How Much Do Truck Drivers Make in Texas?
BLS OEWS estimates wages for heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers in Texas:
| Median annual wage | $56,290 |
| Middle 50% (25th–75th percentile) | $46,680 – $64,820 |
| 10th percentile | $38,150 |
| 90th percentile | $79,400 |
| Estimated Texas employment | 209,680 |
These are wage-rate percentiles across the occupation, not starting-pay brackets. BLS does not divide the Texas distribution by years of driving experience. OEWS covers wage-and-salary workers; self-employed owner-operators are not included.
Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, Texas, SOC 53-3032, May 2025.
OEWS measures straight-time gross wage rates and generally annualizes hourly rates using a 2,080-hour work year. Per-mile and other production pay is included; overtime and non-production bonuses such as safety, sign-on and referral bonuses are not. Your actual W-2 total can differ from any annualized figure depending on hours, miles, bonuses and how the employer structures pay.
What Can a New CDL Driver Make?
BLS does not publish Texas truck-driver wages by years of experience, so there is no official statewide first-year pay figure. Some carriers publish their own new-driver pay guidance, but those figures apply only to that carrier and that pay package.
How you are paid matters as much as the rate. For mileage-paid jobs, earnings depend on the per-mile rate and the paid miles you actually run. Other jobs use hourly pay, load-based pay, or a mix, and many packages add performance or bonus components on top.
Ask any recruiter for the pay package in writing: the pay method, the rate, how miles or loads are assigned, and what a typical first six months looks like on that specific account.
Pay by Route Type
Route type shapes both the work and the pay package, but BLS does not publish a wage breakdown by route type — its Texas figures cover the occupation as a whole. Route pay, home time and schedule are set by the employer and the specific account, so treat the categories below as a map of the choices rather than a table of salaries.
| Route Type | What It Usually Involves | What to Confirm With the Employer |
|---|---|---|
| OTR — over the road | Long-haul work across states, multi-day trips | Pay method and rate, how miles are assigned, home-time schedule |
| Regional | A defined multi-state or in-state area | The actual area covered, home-time frequency, pay method |
| Local | Work within a metro area, typically home daily | Hourly vs other pay, whether overtime is paid, start times |
| Dedicated | Repeating runs for one customer | The account, its schedule, how pay is structured on that account |
| Flatbed / specialized | Load securement, oversize or heavy freight | Whether the pay package reflects the added skill and equipment |
| Tanker / hazmat | Liquid bulk or hazardous materials; endorsements required | Endorsement requirements and how they affect the rate |
Home time is a term of a specific job on a specific account, not a property of a route category — two OTR jobs at different carriers can differ substantially. Federal hours-of-service rules cap driving and duty time and require rest periods, but they do not set pay.
What Kinds of CDL Work Sit Higher in the Range?
The Texas distribution runs from $38,150 at the 10th percentile to $79,400 at the 90th. BLS does not attribute that spread to particular kinds of freight, so the list below explains why certain work commands more — not what it pays.
- Endorsement-gated freight (tanker, hazmat). These loads require additional testing and, for hazmat, a TSA security threat assessment. A smaller pool of qualified drivers and higher liability are the usual reasons employers price this work differently.
- Specialized and flatbed freight. Load securement, oversize and heavy-haul work take skill to do safely and carry more risk if done badly.
- Oilfield and energy-sector work. Conditions and schedules are demanding, and the work is concentrated in specific West Texas markets. See the metro figures below for what the published wage data actually shows for those areas.
- Dedicated accounts. Predictable, repeating runs. Pay and schedule are set by the account, and employers often prefer drivers with a track record.
Note that endorsements and freight type change the jobs you can apply for. What any one of them pays is set by the employer, and the only reliable figure is the one in a written offer.
Employee Pay vs Owner-Operator Revenue
BLS wage figures cover wage-and-salary employees and exclude self-employed owner-operators. That exclusion is why the numbers on this page differ so sharply from a lot of what circulates online.
When you see a six-figure “truck driver income” claim, check which of three different numbers it is:
- Employee wages — what a company driver is paid. This is what the BLS figures on this page measure.
- Owner-operator gross revenue — what the business bills before any costs.
- Owner-operator income after expenses — what is left after the truck payment, fuel, insurance, maintenance, permits and taxes.
They are not interchangeable, and gross revenue is the one most often quoted without context. An owner-operator’s gross has to cover the cost of running a truck before any of it becomes income.
Ways Drivers Increase Their Pay
BLS does not publish a Texas wage series by experience, so this section describes what changes the jobs you can apply for rather than promising a pay increase.
- Get a Class A, not a Class B. Class A opens the full tractor-trailer market — OTR, regional, flatbed, tanker, oilfield. Class B limits you to straight trucks and caps your ceiling meaningfully. If you're starting from zero, Class A is the higher-ROI license. See Class A vs Class B CDL for a full comparison.
- Consider OTR early. Over-the-road work is one way to accumulate documented miles quickly. Many regional, dedicated and local postings list a prior-experience requirement, so check what the jobs you want actually ask for.
- Build verifiable miles and a clean record. Most carriers screen on documented experience and driving record. Once you have both, more employers will consider you, which is the point at which you can compare offers rather than take the first one.
- Add an endorsement. Hazmat and tanker endorsements open freight that other drivers are not qualified to haul, which widens the set of jobs available to you. What any employer pays for that work is set by the employer.
BLS publishes separate Texas wage estimates for two driving occupations. Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers (tractor-trailer combinations and trucks over 26,001 lbs) have a median wage of $56,290; light truck drivers have a median of $42,500 — a 32.4% occupation-level difference (BLS OEWS, Texas, May 2025).
This does not isolate the causal value of a Class A CDL. These are two different occupations, not the same drivers with and without a licence. The light-truck distribution also has a longer top end — its 90th percentile is $91,280, above the $79,400 for heavy and tractor-trailer drivers — so the difference holds at the median, not across the whole range.
What Increases CDL Driver Pay in Texas
Pay in trucking is not fixed. These are the factors that push pay up significantly over a driving career.
How Route Type Affects Your Schedule
Route type shapes your daily life as much as your pay. Schedule, route and home-time expectations are terms of a specific job with a specific employer, so confirm them for the job in front of you rather than assuming they follow the category.
Multi-day trips with less frequent home time. Often the most accessible category for a new CDL holder, and a way to accumulate documented miles. Home-time schedules are set by the employer — confirm the specific pattern before accepting.
Work within a defined area, with more frequent home time than OTR. Postings often list an experience requirement. Ask what area the job actually covers — “regional” means different things at different carriers.
Work within a metro area, typically home daily. Often hourly rather than mileage-paid — ask whether overtime is paid, since BLS wage figures exclude it. Many local postings list an experience requirement.
Pay by Texas Metro
BLS publishes wage estimates for individual metro areas. Comparing median to median against the Texas median of $56,290 (all figures BLS OEWS, May 2025, SOC 53-3032):
| Metro | Median annual wage | vs Texas median | Employment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington | $59,530 | +5.8% | 55,670 |
| Odessa | $58,370 | +3.7% | 3,190 |
| Midland | $58,200 | +3.4% | 4,540 |
| Austin–Round Rock–San Marcos | $57,110 | +1.5% | 10,760 |
| Houston–Pasadena–The Woodlands | $56,840 | +1.0% | 49,750 |
| San Antonio–New Braunfels | $53,650 | −4.7% | 13,710 |
| Texas statewide | $56,290 | — | 209,680 |
Two things in this data are worth more than the ranking itself.
West Texas differs at the bottom of the range, not the top. Midland’s lower end of the occupational wage distribution is materially above the statewide lower end: $46,310 at the 10th percentile versus $38,150 statewide. This is not a starting-pay figure — it is the bottom of the wage distribution for the occupation in that area. Midland’s median, by contrast, is only 3.4% above the state median.
Dallas–Fort Worth differs at the top. Its median is 5.8% above the state figure, but its 90th percentile is $91,990 — well above the statewide $79,400, and DFW has the highest reported median among the 26 Texas metro estimates in the May 2025 BLS data, at $59,530. It does not have the highest 90th percentile in that table: Killeen–Temple has the highest reported 90th-percentile estimate, at $99,200.
Putting CDL Training Cost in Context
CDL training costs vary by school and program. Some DFW programs can start around $2,500, while many private Class A programs cost more.
For illustration only, a $5,000 training cost equals about 9% of the $56,290 Texas median annual wage. This is a size comparison, not a payback period.
What training actually costs you depends on how you finance it, how long you are out of work while training, your living expenses during that period, and the job you take afterwards.
| City | Private School Range | City Cost Guide |
|---|---|---|
| Dallas | $3,500 – $7,000 | CDL training cost in Dallas |
| Fort Worth | $3,500 – $7,000 | CDL training cost in Fort Worth |
| Houston | $3,500 – $7,000 | CDL training cost in Houston |
| San Antonio | $3,000 – $7,000 | CDL training cost in San Antonio |
| Austin | $4,000 – $8,000 | City guide coming soon — see Texas average. |
See the full statewide breakdown: CDL training cost in Texas.
→ Get matched with CDL schools in your metro — free, no obligation.
How Truck Drivers Get Paid
Heavy and tractor-trailer drivers are often paid by miles driven plus bonuses, according to BLS. The per-mile rate varies by employer and can depend on the cargo and the driver’s experience. Owner-operators may instead receive a share of shipping revenue.
Pay methods vary by employer — hourly, per-load and mixed structures all exist — so ask exactly how a specific job is paid before comparing offers. Two jobs quoting similar annual figures can pay very differently once you account for how the rate is earned.
Federal hours-of-service rules limit driving and on-duty time and require rest periods, which constrains how many hours a driver can work in a week regardless of pay structure. They do not set pay.
Benefits Beyond Base Pay
- Health, dental, and vision insurance (company driver positions)
- 401k with employer match
- Sign-on bonuses
- Safety bonuses for clean driving records
- Layover pay and detention pay when applicable
- Paid time off and vacation
- Fuel cards and truck allowances (owner-operators)
- Rider policies (some carriers allow a passenger)
Most of these sit outside the BLS wage figures on this page. OEWS measures straight-time gross wages and excludes overtime, non-production bonuses (including sign-on, safety and referral bonuses) and the employer cost of benefits. Benefit packages vary by employer — ask for the specifics in writing.
Start CDL Training in Texas
If the pay picture above works for you, the next question is what it takes to get licensed. We match you with CDL training programs in your area — free, no obligation.
Not sure if you're ready for CDL school yet? Start with our free CDL readiness checklist before you talk to a school.
Or explore CDL training by metro:
- CDL Training in Dallas — strong local, regional, and DFW distribution hub pay
- CDL Training in Houston — Port of Houston, petrochemical corridor, high tanker demand
- CDL Training in Fort Worth — western DFW freight and regional routes
- CDL Training in Austin — central Texas distribution and I-35 corridor work
- CDL Training in San Antonio — I-35 freight, Laredo border routes, regional dedicated work
Frequently Asked Questions
BLS reports a median annual wage of $56,290 for heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers in Texas, with the middle 50% earning between $46,680 and $64,820 (OEWS, May 2025). The 10th percentile is $38,150 and the 90th percentile is $79,400. These are wage-rate percentiles across the occupation, not starting-pay brackets.
BLS does not publish Texas truck-driver wages by years of experience, so there is no official statewide first-year figure. Some carriers publish their own new-driver pay guidance, but those figures apply only to that carrier and pay package. For mileage-paid jobs, earnings depend on the per-mile rate and the paid miles you run; other jobs use hourly, load-based or mixed pay. Ask any employer for the pay package in writing.
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington has the highest reported median among the 26 Texas metro estimates in the May 2025 BLS data, at $59,530, 5.8% above the Texas median of $56,290. Odessa is $58,370 and Midland is $58,200. Houston is $56,840, close to the state median. San Antonio-New Braunfels is $53,650, below it.
The published wage data shows the difference at the bottom of the range rather than the middle. Midland's lower end of the occupational wage distribution is materially above the statewide lower end: $46,310 at the 10th percentile versus $38,150 statewide. Its median, at $58,200, is 3.4% above the state median. These figures cover all heavy and tractor-trailer drivers in the area, not oilfield work specifically.
BLS reports Texas medians of $56,290 for heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers and $42,500 for light truck drivers, a 32.4% occupation-level difference (OEWS, May 2025). This does not isolate the causal value of a Class A CDL - these are two different occupations, not the same drivers with and without a licence. A Class A does cover tractor-trailer combinations, which widens the set of jobs you can apply for.
Many high figures quoted online are owner-operator gross revenue rather than employee wages. BLS wage data covers wage-and-salary employees and excludes self-employed owner-operators. An owner-operator's gross revenue has to cover the truck payment, fuel, insurance, maintenance and taxes before any of it becomes income. BLS wage figures also exclude overtime and non-production bonuses.