Truck Driver · New Hampshire · SOC 53-3032
Truck Driver Salary in New Hampshire (2026)
BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, 2024 reference period · BEA Regional Price Parity 2023 vintage · Last synced 2026-05-05.
TL;DR
- New Hampshire pays Truck Drivers a BLS median of $58,620 — the more useful number is $55,620, what that paycheck buys after rent and services.
- Truck Driver ranking: #21 on the BLS table, #37 once cost of living is in.
- Cost adjustment is small — neither an arbitrage state nor a high-cost penalty.
- Quartile range $50,540 (bottom 25%) to $63,290 (top 25%); the P10-P90 envelope is $46,520 to $73,050.
Wage breakdown — New Hampshire
| Percentile | Nominal (BLS) | Real (BEA RPP-adjusted) |
|---|---|---|
| P10 (entry tier) | $46,520 | $44,140 |
| P25 (lower quartile) | $50,540 | $47,954 |
| P50 (median) | $58,620 | $55,620 |
| P75 (upper quartile) | $63,290 | $60,051 |
| P90 (top tier) | $73,050 | $69,312 |
| Mean | $59,120 | $56,095 |
| Employment | 6,730 Truck Drivers in New Hampshire | |
Cost of living — BEA Regional Price Parity
| Component | New Hampshire index (US = 100) |
|---|---|
| All-items RPP | 105.4 |
| Goods | 100.0 |
| Services | 156.2 |
| Rents | 114.5 |
New Hampshire is a high-cost state — RPP 105.4 above the national 100 baseline. Most of the cost premium routes through rents (114.5) and services (156.2).
After-tax take-home — New Hampshire (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) | $58,620 | nominal median |
| Federal income tax | −$4,896 | 8.4% effective; std deduction $15,750 applied |
| State income tax | $0 | no tax on wage income (interest/dividends only, repealed 2027) |
| FICA (SS 6.2% + Medicare 1.45%) | −$4,484 | SS capped at $183,600 wage base |
| Take-home (after-tax) | $49,239 | 84.0% of gross |
| Real take-home (RPP-adjusted) | $46,720 | ÷ (105.4 / 100) BEA cost-of-living |
What the New Hampshire state-tax burden means for Truck Driver take-home
New Hampshire levies no state income tax on wages, which is worth roughly $2,931 a year for a Truck Driver at the BLS median compared with the national-average state burden (≈5%). After cost of living, real take-home is $46,720 — lower than the nominal after-tax figure because RPP exceeds 100.
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. New Hampshire sits at #21 on nominal pay and #37 on real (cost-adjusted) pay among the 51 states and DC. After cost adjustment, New Hampshire falls 16 positions — the cost premium eats into the headline wage.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the real (cost-adjusted) Truck Driver salary in New Hampshire?
- After BEA RPP adjustment (regional price parity index 105.4 for New Hampshire), the real-wage equivalent is $55,620 — what the $58,620 nominal salary actually buys. Quartiles in real terms: $47,954 to $60,051.
- How are New Hampshire 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.
- Where does New Hampshire rank for Truck Driver pay?
- On nominal BLS wages alone, New Hampshire ranks among the 51 states and DC by median pay. After the BEA cost-of-living adjustment the ordering changes — high-cost states fall, low-cost states rise. Both rankings are shown in the data table on this page.
- Is New Hampshire a 'real-wage arbitrage' state for Truck Drivers?
- No — New Hampshire's RPP is close to the national 100 baseline, so nominal and real wages move roughly together. Neither an arbitrage nor a penalty state.
- 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.
- 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 New Hampshire?
- BLS aggregates Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers (53-3032) into one figure. In New Hampshire, 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 New Hampshire 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.
Cross-comparison: see how New Hampshire 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.