What Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers earn in Dallas County, MO
The median pay for Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers in Dallas County, MO is $56,070 per year, which works out to $26.96 per hour. The figure comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics wage survey for the Springfield, MO metropolitan area, the labor market that Dallas County, MO 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 $57,920, which is 3.3% above the median, a sign that a group of high earners lifts the average. The survey counts about 6,790 people working in this occupation across the Springfield, MO metropolitan area, so the estimate rests on a substantial pool of workers. Dallas County, MO has roughly 17,551 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 Springfield, MO metropolitan area is not one number. The lowest-paid tenth of workers earn up to $38,110 a year ($18.32 an hour), while the highest-paid tenth earn $80,830 or more ($38.86 an hour). That is a gap of $42,720 between the bottom and the top of the scale. The middle half of workers falls between $45,370 at the 25th percentile and $66,660 at the 75th percentile. A top-tier earner makes 2.1 times what someone at the bottom makes, so experience, certification and employer all matter.
What the hourly rate looks like
Converted to an hourly wage, the median for Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers in Dallas County, MO is $26.96. A full-time schedule of 40 hours for 52 weeks adds up to $56,070, and the same salary is $4,673 a month before taxes or about $2,157 per biweekly pay period. After taxes the same job pays $21.84 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 Dallas County, MO median of $56,070 is 4.4% below it.
How pay in Dallas County, MO compares
Compared with the Missouri average
Pay for Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers in Dallas County, MO is in line with the statewide figure: $56,070 locally against an employment-weighted Missouri average of $56,127, a difference of only $57 (0.1%). Within Missouri, the highest median we track for this job is $60,170 in Jackson County, MO.
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 $56,070, Dallas County, MO pays $1,781 less, which is 3.1% 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 Dallas County, MO
Among the 391 occupations with published wages in Dallas County, MO, Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers ranks number 168 by median pay, ahead of about 57% of them. The best-paying occupation we track here is Registered Nurses at $79,370 a year, which is $23,300 more than the median for Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers.
From gross pay to take-home pay
A salary of $56,070 does not arrive in full. We model a single filer with wage income only, the standard deduction and tax-year 2025 rules, and we keep the three tax layers apart: federal income tax, FICA (Social Security and Medicare) and state income tax. Together they take $10,644 a year, which leaves $45,426, or $3,786 a month.
Put another way, of every $100 earned, about $19 goes to taxes and $81 reaches the paycheck. The overall effective tax rate is 19.0%.
Federal income tax
After the $15,750 standard deduction, taxable income is $40,320. 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 $4,600, an effective 8.2% 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 $3,476 on this salary. Medicare takes 1.45%, or $813. FICA totals $4,289, which is 7.7% of gross pay.
State income tax in Missouri
Missouri income tax on this salary is $1,754 a year, or 3.1% of gross pay, after the state's own deductions and exemptions are applied. That is 38% of the federal income tax bill, and it comes out to $146 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 Dallas County, MO
IRS Statistics of Income data for Dallas County, MO show an average adjusted gross income of $52,210 per return and an average effective federal income tax rate of 8.2% across all filers. Filers in the $50,000 to under $75,000 bracket, where this salary falls, paid an average of 6.4%, compared with the 8.2% 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 Dallas County, MO
Take-home pay only means something next to what life costs. We price four basics for one adult in Dallas County, MO: a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline. All of them are converted to annual figures first, then compared with the $45,426 of take-home pay.
Rent
The HUD Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Dallas County, MO is $845 a month, or $10,140 a year. A two-bedroom costs $962 a month. For Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers, a one-bedroom absorbs 22.3% of take-home pay and 18.1% 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 6.1% of gross pay for Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers in Dallas County, MO. It is a thrifty budget with no restaurant meals, so treat it as a floor.
Energy and gasoline
Using Missouri residential prices from the Energy Information Administration and national household averages for consumption, electricity costs about $1,364 a year and other home energy such as natural gas about $672, for $2,036 in total. Gasoline in Missouri averages $3.03 per gallon; at about 463 gallons a year (11,106 miles at 24 miles per gallon) fuel adds $1,403.
What is left over
Add the four basics together and living costs come to $17,015 a year, 37% of take-home pay. That leaves $28,412 a year, or $2,368 a month, for savings, transportation beyond fuel, health care, debt and everything else. That margin equals 50.7% of gross pay, a comfortable cushion by common budgeting rules.
Local housing and commute data for Dallas County, MO
The budget above covers rent, food, energy and gasoline. Three more local facts shape what a paycheck buys in Dallas County, MO: 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 Dallas County, MO, set beside the Missouri and national medians.
Property taxes in Dallas County, MO
Homeowners in Dallas County, MO pay a median of $756 a year in real estate taxes, 61% below the Missouri median of $1,948 and 76% below the U.S. median of $3,119. Against a median home value of $190,300, the median tax bill is 0.40% of that value (the ratio of the two county medians). For a worker paid the local Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers median of $56,070, a tax bill of that size would equal 1.3% of gross pay, which matters for anyone planning to buy rather than rent.
Rents, home prices and household income in Dallas County, MO
Renters in Dallas County, MO pay a median gross rent of $642 a month in the Census survey, 38% below the Missouri median of $1,033. HUD's Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment, which this site uses in the budget, is $845 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 $190,300, 17% below the Missouri median of $230,300. Median household income is $53,464, 24% below the Missouri median of $70,702, so a year of one-bedroom Fair Market Rent equals 19.0% of that income.
Commuting in Dallas County, MO
Workers in Dallas County, MO who travel to a workplace spend an average of 33.3 minutes each way, 42% above the Missouri average of 23.5. For someone who commutes five days a week, that is 5.5 hours of round-trip travel every week, a cost the budget does not price. 6.0% of workers in Dallas County, MO 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 Dallas County, MO?
The 30% rent guideline
A common rule of thumb says rent should stay under 30% of gross income. For a gross salary of $56,070 that ceiling is $1,402 a month. The one-bedroom Fair Market Rent of $845 is $557 under it, so rent fits the guideline. Put as a wage, covering a one-bedroom at the 30% guideline takes $16.25 an hour; the median for Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers is $26.96, which is 66% above that mark. Another way to see it: at $21.84 of take-home pay an hour, a one-bedroom takes about 8.9 working hours every week.
Splitting a two-bedroom
Sharing a two-bedroom at $962 a month means $481 each. Compared with renting a one-bedroom alone, that saves $4,368 a year. With a roommate, the yearly margin after the basics becomes $32,780.
How fast you can save
At $2,368 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 Dallas County, MO
What is the hourly wage for Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers in Dallas County, MO?
The median is $26.96 per hour, based on $56,070 a year over 2,080 hours. Hourly pay runs from about $18.32 at the 10th percentile to $38.86 at the 90th percentile.
What is the take-home pay for Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers in Dallas County, MO?
After federal income tax, FICA and state income tax, the median salary of $56,070 becomes $45,426 a year. That is $3,786 a month, $1,747 every two weeks or $874 a week.
What percentage of pay goes to taxes for Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers in Dallas County, MO?
Total taxes are $10,644 a year, an effective rate of 19.0%: $4,600 federal income tax, $4,289 FICA and $1,754 Missouri income tax.
Is pay for Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers in Dallas County, MO above the Missouri average?
It is about the same. The local median of $56,070 is within 0.1% of the Missouri average of $56,127.
Is a one-bedroom rent affordable on the median Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers salary in Dallas County, MO?
A one-bedroom costs $845 a month against take-home pay of $3,786, which is 22.3% of take-home pay. That meets the 30%-of-gross guideline, which allows up to $1,402 a month.
How much is left after rent, food and energy for Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers in Dallas County, MO?
About $2,368 a month ($28,412 a year) remains after a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline, which together cost $17,015 a year.
What hourly wage covers a one-bedroom in Dallas County, MO at the 30% guideline?
$16.25 an hour for a full-time schedule, calculated as the $10,140 annual rent divided by 0.30 and by 2,080 hours. The median for Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers is $26.96.
How we calculated these numbers
Wages are May 2025 medians from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for the Springfield, MO 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 Missouri 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.