What Light Truck Drivers earn in Sumner County, TN
According to the latest federal wage data for the Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN metropolitan area, the median pay for Light Truck Drivers in Sumner County, TN is $44,970 a year, or $21.62 an hour. After federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare (and no state income tax), the paycheck shrinks to $38,262 a year, and rent, food and energy take another bite. The sections below walk through each step with the actual math for Sumner County, TN.
The mean wage is $49,390, which is 9.8% above the median, a sign that a group of high earners lifts the average. The survey counts about 11,940 people working in this occupation across the Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN metropolitan area, so the estimate rests on a substantial pool of workers. Sumner County, TN has roughly 204,424 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 Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN metropolitan area is not one number. The lowest-paid tenth of workers earn up to $33,620 a year ($16.16 an hour), while the highest-paid tenth earn $80,180 or more ($38.55 an hour). That is a gap of $46,560 between the bottom and the top of the scale. The middle half of workers falls between $40,190 at the 25th percentile and $54,110 at the 75th percentile. A top-tier earner makes 2.4 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 Light Truck Drivers in Sumner County, TN is $21.62. A full-time schedule of 40 hours for 52 weeks adds up to $44,970, and the same salary is $3,748 a month before taxes or about $1,730 per biweekly pay period. After taxes the same job pays $18.40 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 Sumner County, TN median of $44,970 is 0.2% above it.
How pay in Sumner County, TN compares
Compared with the Tennessee average
Pay for Light Truck Drivers in Sumner County, TN is in line with the statewide figure: $44,970 locally against an employment-weighted Tennessee average of $44,720, a difference of only $250 (0.6%). Within Tennessee, the highest median we track for this job is $48,350 in Shelby County, TN.
Compared with the national average
The national employment-weighted average for Light Truck Drivers is $44,271 across the contiguous United States. At $44,970, Sumner County, TN pays $699 more, which is 1.6% above 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 Sumner County, TN
Among the 532 occupations with published wages in Sumner County, TN, Light Truck Drivers ranks number 418 by median pay, ahead of about 21% of them. The best-paying occupation we track here is Financial Managers at $156,860 a year, which is $111,890 more than the median for Light Truck Drivers.
From gross pay to take-home pay
A salary of $44,970 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 $6,708 a year, which leaves $38,262, or $3,188 a month.
Put another way, of every $100 earned, about $15 goes to taxes and $85 reaches the paycheck. The overall effective tax rate is 14.9%.
Federal income tax
After the $15,750 standard deduction, taxable income is $29,220. 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 $3,268, an effective 7.3% 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 $2,788 on this salary. Medicare takes 1.45%, or $652. FICA totals $3,440, which is 7.6% of gross pay.
State income tax in Tennessee
There is no state income tax on wages in Tennessee, which means Light Truck Drivers in Sumner County, TN keep the full $38,262 left after federal and payroll taxes. For scale, a hypothetical flat 5% state tax on this salary would cost about $2,249 a year, so the absence of a state tax is worth roughly $187 a month.
A cross-check with IRS data for Sumner County, TN
IRS Statistics of Income data for Sumner County, TN show an average adjusted gross income of $102,491 per return and an average effective federal income tax rate of 14.4% across all filers. Filers in the $25,000 to under $50,000 bracket, where this salary falls, paid an average of 5.5%, compared with the 7.3% 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 Sumner County, TN
Take-home pay only means something next to what life costs. We price four basics for one adult in Sumner County, TN: a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline. All of them are converted to annual figures first, then compared with the $38,262 of take-home pay.
Rent
The HUD Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Sumner County, TN is $1,650 a month, or $19,800 a year. A two-bedroom costs $1,798 a month. For Light Truck Drivers, a one-bedroom absorbs 51.8% of take-home pay and 44.0% 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 7.6% of gross pay for Light Truck Drivers in Sumner County, TN. It is a thrifty budget with no restaurant meals, so treat it as a floor.
Energy and gasoline
Using Tennessee residential prices from the Energy Information Administration and national household averages for consumption, electricity costs about $1,313 a year and other home energy such as natural gas about $421, for $1,733 in total. Gasoline in Tennessee averages $3.08 per gallon; at about 463 gallons a year (11,106 miles at 24 miles per gallon) fuel adds $1,426.
What is left over
Add the four basics together and living costs come to $26,395 a year, 69% of take-home pay. That leaves $11,867 a year, or $989 a month, for savings, transportation beyond fuel, health care, debt and everything else. That margin equals 26.4% of gross pay, a comfortable cushion by common budgeting rules.
Local housing and commute data for Sumner County, TN
The budget above covers rent, food, energy and gasoline. Three more local facts shape what a paycheck buys in Sumner County, TN: 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 Sumner County, TN, set beside the Tennessee and national medians.
Property taxes in Sumner County, TN
Homeowners in Sumner County, TN pay a median of $1,987 a year in real estate taxes, 38% above the Tennessee median of $1,442 and 36% below the U.S. median of $3,119. Against a median home value of $393,100, the median tax bill is 0.51% of that value (the ratio of the two county medians). For a worker paid the local Light Truck Drivers median of $44,970, a tax bill of that size would equal 4.4% of gross pay, which matters for anyone planning to buy rather than rent.
Rents, home prices and household income in Sumner County, TN
Renters in Sumner County, TN pay a median gross rent of $1,424 a month in the Census survey, 20% above the Tennessee median of $1,189. HUD's Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment, which this site uses in the budget, is $1,650 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 $393,100, 37% above the Tennessee median of $286,700. Median household income is $90,301, 30% above the Tennessee median of $69,595, so a year of one-bedroom Fair Market Rent equals 21.9% of that income.
Commuting in Sumner County, TN
Workers in Sumner County, TN who travel to a workplace spend an average of 29.0 minutes each way, 13% above the Tennessee average of 25.7. 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. 16.2% of workers in Sumner County, TN work from home, compared with 15.1% nationally, which removes the commute for them.
Can Light Truck Drivers afford to live in Sumner County, TN?
The 30% rent guideline
A common rule of thumb says rent should stay under 30% of gross income. For a gross salary of $44,970 that ceiling is $1,124 a month. The one-bedroom Fair Market Rent of $1,650 is $526 over it, so rent breaks the guideline. Put as a wage, covering a one-bedroom at the 30% guideline takes $31.73 an hour; the median for Light Truck Drivers is $21.62, which is 32% below that mark. Another way to see it: at $18.40 of take-home pay an hour, a one-bedroom takes about 20.7 working hours every week.
Splitting a two-bedroom
Sharing a two-bedroom at $1,798 a month means $899 each. Compared with renting a one-bedroom alone, that saves $9,012 a year. With a roommate, the yearly margin after the basics becomes $20,879.
How fast you can save
At $989 a month of margin, building a $10,000 emergency fund would take about 11 months. Setting aside half of the margin stretches the same goal to about 22 months. These figures ignore interest, raises and any spending beyond the four basics.
Frequently asked questions about Light Truck Drivers pay in Sumner County, TN
What is the hourly wage for Light Truck Drivers in Sumner County, TN?
The median is $21.62 per hour, based on $44,970 a year over 2,080 hours. Hourly pay runs from about $16.16 at the 10th percentile to $38.55 at the 90th percentile.
What is the take-home pay for Light Truck Drivers in Sumner County, TN?
After federal income tax, FICA, the median salary of $44,970 becomes $38,262 a year. That is $3,188 a month, $1,472 every two weeks or $736 a week.
What percentage of pay goes to taxes for Light Truck Drivers in Sumner County, TN?
Total taxes are $6,708 a year, an effective rate of 14.9%: $3,268 federal income tax, $3,440 FICA and no Tennessee income tax.
Is pay for Light Truck Drivers in Sumner County, TN above the Tennessee average?
It is about the same. The local median of $44,970 is within 0.6% of the Tennessee average of $44,720.
Is a one-bedroom rent affordable on the median Light Truck Drivers salary in Sumner County, TN?
A one-bedroom costs $1,650 a month against take-home pay of $3,188, which is 51.7% of take-home pay. That does not meet the 30%-of-gross guideline, which allows up to $1,124 a month.
How much is left after rent, food and energy for Light Truck Drivers in Sumner County, TN?
About $989 a month ($11,867 a year) remains after a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline, which together cost $26,395 a year.
What hourly wage covers a one-bedroom in Sumner County, TN at the 30% guideline?
$31.73 an hour for a full-time schedule, calculated as the $19,800 annual rent divided by 0.30 and by 2,080 hours. The median for Light Truck Drivers is $21.62.
How we calculated these numbers
Wages are May 2025 medians from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for the Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN 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 Tennessee 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.