Best States for Trucker Drivers

Where you choose to drive or launch a trucking career can change your earning power and day-to-day quality of life. To help you compare locations, we built a meta-ranking of all 50 states using five equally weighted factors: pay, employment concentration, job demand, search interest, and recent safety outcomes.

The analysis drew on data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, online job postings, Google Trends, and state fatality counts for large truck occupants. The result offers a clear, apples-to-apples look at where trucking opportunities are strongest this year.

Key Takeaways

• Wisconsin, Georgia, and Iowa are the best states for truckers in 2025. 
• Truckers in New Jersey and Washington have the highest average salaries, $67,630 and $67,060, respectively.
• Arkansas has the highest trucker employment rate at 25.1 per 1,000 jobs. 
• Wisconsin has the most job postings online per 100,000 residents at 29.3. 
• Laredo, TX, is the metro area with the highest trucking employment rate, 46.4 per 1,000 jobs. 
• Truckers in Lincoln, NE, have the highest average salaries, $80,160.

Ranking the Best and Worst States for Truck Drivers

A strong trucking market balances steady demand with solid pay and reasonable safety outcomes. Here's how states stacked up overall in 2025.

Wisconsin, Georgia, and Iowa topped the list of best states for truckers in 2025. Wisconsin stands out with the most online job postings per capita (No. 1) and a strong employment rate (No. 9). Georgia also performed well, ranking No. 2 in search interest and No. 8 in job postings. Iowa earned its place in the top three thanks to its No. 3 ranking in employment and respectable positions for postings and search interest.

On the other end of the ranking, New Mexico, Hawaii, and Colorado appear more challenging for truckers. New Mexico placed at the bottom overall, struggling in salary (No. 49), fatalities (No. 49), and job postings (No. 46). Hawaii, while having the fewest fatalities, ranked last in search interest and near the bottom in employment and job postings. Colorado showed promise in salary (No. 9) but fell behind in employment (No. 44) and postings (No. 41), dragging down its overall score.

State Leaders in Pay, Jobs, and Demand

Truckers' career decisions often come down to three main factors: pay, job availability, and demand. The top states in each category show where truck drivers can expect the strongest opportunities.

Truckers in New Jersey and Washington earn the highest average salaries, at $67,630 and $67,060, respectively. These figures set a high bar and may appeal to experienced drivers who can qualify for top-paying routes.

Arkansas has the strongest trucker employment rate in the nation (25.1 per 1,000 jobs). However, the demand for truckers to fill open positions is currently highest in Wisconsin, which leads in online job postings at 29.3 per 100,000 residents.

Top Metros for Trucking

Zooming in on metro areas reveals local markets where trucking careers are especially rewarding in 2025.

Laredo, Texas, ranks as the nation's top metro area for trucking employment, with 46.4 jobs per 1,000 positions dedicated to drivers. Odessa, Texas, follows with 41.5, and the Sioux City, South Dakota, metro area is third with 40.

When it comes to salaries, Lincoln, Nebraska, leads with average earnings of $80,160 for truckers. Iowa City, Iowa ($78,160) and Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, Washington ($70,690), round out the top three, showing that both Midwestern and coastal metros can offer lucrative opportunities.

Top 10 Metros for Trucking Employment

1. Laredo, TX (46.4)
2. Odessa, TX (41.5)
3. Sioux City, IA-NE-SD (40.0)
4. Midland, TX (39.3)
5. Joplin, MO-KS (39.0)
6. Stockton-Lodi, CA (36.6)
7. Yuba City, CA (36.2)
8. Fort Smith, AR-OK (34.4)
9. Springfield, OH (30.8)
10. Morristown, TN (30.0)

Top 10 Metros for Average Salary

1. Lincoln, NE ($80,160)
2. Iowa City, IA ($78,160)
3. Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA ($70,690)
4. San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA ($69,560)
5. Fairbanks-College, AK ($69,430)
6. New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ ($69,180)
7. Cheyenne, WY ($68,830)
8. San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA ($68,410)
9. Bend, OR ($67,430)
10. La Crosse-Onalaska, WI-MN ($66,680)

Choosing the Right State for Your Trucking Future

The trucking industry continues to provide strong opportunities for drivers nationwide, but where you live can shape your career prospects. States like Wisconsin, Georgia, and Iowa offer balanced advantages across pay, job availability, and demand, while metro areas such as Laredo and Lincoln provide localized opportunities in employment and pay. For truckers evaluating their next move, these findings highlight where the road ahead looks most promising.

Methodology

To determine the best states to be a trucker, we gathered data from multiple sources to create a meta-ranking using the following variables:

• Average annual salary of heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (20%)
• Heavy and tractor-trailer truck driver employment per 1,000 jobs from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (20%)
• Number of online job postings for heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers (collected August 12, 2025; subject to change daily) (20%)
• Search volume per capita from the past year for "trucking jobs" from Google Trends (2023-2025) (20%)
• Number of large truck occupant fatalities by state (2023) (20%)

This ranking includes data for all 50 states in the U.S., plus 387 metropolitan areas.

Limitations:

Each factor is weighted at 20%, but this may not reflect their true importance. For instance, salary might matter more to drivers than search interest. Some key quality-of-life or cost-of-living measures (e.g., housing affordability, healthcare access, fuel prices, state trucking regulations) are not included. Only data for heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers was used, but the trucking industry is diverse (e.g., long-haul, regional, and local delivery), and aggregated data may not represent conditions for each segment.

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