How many Truck Drivers does California employ?

BLS OES counts 211,740 Truck Drivers employed in California in the most recent release. Employment density relative to population determines whether wage tiers reflect a robust competitive market or a thinner labor pool.

How wide is the wage spread in California?

P10 to P90 spans $38,460 to $80,310. That spread captures entry-level to top-quartile pay, including specialty differentials and metro-area variance within the state.

Is California a 'real-wage arbitrage' state for Truck Drivers?

No — California's RPP of 112.2 sits above 100, meaning the $59,950 nominal wage compresses to a real-wage equivalent of $53,434. The cost premium goes mostly to rents and services.

What are the limits of these Truck Driver salary numbers?

BLS OES is an employer survey of W-2 wages — it excludes contractor pay, bonuses outside the base wage definition, equity compensation, and tip income. Self-employed practitioners and gig workers are not represented. For occupations with significant non-W-2 income, the BLS figure is a floor, not a complete picture.

Should I negotiate based on the BLS median for California?

The BLS median is a calibration anchor, not a ceiling. Use it to validate that an offer is in-band — anything well below the P25 in this state is a flag, anything above the P75 typically requires demonstrable specialty depth, niche credentials, or a high-COL metro within California.

When does this data update?

BLS OES releases a new May reference set roughly each spring; we re-run the ETL pipeline within two weeks of release. BEA RPP refreshes annually. The last-synced timestamp at the top of this page reflects the most recent build.

OTR vs regional vs local truck driver pay in California?

BLS aggregates Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers (53-3032) into one figure. In California, OTR (over-the-road, multi-week trips) typically pays the highest gross — $65-90K range with experience — but on a real per-hour basis once away-from-home time is counted, regional (home weekly) and local/dedicated (home daily) routes often net comparable take-home. Local LTL and dedicated-fleet routes in California frequently pay above the BLS median when union-represented (Teamsters).

California Truck Driver Salary: BLS $60K Median, Real $53K (2026)

TL;DR

Truck Drivers in California earn a BLS median of $59,950, with real take-home of $53,434 after BEA RPP adjustment.
BEA RPP 112.2 drains roughly $6,516 of purchasing power from the BLS median, the gap routes mostly into housing.
BLS percentile breakdown: P10 $38,460 · P25 $48,030 · P75 $70,000 · P90 $80,310.
Nominal: #13/51 · Real: #46/51 — ranking shifts by 33 positions after RPP.

Wage breakdown — California

Percentile	Nominal (BLS)	Real (BEA RPP-adjusted)
P10 (entry tier)	$38,460	$34,280
P25 (lower quartile)	$48,030	$42,809
P50 (median)	$59,950	$53,434
P75 (upper quartile)	$70,000	$62,391
P90 (top tier)	$80,310	$71,581
Mean	$60,490	$53,915
Employment	211,740 Truck Drivers in California

Cost of living — BEA Regional Price Parity

Component	California index (US = 100)
All-items RPP	112.2
Goods	106.8
Services	147.3
Rents	157.8

California is a high-cost state — RPP 112.2 above the national 100 baseline. Most of the cost premium routes through rents (157.8) and services (147.3).

After-tax take-home — California (2024 BLS · 2024 tax year, single filer)

Layer-by-layer take-home math at the BLS median

Layer	Amount	Note
Gross BLS P50 (Truck Driver)	$59,950	nominal median
Federal income tax	−$5,056	8.4% effective; std deduction $15,750 applied
State income tax	−$1,842	1–13.3% (10 brackets, +1% mental-health surcharge >$1M)
FICA (SS 6.2% + Medicare 1.45%)	−$4,586	SS capped at $183,600 wage base
Take-home (after-tax)	$48,466	80.8% of gross
Real take-home (RPP-adjusted)	$43,198	÷ (112.2 / 100) BEA cost-of-living

What the California state-tax burden means for Truck Driver take-home

Mid-band state-tax burden at 3.1% effective. Combined with federal and FICA, take-home is $48,466 (80.8% of gross). After the 112.2 RPP, real take-home is $43,198.

Computed from 2026 IRS federal brackets (Rev. Proc. 2025-32), 2026 state DOR brackets, and 2026 FICA rates. Single filer, standard deduction, no other adjustments. See methodology · tax for limitations (married filers, ITM/SALT itemizers, retirement deferrals, HSA, dependent credits, etc.).

National context

Across the United States, BLS reports a national median of $57,440 for Truck Drivers with mean pay of $58,400 and total employment of 2,070,480. California sits at #13 on nominal pay and #46 on real (cost-adjusted) pay among the 51 states and DC. After cost adjustment, California falls 33 positions — the cost premium eats into the headline wage.

Frequently asked questions

How many Truck Drivers does California employ?: BLS OES counts 211,740 Truck Drivers employed in California in the most recent release. Employment density relative to population determines whether wage tiers reflect a robust competitive market or a thinner labor pool.
How wide is the wage spread in California?: P10 to P90 spans $38,460 to $80,310. That spread captures entry-level to top-quartile pay, including specialty differentials and metro-area variance within the state.
Is California a 'real-wage arbitrage' state for Truck Drivers?: No — California's RPP of 112.2 sits above 100, meaning the $59,950 nominal wage compresses to a real-wage equivalent of $53,434. The cost premium goes mostly to rents and services.
What are the limits of these Truck Driver salary numbers?: BLS OES is an employer survey of W-2 wages — it excludes contractor pay, bonuses outside the base wage definition, equity compensation, and tip income. Self-employed practitioners and gig workers are not represented. For occupations with significant non-W-2 income, the BLS figure is a floor, not a complete picture.
Should I negotiate based on the BLS median for California?: The BLS median is a calibration anchor, not a ceiling. Use it to validate that an offer is in-band — anything well below the P25 in this state is a flag, anything above the P75 typically requires demonstrable specialty depth, niche credentials, or a high-COL metro within California.
When does this data update?: BLS OES releases a new May reference set roughly each spring; we re-run the ETL pipeline within two weeks of release. BEA RPP refreshes annually. The last-synced timestamp at the top of this page reflects the most recent build.
OTR vs regional vs local truck driver pay in California?: BLS aggregates Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers (53-3032) into one figure. In California, OTR (over-the-road, multi-week trips) typically pays the highest gross — $65-90K range with experience — but on a real per-hour basis once away-from-home time is counted, regional (home weekly) and local/dedicated (home daily) routes often net comparable take-home. Local LTL and dedicated-fleet routes in California frequently pay above the BLS median when union-represented (Teamsters).

Sources & methodology

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OES), SOC 53-3032, 2024 reference period.
U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis — Regional Price Parities, 2023 vintage (all-items, goods, services, rents).
Real-wage figures = nominal BLS wage ÷ (state RPP / 100).
See the methodology page for full computation details and limitations.

By Marcus Liang · Founder & Editor · Last synced 2026-05-05.

Cross-comparison: see how California Truck Driver pay ranks against the other 254 state × occupation pages on the Real Wage Atlas → — four-way ranking by real wage, after-tax take-home, state-tax savings, and cost-of-living arbitrage.