What Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers earn in Polk County, FL
The median pay for Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers in Polk County, FL is $57,090 per year, which works out to $27.45 per hour. The figure comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics wage survey for the Lakeland-Winter Haven, FL metropolitan area, the labor market that Polk County, FL belongs to. Half of the workers in this occupation earn more than the median and half earn less, which makes it a sturdier yardstick than an average that a few very high earners can pull upward.
The mean wage is $58,030, which is 1.6% above the median, so pay is spread fairly evenly. The survey counts about 7,820 people working in this occupation across the Lakeland-Winter Haven, FL metropolitan area, so the estimate rests on a substantial pool of workers. Polk County, FL has roughly 790,694 residents, according to the population figures used by the rent data.
The salary range, from entry level to top earners
Pay for Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers in the Lakeland-Winter Haven, FL metropolitan area is not one number. The lowest-paid tenth of workers earn up to $39,560 a year ($19.02 an hour), while the highest-paid tenth earn $80,990 or more ($38.94 an hour). That is a gap of $41,430 between the bottom and the top of the scale. The middle half of workers falls between $47,430 at the 25th percentile and $64,230 at the 75th percentile. A top-tier earner makes 2.0 times what someone at the bottom makes, so experience, certification and employer all matter.
What the hourly rate looks like
Employers quote this occupation by the hour or by the year, so here are both: $27.45 an hour or $57,090 a year at the median for Polk County, FL. Before any deductions, that is $4,758 a month, $2,196 every two weeks and $1,098 each week. After taxes the same job pays $23.08 per hour of take-home income, which is the number that actually has to cover rent and groceries.
About this occupation: Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers
The U.S. Department of Labor's O*NET database describes the work of Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers this way: "Drive a tractor-trailer combination or a truck with a capacity of at least 26,001 pounds Gross Vehicle Weight (GVW). May be required to unload truck. Requires commercial drivers' license. Includes tow truck drivers."
Core tasks recorded by O*NET include: "Check vehicles to ensure that mechanical, safety, and emergency equipment is in good working order"; "Maintain logs of working hours or of vehicle service or repair status, following applicable state and federal regulations"; "Obtain receipts or signatures for delivered goods and collect payment for services when required"; "Maneuver trucks into loading or unloading positions, following signals from loading crew and checking that vehicle and loading equipment are properly positioned".
Job outlook for Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers
The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects national employment in this occupation to grow from 2,221,200 jobs in 2025 to 2,305,000 in 2035, a change of +3.8%, faster than the 3.5% projected for all occupations. The projection counts 214,500 openings a year on average, including positions created by growth and positions left by workers who retire or move to another occupation; that equals 9.7% of current employment each year. About 7.3% of the people in this occupation are self-employed, and wage figures cover wage and salary workers only.
Typical entry-level education: postsecondary nondegree award. Typical on-the-job training to reach competency: short-term on-the-job training. BLS lists a national median annual wage of $58,640 for this occupation; the Polk County, FL median of $57,090 is 2.6% below it.
How pay in Polk County, FL compares
Compared with the Florida average
A worker in this occupation in Polk County, FL earns $5,622 more than the Florida average of $51,468, a premium of 10.9%. Over a year that premium is worth $5,622 before tax and roughly $4,727 after tax. Within Florida, Polk County, FL already has the highest median we track for this job.
Compared with the national average
The national employment-weighted average for Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers is $57,851 across the contiguous United States. At $57,090, Polk County, FL pays $761 less, which is 1.3% below that benchmark. Keep in mind that a higher salary only helps if living costs do not rise faster, which is why the cost sections below matter as much as the headline number.
Where this job ranks in Polk County, FL
Among the 393 occupations with published wages in Polk County, FL, Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers ranks number 164 by median pay, ahead of about 58% of them. The best-paying occupation we track here is Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand at $42,800 a year, which is $14,290 less than the median for Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers.
From gross pay to take-home pay
Three separate tax bills sit between the gross salary and the bank account: federal income tax, FICA, and state income tax. For Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers earning the Polk County, FL median of $57,090, they add up to $9,090. The result is $48,000 of take-home pay a year ($4,000 a month), based on a single filer using the standard deduction.
Put another way, of every $100 earned, about $16 goes to taxes and $84 reaches the paycheck. The overall effective tax rate is 15.9%.
Federal income tax
After the $15,750 standard deduction, taxable income is $41,340. Federal brackets are marginal, so only the slice of income above each threshold is taxed at the higher rate; the last dollars of this salary fall in the 12% bracket. The resulting federal income tax is $4,722, an effective 8.3% of gross pay, well below the 12% marginal rate because the lower brackets are cheaper.
Social Security and Medicare (FICA)
Payroll taxes are a flat percentage of wages. Social Security takes 6.2% up to a wage base of $176,100, which costs $3,540 on this salary. Medicare takes 1.45%, or $828. FICA totals $4,367, which is 7.6% of gross pay.
State income tax in Florida
Florida does not tax wage income, so the state income tax line for Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers in Polk County, FL is $0. That alone leaves more in the paycheck than the same salary would in a state with an income tax. For scale, a hypothetical flat 5% state tax on this salary would cost about $2,855 a year, so the absence of a state tax is worth roughly $238 a month.
A cross-check with IRS data for Polk County, FL
IRS Statistics of Income data for Polk County, FL show an average adjusted gross income of $64,078 per return and an average effective federal income tax rate of 10.6% across all filers. Filers in the $50,000 to under $75,000 bracket, where this salary falls, paid an average of 6.5%, compared with the 8.3% estimated here for a single filer taking the standard deduction. Gaps between the two reflect filing status, dependents, credits and other income, none of which a single-person wage estimate includes.
Cost of living in Polk County, FL
Take-home pay only means something next to what life costs. We price four basics for one adult in Polk County, FL: a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline. All of them are converted to annual figures first, then compared with the $48,000 of take-home pay.
Rent
Housing is the largest line in most budgets. For Polk County, FL, HUD sets the Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom unit at $1,338 a month ($16,056 a year), and at $1,608 for two bedrooms. For Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers, a one-bedroom absorbs 33.5% of take-home pay and 28.1% of gross pay.
Food
The USDA Thrifty Food Plan (August 2026) puts the cost of a nutritious home-cooked diet for an adult at about $3,436 a year, which is $286 a month or $66.07 a week. That equals 6.0% of gross pay for Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers in Polk County, FL. It is a thrifty budget with no restaurant meals, so treat it as a floor.
Energy and gasoline
Using Florida residential prices from the Energy Information Administration and national household averages for consumption, electricity costs about $1,494 a year and other home energy such as natural gas about $1,005, for $2,498 in total. Gasoline in Florida averages $3.08 per gallon; at about 463 gallons a year (11,106 miles at 24 miles per gallon) fuel adds $1,427.
What is left over
Rent, food, energy and gasoline cost $23,418 a year in Polk County, FL. Subtract that from $48,000 of take-home pay and $24,583 remains, which is $2,049 a month of breathing room. That margin equals 43.1% of gross pay, a comfortable cushion by common budgeting rules.
Local housing and commute data for Polk County, FL
The budget above covers rent, food, energy and gasoline. Three more local facts shape what a paycheck buys in Polk County, FL: property taxes, housing prices and the daily commute. The figures below are exact U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates for Polk County, FL, set beside the Florida and national medians.
Property taxes in Polk County, FL
Homeowners in Polk County, FL pay a median of $1,933 a year in real estate taxes, 29% below the Florida median of $2,730 and 38% below the U.S. median of $3,119. Against a median home value of $266,500, the median tax bill is 0.73% of that value (the ratio of the two county medians). For a worker paid the local Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers median of $57,090, a tax bill of that size would equal 3.4% of gross pay, which matters for anyone planning to buy rather than rent.
Rents, home prices and household income in Polk County, FL
Renters in Polk County, FL pay a median gross rent of $1,363 a month in the Census survey, 18% below the Florida median of $1,669. HUD's Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment, which this site uses in the budget, is $1,338 a month; the two measures differ because the Census figure covers units of every size that renters already occupy, while the HUD figure is a one-bedroom benchmark. The median value of an owner-occupied home is $266,500, 26% below the Florida median of $359,000. Median household income is $65,978, 12% below the Florida median of $74,568, so a year of one-bedroom Fair Market Rent equals 24.3% of that income.
Commuting in Polk County, FL
Workers in Polk County, FL who travel to a workplace spend an average of 30.5 minutes each way, 9% above the Florida average of 28.0. For someone who commutes five days a week, that is 5.1 hours of round-trip travel every week, a cost the budget does not price. 12.4% of workers in Polk County, FL work from home, compared with 15.1% nationally, which removes the commute for them.
Can Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers afford to live in Polk County, FL?
The 30% rent guideline
A common rule of thumb says rent should stay under 30% of gross income. For a gross salary of $57,090 that ceiling is $1,427 a month. The one-bedroom Fair Market Rent of $1,338 is $89 under it, so rent fits the guideline. Put as a wage, covering a one-bedroom at the 30% guideline takes $25.73 an hour; the median for Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers is $27.45, which is 7% above that mark. Another way to see it: at $23.08 of take-home pay an hour, a one-bedroom takes about 13.4 working hours every week.
Splitting a two-bedroom
Sharing a two-bedroom at $1,608 a month means $804 each. Compared with renting a one-bedroom alone, that saves $6,408 a year. With a roommate, the yearly margin after the basics becomes $30,991.
How fast you can save
At $2,049 a month of margin, building a $10,000 emergency fund would take about 5 months. Setting aside half of the margin stretches the same goal to about 10 months. These figures ignore interest, raises and any spending beyond the four basics.
Frequently asked questions about Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers pay in Polk County, FL
How much do Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers make per hour in Polk County, FL?
The median is $27.45 per hour, based on $57,090 a year over 2,080 hours. Hourly pay runs from about $19.02 at the 10th percentile to $38.94 at the 90th percentile.
How much do Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers take home after taxes in Polk County, FL?
After federal income tax, FICA, the median salary of $57,090 becomes $48,000 a year. That is $4,000 a month, $1,846 every two weeks or $923 a week.
How much tax do Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers pay in Polk County, FL?
Total taxes are $9,090 a year, an effective rate of 15.9%: $4,722 federal income tax, $4,367 FICA and no Florida income tax.
Do Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers earn more in Polk County, FL than elsewhere in Florida?
Yes. The local median of $57,090 is +10.9% versus the Florida average of $51,468, a difference of $5,622 a year.
Can Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers afford a one-bedroom apartment in Polk County, FL?
A one-bedroom costs $1,338 a month against take-home pay of $4,000, which is 33.4% of take-home pay. That meets the 30%-of-gross guideline, which allows up to $1,427 a month.
What is the monthly budget margin for Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers in Polk County, FL?
About $2,049 a month ($24,583 a year) remains after a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline, which together cost $23,418 a year.
What hourly wage covers a one-bedroom in Polk County, FL at the 30% guideline?
$25.73 an hour for a full-time schedule, calculated as the $16,056 annual rent divided by 0.30 and by 2,080 hours. The median for Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers is $27.45.
How we calculated these numbers
Wages are May 2025 medians from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for the Lakeland-Winter Haven, FL metropolitan area; hourly-only values are annualized at 2,080 hours. Rents are HUD Fair Market Rents, food costs come from the USDA Thrifty Food Plan, and energy prices come from the Energy Information Administration. County-level tax statistics come from the IRS Statistics of Income.
Taxes use tax-year 2025 federal brackets, FICA rates and the Florida rules for a single filer with wage income only. Figures are estimates for planning and comparison, not tax or financial advice, and they exclude local income taxes, benefits, retirement contributions and individual circumstances.