What Light Truck Drivers earn in St. Clair County, MI
If you are weighing a move or a job offer, start with $44,200: the median annual pay for Light Truck Drivers in St. Clair County, MI. Spread over a standard 2,080-hour work year, that is $21.25 an hour. Because the wage survey covers the whole Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI metropolitan area, the number reflects employers across the region rather than a single town or a single company.
The mean wage is $47,500, which is 7.5% above the median, a sign that a group of high earners lifts the average. The survey counts about 11,530 people working in this occupation across the Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI metropolitan area, so the estimate rests on a substantial pool of workers. St. Clair County, MI has roughly 160,221 residents, according to the population figures used by the rent data.
The salary range, from entry level to top earners
Pay for Light Truck Drivers in the Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI metropolitan area is not one number. The lowest-paid tenth of workers earn up to $29,750 a year ($14.30 an hour), while the highest-paid tenth earn $82,800 or more ($39.81 an hour). That is a gap of $53,050 between the bottom and the top of the scale. The middle half of workers falls between $37,910 at the 25th percentile and $47,970 at the 75th percentile. A top-tier earner makes 2.8 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: $21.25 an hour or $44,200 a year at the median for St. Clair County, MI. Before any deductions, that is $3,683 a month, $1,700 every two weeks and $850 each week. After taxes the same job pays $17.31 per hour of take-home income, which is the number that actually has to cover rent and groceries.
About this occupation: Light Truck Drivers
The U.S. Department of Labor's O*NET database describes the work of Light Truck Drivers this way: "Drive a light vehicle, such as a truck or van, with a capacity of less than 26,001 pounds Gross Vehicle Weight (GVW), primarily to pick up merchandise or packages from a distribution center and deliver. May load and unload vehicle."
Core tasks recorded by O*NET include: "Obey traffic laws and follow established traffic and transportation procedures"; "Inspect and maintain vehicle supplies and equipment, such as gas, oil, water, tires, lights, or brakes, to ensure that vehicles are in proper working condition"; "Report any mechanical problems encountered with vehicles"; "Present bills and receipts and collect payments for goods delivered or loaded".
Job outlook for Light Truck Drivers
The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects national employment in this occupation to grow from 1,068,500 jobs in 2025 to 1,136,400 in 2035, a change of +6.3%, faster than the 3.5% projected for all occupations. The projection counts 107,200 openings a year on average, including positions created by growth and positions left by workers who retire or move to another occupation; that equals 10.0% of current employment each year. About 7.2% of the people in this occupation are self-employed, and wage figures cover wage and salary workers only.
Typical entry-level education: high school diploma or equivalent. Typical on-the-job training to reach competency: short-term on-the-job training. BLS lists a national median annual wage of $44,860 for this occupation; the St. Clair County, MI median of $44,200 is 1.5% below it.
How pay in St. Clair County, MI compares
Compared with the Michigan average
A worker in this occupation in St. Clair County, MI earns $1,133 more than the Michigan average of $43,067, a premium of 2.6%. Over a year that premium is worth $1,133 before tax and roughly $923 after tax. Within Michigan, St. Clair County, MI already has the highest median we track for this job.
Compared with the national average
Nationally, Light Truck Drivers earn an employment-weighted average of $44,271 across the contiguous United States, so $44,200 in St. Clair County, MI is essentially average. 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 St. Clair County, MI
Among the 590 occupations with published wages in St. Clair County, MI, Light Truck Drivers ranks number 474 by median pay, ahead of about 20% of them. The best-paying occupation we track here is Computer and Information Systems Managers at $170,040 a year, which is $125,840 more than the median for Light 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 Light Truck Drivers earning the St. Clair County, MI median of $44,200, they add up to $8,189. The result is $36,011 of take-home pay a year ($3,001 a month), based on a single filer using the standard deduction.
Put another way, of every $100 earned, about $19 goes to taxes and $81 reaches the paycheck. The overall effective tax rate is 18.5%.
Federal income tax
After the $15,750 standard deduction, taxable income is $28,450. 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 $3,176, an effective 7.2% 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 $2,740 on this salary. Medicare takes 1.45%, or $641. FICA totals $3,381, which is 7.6% of gross pay.
State income tax in Michigan
Michigan income tax on this salary is $1,632 a year, or 3.7% of gross pay, after the state's own deductions and exemptions are applied. That is 51% of the federal income tax bill, and it comes out to $136 a month. Local taxes such as county or city income taxes are not included, so a few jurisdictions may withhold slightly more.
A cross-check with IRS data for St. Clair County, MI
IRS Statistics of Income data for St. Clair County, MI show an average adjusted gross income of $69,604 per return and an average effective federal income tax rate of 11.0% across all filers. Filers in the $25,000 to under $50,000 bracket, where this salary falls, paid an average of 5.0%, compared with the 7.2% 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 St. Clair County, MI
Take-home pay only means something next to what life costs. We price four basics for one adult in St. Clair County, MI: a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline. All of them are converted to annual figures first, then compared with the $36,011 of take-home pay.
Rent
Housing is the largest line in most budgets. For St. Clair County, MI, HUD sets the Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom unit at $1,167 a month ($14,004 a year), and at $1,459 for two bedrooms. For Light Truck Drivers, a one-bedroom absorbs 38.9% of take-home pay and 31.7% 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 7.8% of gross pay for Light Truck Drivers in St. Clair County, MI. It is a thrifty budget with no restaurant meals, so treat it as a floor.
Energy and gasoline
Using Michigan residential prices from the Energy Information Administration and national household averages for consumption, electricity costs about $2,039 a year and other home energy such as natural gas about $416, for $2,455 in total. Gasoline in Michigan averages $3.10 per gallon; at about 463 gallons a year (11,106 miles at 24 miles per gallon) fuel adds $1,436.
What is left over
Rent, food, energy and gasoline cost $21,331 a year in St. Clair County, MI. Subtract that from $36,011 of take-home pay and $14,680 remains, which is $1,223 a month of breathing room. That margin equals 33.2% of gross pay, a comfortable cushion by common budgeting rules.
Local housing and commute data for St. Clair County, MI
The budget above covers rent, food, energy and gasoline. Three more local facts shape what a paycheck buys in St. Clair County, MI: 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 St. Clair County, MI, set beside the Michigan and national medians.
Property taxes in St. Clair County, MI
Homeowners in St. Clair County, MI pay a median of $2,562 a year in real estate taxes, 12% below the Michigan median of $2,904 and 18% below the U.S. median of $3,119. Against a median home value of $224,600, the median tax bill is 1.14% of that value (the ratio of the two county medians). For a worker paid the local Light Truck Drivers median of $44,200, a tax bill of that size would equal 5.8% of gross pay, which matters for anyone planning to buy rather than rent.
Rents, home prices and household income in St. Clair County, MI
Renters in St. Clair County, MI pay a median gross rent of $1,029 a month in the Census survey, 9% below the Michigan median of $1,129. HUD's Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment, which this site uses in the budget, is $1,167 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 $224,600, 3% below the Michigan median of $231,600. Median household income is $71,270, 2% below the Michigan median of $72,875, so a year of one-bedroom Fair Market Rent equals 19.6% of that income.
Commuting in St. Clair County, MI
Workers in St. Clair County, MI who travel to a workplace spend an average of 28.5 minutes each way, 18% above the Michigan average of 24.2. For someone who commutes five days a week, that is 4.8 hours of round-trip travel every week, a cost the budget does not price. 7.7% of workers in St. Clair County, MI work from home, compared with 15.1% nationally, which removes the commute for them.
Can Light Truck Drivers afford to live in St. Clair County, MI?
The 30% rent guideline
A common rule of thumb says rent should stay under 30% of gross income. For a gross salary of $44,200 that ceiling is $1,105 a month. The one-bedroom Fair Market Rent of $1,167 is $62 over it, so rent breaks the guideline. Put as a wage, covering a one-bedroom at the 30% guideline takes $22.44 an hour; the median for Light Truck Drivers is $21.25, which is 5% below that mark. Another way to see it: at $17.31 of take-home pay an hour, a one-bedroom takes about 15.6 working hours every week.
Splitting a two-bedroom
Sharing a two-bedroom at $1,459 a month means $730 each. Compared with renting a one-bedroom alone, that saves $5,250 a year. With a roommate, the yearly margin after the basics becomes $19,930.
How fast you can save
At $1,223 a month of margin, building a $10,000 emergency fund would take about 9 months. Setting aside half of the margin stretches the same goal to about 18 months. These figures ignore interest, raises and any spending beyond the four basics.
Frequently asked questions about Light Truck Drivers pay in St. Clair County, MI
How much do Light Truck Drivers make per hour in St. Clair County, MI?
The median is $21.25 per hour, based on $44,200 a year over 2,080 hours. Hourly pay runs from about $14.30 at the 10th percentile to $39.81 at the 90th percentile.
How much do Light Truck Drivers take home after taxes in St. Clair County, MI?
After federal income tax, FICA and state income tax, the median salary of $44,200 becomes $36,011 a year. That is $3,001 a month, $1,385 every two weeks or $693 a week.
How much tax do Light Truck Drivers pay in St. Clair County, MI?
Total taxes are $8,189 a year, an effective rate of 18.5%: $3,176 federal income tax, $3,381 FICA and $1,632 Michigan income tax.
Do Light Truck Drivers earn more in St. Clair County, MI than elsewhere in Michigan?
Yes. The local median of $44,200 is +2.6% versus the Michigan average of $43,067, a difference of $1,133 a year.
Can Light Truck Drivers afford a one-bedroom apartment in St. Clair County, MI?
A one-bedroom costs $1,167 a month against take-home pay of $3,001, which is 38.9% of take-home pay. That does not meet the 30%-of-gross guideline, which allows up to $1,105 a month.
What is the monthly budget margin for Light Truck Drivers in St. Clair County, MI?
About $1,223 a month ($14,680 a year) remains after a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline, which together cost $21,331 a year.
What hourly wage covers a one-bedroom in St. Clair County, MI at the 30% guideline?
$22.44 an hour for a full-time schedule, calculated as the $14,004 annual rent divided by 0.30 and by 2,080 hours. The median for Light Truck Drivers is $21.25.
How we calculated these numbers
Wages are May 2025 medians from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for the Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI 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 Michigan 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.