Find a Job You Really Want In
Truck Drivers are one of the most common jobs in America. Additionally, a significant number of people work as truck drivers in every state in the union — it’s not like they are all just concentrated in California or the South.
Since truck drivers are such a prominent occupation, we at Zippia wanted to look at where truck drivers have it the best: where there are plenty of jobs to go around and people get paid what they deserve during every phase of their career.
To that end, we dove into the numbers from the BLS to figure out which states have the best opportunities for truck drivers.
After all the numbers had been crunched, we were left with this list of the best of best for America’s truck drivers:
So there you have it — Heavy And Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers is the best of the best when it comes to being a truck driver.
How did Heavy And Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers end up here and does it really deserve this ranking? Read on to see how we completed our research on the best states for truck drivers and for more on the top ten states.
If youâre interested, you can read more about the job scene here:
- These Are The 10 Best Cities For Truck Drivers
- These Are The 100 Highest Paying Jobs In North Dakota
- These Are The 100 Largest Companies In North Dakota
How we determined the best states to be a truck driver
Here at Zippia, we talk to a lot of people of all different backgrounds looking for jobs. Our research has concluded that there are two common things people want in a job:
- Availability of jobs
- Higher Pay
So in order to find out the best states for truck drivers in America we needed to figure out where the jobs are and how well truck drivers get paid. This led to the following criteria taken from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’s Occupational Employment Statistics for 2016:
- Location quotient. A measure of how common a job is a given state.
- Average annual salary.
- Average annual salary for entry level work.
- Average annual salary for experienced professionals.
To make all the salary numbers more apples to apples across states, we compared the salary data relative to the state’s cost of living.
Applying this standardization allows us to account for that fact that it costs more to live in certain in states. For example, the average salary for truck drivers in California is $44,900 and the average salary in Illinois is $46,970, but the Illinois salary actually goes further in paying for life’s essentials.
In order to develop and overall ranking, we ranked each state for each criteria from 1 to 50 where 1 was the best.
We then averaged all the rankings for a state into a Job Score with the state having the lowest overall Job Score earning the distinction of being the best state for truck drivers in America.
So without further ado, let’s get into just what made each state so great for truck drivers.
1. North Dakota
Total Jobs: 12,210
Average Annual Salary: $53,720
Average Entry Level Salary: $34,640
Average Experienced Salary: $76,810
Location Quotient: 2.36
2. Wyoming
Total Jobs: 6,210
Average Annual Salary: $49,210
Average Entry Level Salary: $33,740
Average Experienced Salary: $68,940
Location Quotient: 1.85
3. Indiana
Total Jobs: 52,640
Average Annual Salary: $45,870
Average Entry Level Salary: $28,540
Average Experienced Salary: $66,010
Location Quotient: 1.45
4. Nebraska
Total Jobs: 26,910
Average Annual Salary: $42,590
Average Entry Level Salary: $27,840
Average Experienced Salary: $62,080
Location Quotient: 2.29
5. Kansas
Total Jobs: 19,810
Average Annual Salary: $43,110
Average Entry Level Salary: $26,890
Average Experienced Salary: $63,020
Location Quotient: 1.19
6. Mississippi
Total Jobs: 22,460
Average Annual Salary: $40,440
Average Entry Level Salary: $23,940
Average Experienced Salary: $61,820
Location Quotient: 1.66
7. Oklahoma
Total Jobs: 23,250
Average Annual Salary: $42,040
Average Entry Level Salary: $26,970
Average Experienced Salary: $61,540
Location Quotient: 1.21
8. Michigan
Total Jobs: 53,040
Average Annual Salary: $43,010
Average Entry Level Salary: $27,280
Average Experienced Salary: $60,820
Location Quotient: 1.04
9. Texas
Total Jobs: 175,780
Average Annual Salary: $42,830
Average Entry Level Salary: $26,060
Average Experienced Salary: $63,050
Location Quotient: 1.23
10. Arkansas
Total Jobs: 33,210
Average Annual Salary: $39,430
Average Entry Level Salary: $25,250
Average Experienced Salary: $58,560
Location Quotient: 2.3
There You Have It – The Best States To Be A Truck Driver
If you’re looking to start out your career as a truck driver these are the states that should be at the top of your list. You’ll find high pay, available jobs, and chances for career advancement.
If you’re curious, here are the worst states to be a truck driver in America:
For more reading, check out:
Detailed List Of The Best States For truck drivers
| Rank | State | Average Salary |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | North Dakota | $53,720 |
| 2 | Wyoming | $49,210 |
| 3 | Indiana | $45,870 |
| 4 | Nebraska | $42,590 |
| 5 | Kansas | $43,110 |
| 6 | Mississippi | $40,440 |
| 7 | Oklahoma | $42,040 |
| 8 | Michigan | $43,010 |
| 9 | Texas | $42,830 |
| 10 | Arkansas | $39,430 |
| 11 | Illinois | $46,970 |
| 12 | Iowa | $41,620 |
| 13 | Ohio | $44,110 |
| 14 | Tennessee | $41,680 |
| 15 | Missouri | $42,460 |
| 16 | Kentucky | $42,100 |
| 17 | Idaho | $42,260 |
| 18 | Utah | $43,950 |
| 19 | Wisconsin | $43,030 |
| 20 | Nevada | $49,590 |
| 21 | Pennsylvania | $45,270 |
| 22 | Colorado | $47,340 |
| 23 | Minnesota | $44,500 |
| 24 | North Carolina | $41,300 |
| 25 | New Mexico | $42,610 |
| 26 | Alabama | $39,050 |
| 27 | Montana | $44,700 |
| 28 | Washington | $46,200 |
| 29 | Georgia | $40,870 |
| 30 | Louisiana | $40,900 |
| 31 | South Dakota | $40,090 |
| 32 | South Carolina | $41,110 |
| 33 | Arizona | $42,310 |
| 34 | West Virginia | $37,730 |
| 35 | Virginia | $41,330 |
| 36 | Oregon | $43,920 |
| 37 | Alaska | $53,480 |
| 38 | Florida | $39,330 |
| 39 | New Jersey | $47,990 |
| 40 | Delaware | $41,460 |
| 41 | Maine | $40,130 |
| 42 | New Hampshire | $43,030 |
| 43 | Vermont | $42,990 |
| 44 | Massachusetts | $49,920 |
| 45 | Rhode Island | $45,290 |
| 46 | Maryland | $46,010 |
| 47 | Connecticut | $47,420 |
| 48 | New York | $48,390 |
| 49 | California | $44,900 |
| 50 | Hawaii | $45,100 |
Author
Chris Kolmar is a co-founder of Zippia and the editor-in-chief of the Zippia career advice blog. He has hired over 50 people in his career, been hired five times, and wants to help you land your next job. His research has been featured on the New York Times, Thrillist, VOX, The Atlantic, and a host of local news. More recently, he's been quoted on USA Today, BusinessInsider, and CNBC.
