How much does a Truck Driver make in Hawaii?

BLS reports a median annual wage of $59,320 for Truck Drivers in Hawaii as of the latest OES release. That is the 50th-percentile figure — half earn more, half earn less. The 25th-percentile is $49,570 and the 75th-percentile is $62,730.

How are Hawaii Truck Driver salaries calculated on this page?

Nominal wages come from BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OES) — annual employer surveys, May 2026 reference period. Real-wage figures use BEA Regional Price Parities (2023 vintage) to adjust for state-level cost of living. No self-report or jobs-board data is mixed in.

Why is the BEA RPP for Hawaii different from a single CPI number?

BEA splits regional price parity into three components — goods, services, and rents — reweighted to the BEA's national consumption basket. Hawaii's overall index of 109.7 reflects rents 128.7, services 191.7, and goods 110.3.

Should I negotiate based on the BLS median for Hawaii?

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 Hawaii.

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 Hawaii?

BLS aggregates Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers (53-3032) into one figure. In Hawaii, 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 Hawaii frequently pay above the BLS median when union-represented (Teamsters).

Owner-operator vs company driver in Hawaii — which actually nets more?

Gross revenue for an owner-operator in {state} can run $200K-$300K, but after truck payment, fuel, insurance, maintenance, and self-employment tax, net take-home typically lands $70-110K — modestly above company-driver pay but with substantially more risk and capital exposure. The owner-operator advantage is biggest for drivers with paid-off trucks or specialty routes (oversize, hazmat, refrigerated). Company-driver pay is the floor; owner-operator is volatile.

Truck Driver Salary in Hawaii (2026): $59K Median, BEA RPP-Adjusted

TL;DR

Hawaii pays Truck Drivers a BLS median of $59,320 — the more useful number is $54,073, what that paycheck buys after rent and services.
Nominal: #17/51 · Real: #44/51 — ranking shifts by 27 positions after RPP.
Mid-band cost of living: real and nominal wage are within a few percent of each other.
Bottom quartile $49,570, top quartile $62,730. The P90 ($71,330) is roughly 1.5× the P10 ($46,320).

Wage breakdown — Hawaii

Percentile	Nominal (BLS)	Real (BEA RPP-adjusted)
P10 (entry tier)	$46,320	$42,223
P25 (lower quartile)	$49,570	$45,186
P50 (median)	$59,320	$54,073
P75 (upper quartile)	$62,730	$57,182
P90 (top tier)	$71,330	$65,021
Mean	$58,140	$52,998
Employment	4,100 Truck Drivers in Hawaii

Cost of living — BEA Regional Price Parity

Component	Hawaii index (US = 100)
All-items RPP	109.7
Goods	110.3
Services	191.7
Rents	128.7

Hawaii is a high-cost state — RPP 109.7 above the national 100 baseline. Most of the cost premium routes through rents (128.7) and services (191.7).

After-tax take-home — Hawaii (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)	$59,320	nominal median
Federal income tax	−$4,980	8.4% effective; std deduction $15,750 applied
State income tax	−$3,966	1.4–11% (12 brackets)
FICA (SS 6.2% + Medicare 1.45%)	−$4,538	SS capped at $183,600 wage base
Take-home (after-tax)	$45,836	77.3% of gross
Real take-home (RPP-adjusted)	$41,782	÷ (109.7 / 100) BEA cost-of-living

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

Hawaii carries one of the heavier state-tax loads in the country at this income tier (6.7% effective on the BLS median). Combined with federal and FICA, gross-to-take-home spread is 22.7%, leaving $45,836 pre-RPP and $41,782 after the 109.7 cost-of-living index — a $17,538 gap from the headline gross.

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. Hawaii sits at #17 on nominal pay and #44 on real (cost-adjusted) pay among the 51 states and DC. After cost adjustment, Hawaii falls 27 positions — the cost premium eats into the headline wage.

Frequently asked questions

How much does a Truck Driver make in Hawaii?: BLS reports a median annual wage of $59,320 for Truck Drivers in Hawaii as of the latest OES release. That is the 50th-percentile figure — half earn more, half earn less. The 25th-percentile is $49,570 and the 75th-percentile is $62,730.
How are Hawaii Truck Driver salaries calculated on this page?: Nominal wages come from BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OES) — annual employer surveys, May 2026 reference period. Real-wage figures use BEA Regional Price Parities (2023 vintage) to adjust for state-level cost of living. No self-report or jobs-board data is mixed in.
Why is the BEA RPP for Hawaii different from a single CPI number?: BEA splits regional price parity into three components — goods, services, and rents — reweighted to the BEA's national consumption basket. Hawaii's overall index of 109.7 reflects rents 128.7, services 191.7, and goods 110.3.
Should I negotiate based on the BLS median for Hawaii?: 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 Hawaii.
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 Hawaii?: BLS aggregates Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers (53-3032) into one figure. In Hawaii, 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 Hawaii frequently pay above the BLS median when union-represented (Teamsters).
Owner-operator vs company driver in Hawaii — which actually nets more?: Gross revenue for an owner-operator in {state} can run $200K-$300K, but after truck payment, fuel, insurance, maintenance, and self-employment tax, net take-home typically lands $70-110K — modestly above company-driver pay but with substantially more risk and capital exposure. The owner-operator advantage is biggest for drivers with paid-off trucks or specialty routes (oversize, hazmat, refrigerated). Company-driver pay is the floor; owner-operator is volatile.

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 Hawaii 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.