Light Truck Drivers Average Salary in Kentucky
$48,880 average · $48,880 median · BLS OEWS 2025
SOC Code: 53-3033What is this?
This page shows employer-reported wages for Light Truck Drivers in Kentucky, drawn from the Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS survey — median and mean pay, the full percentile distribution, and the industries that employ this occupation locally. For driving occupations, segment is everything: specialized freight (tanker, hazmat, oversize) and unionized LTL pay far above general long-haul, which in turn pays above local delivery. Endorsements on a CDL are cheap to acquire relative to the premium they unlock. In warehousing, equipment certification and shift leads provide the increments, with supervisor roles the larger step.
How much do Light Truck Drivers make in Kentucky?
The average light truck drivers salary in Kentucky is $48,880 per year. That works out to about $23.50 per hour on average. BLS counts roughly 15,630 light truck drivers jobs in Kentucky.
Mean and median are close, so pay is relatively concentrated around $48,880. Entry-level roles (10th percentile) report about $48,880; experienced workers at the 90th percentile report about $48,880 — a 0% spread from bottom to top. Figures are employer-reported wages from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program — not self-reported survey averages — so they are the right baseline for offers, raises, and relocation decisions in this market.
How Transportation and Material Moving Careers Are Structured
Transportation and material moving is one of the largest occupational groups in the country, anchored by trucking and warehousing. Credentials are fast to obtain and demand is structural — but this is also the group where automation timelines deserve the most honest attention, and the trends pages on this site are worth reading alongside the current wages.
The wage tables and percentile chart on this page show how light truck drivers pay is distributed in Kentucky specifically — and because state-level wages for the same occupation routinely differ by 30% or more, the local figures here are the ones that matter for offers, raises, and relocation decisions in this market.
What Moves Pay in This Field
For driving occupations, segment is everything: specialized freight (tanker, hazmat, oversize) and unionized LTL pay far above general long-haul, which in turn pays above local delivery. Endorsements on a CDL are cheap to acquire relative to the premium they unlock. In warehousing, equipment certification and shift leads provide the increments, with supervisor roles the larger step.
CDL training takes weeks and frequently comes employer-funded with a work commitment. The pattern worth knowing: first-year driver turnover is very high and first-year pay sits near the bottom of this distribution — wages improve quickly with a clean record and the leverage to choose segment. Local and regional routes trade some pay for predictability against long-haul.
New to reading wage distributions? Our guide to salary percentiles explains how to place yourself on the chart above, and the negotiation playbook shows how to use these numbers in an actual conversation.
What Do Light Truck Drivers Do?
Light Truck Drivers positions belong to the transportation and material moving field. Transportation and material moving is one of the largest occupational groups in the country, anchored by trucking and warehousing. Credentials are fast to obtain and demand is structural — but this is also the group where automation timelines deserve the most honest attention, and the trends pages on this site are worth reading alongside the current wages.
Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) Code: 53-3033
Light Truck Drivers pay in Kentucky
In Kentucky, light truck drivers report a median of $48,880 (about $23.50/hour) across roughly 15,630 jobs. The local pay band runs from about $48,880 at the 10th percentile to $48,880 at the 90th.
Compared with the national distribution, local industry mix and cost of living are the main reasons Kentucky wages for this occupation sit where they do — toggle Regional Price Parity on this page to see purchasing-power-adjusted pay.
What your paycheck is really worth in Kentucky
Prices in Kentucky run 10% below the national average (RPP 90.2). So a nominal salary of $48,880 has the buying power of about $54,215 in national terms.
Kentucky vs. United States for Light Truck Drivers
The median light truck drivers salary in Kentucky is $48,880, which is +0.3% above the national median of $48,730 (mean pay is +0.4% above the U.S. mean of $48,694). Among 51 states and D.C. with OEWS data, Kentucky ranks #24 by median wage for this occupation. Kentucky accounts for about 0.3% of U.S. light truck drivers employment in the latest OEWS release.
See every state ranked for this occupation on the best-paying states page, or compare purchasing power on real wages.
Income reality check
The median salary for Light Truck Drivers in Kentucky of $48,880 falls in the Stably paid band of this framework - roughly ~12% of the U.S. population and ~15% of the global population sit in this band.
Illustrative relative standing for education only - this ladder is a simplified framework, not an official Census, BLS, or World Bank statistical series. Salary figures on Wage Atlas come from official BLS OEWS data.
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Occupation Report Card
Top Industries for Light Truck Drivers
| $56,940 | $48,122 | $27 | 887,000 | |
| $45,497 | $44,697 | $22 | 287,530 | |
| $31,690 | $30,614 | $15 | 180,670 |
Related Occupations
SOC: 51-9061 • 92% match | $53,408 | $53,450 | $26 | 3,081,730 |
SOC: 41-1011 • 91% match | $53,392 | $53,350 | $26 | 5,666,660 |
SOC: 47-2061 • 91% match | $51,882 | $52,070 | $25 | 5,760,000 |
| $49,337 | $49,060 | $24 | 10,024,720 | |
| Find Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive Jobs | ||||
SOC: 53-7051 • 89% match | $48,241 | $48,370 | $23 | 3,938,300 |
SOC: 43-5071 • 92% match | $46,820 | $46,810 | $23 | 4,222,500 |
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Light Truck Drivers in Other States
Compare salaries for this occupation across different states:
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$48,880 → $61,100
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Viewing: Light Truck Drivers (SOC: 53-3033)