in Oklahoma
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$32,899
after federal, FICA and Oklahoma tax
Tax takes
$6,941
17.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$37,264
Oklahoma costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Oklahoma — 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
$39,840
Kept after tax
$32,899
Worth in national money
$37,264
State rank
45
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Oklahoma pays light truck drivers a middle wage of $39,840, 45 of 51 states and about 11.19% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Light truck drivers ranks 368 among 492 occupations Oklahoma publishes pay for.
- Here is where Oklahoma does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $39,840 you keep $32,899, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $37,264 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $45,250, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Oklahoma's $39,840 median for light truck drivers places it 45 of 51 states, about 11.19% below national. Because both the tax and price adjustments tend to favor lower-nominal states, this ranking is the least stable of the three reported here.
- Position 368 of 492 in Oklahoma places light 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.
- After federal, FICA and Oklahoma income tax, retained pay for light truck drivers on $39,840 is $32,899. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $37,264 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 $45,250 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Light Truck Drivers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $24,960 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $39,840 |
| Top tenth earn over | $91,780 |
| This salary | $39,840 |
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 Oklahoma | $32,899 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $34,191 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,079 |
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 | $38,232 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,514 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 88 |
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 light truck drivers in Oklahoma earn under $39,840 and half over. The published range runs $24,960 at the tenth percentile to $91,780 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Oklahoma the take-home figure of $32,899, from $39,840, 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 368 of 492 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $37,264, the adjusted value of that $39,840 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Oklahoma. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 368 of 492 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for light truck drivers in Oklahoma, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $24,960 to $91,780; 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 Oklahoma is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $32,899 from $39,840. 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 368 of 492 locally.
- This $37,264 adjusted figure, worked from $39,840, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 368 of 492 in the state. The occupation ranks 368 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $45,250, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $24,960 and the top tenth $91,780 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Oklahoma is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $37,264 in national terms.
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 Oklahoma adds its own income tax on top — which is why $32,899 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.
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 Oklahoma is $45,250. 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 ($24,960) and the ninetieth ($91,780) 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?
Oklahoma'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 $37,264 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 $32,899 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Oklahoma 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.