Heavy & Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers salary in Santa Maria, CA
Median pay for heavy & tractor-trailer truck drivers in Santa Maria, CA: $55,300/yr
Typical range (10th–90th percentile): $38,460 – $75,950 · about 1,590 employed locally
Above the typical metro median ($51,330) by +$3,970 (+8%).
What it's really worth in Santa Maria
With Santa Maria's cost of living at 114 (US=100), that $55,300 has the buying power of about $48,625 in an average-cost US metro.
Local context: median household income $92,332 · median home $1,005,339 · median rent $3,338/mo.
How Santa Maria ranks for this job
On raw pay, Santa Maria, CA is 65th of the 187 metros we hold heavy & tractor-trailer truck drivers wages for. Once Santa Maria's cost of living is applied, it ranks 165th.
The headline number flatters Santa Maria. Once housing and everyday costs are taken into account, heavy & tractor-trailer truck drivers here keep less of what they earn than the raw salary implies.
What that salary buys in Santa Maria
A median home in Santa Maria, CA costs $1,005,339 — about 18.2× this salary, against a typical US metro figure of 4.7×. Buying is harder here than in the average metro on this income.
Median rent of $3,338/mo works out at 72% of gross pay — above the conventional 30% affordability ceiling, so renting would stretch this salary.
Where heavy & tractor-trailer truck drivers earn more
Pay on its own is only half the picture, so each row shows what rent costs there relative to Santa Maria.
| Metro | Median pay | vs Santa Maria | Rent vs Santa Maria |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lincoln, NE | $89,760 | +62% | 0.4× |
| Seattle, WA | $63,460 | +15% | 0.7× |
| San Francisco, CA | $62,750 | +13% | 1× |
| San Jose, CA | $62,560 | +13% | 1.1× |
Same job elsewhere in CA
| Metro | Median pay | vs Santa Maria | Rent vs Santa Maria |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Francisco, CA | $62,750 | +13% | 1× |
| San Jose, CA | $62,560 | +13% | 1.1× |
| Stockton, CA | $59,060 | +7% | 0.7× |
| Santa Rosa, CA | $58,980 | +7% | 0.8× |
Staying in CA keeps state income tax and licensing the same, which makes these the most directly comparable moves.
Other jobs in Santa Maria
Source: US BLS OEWS (May 2023) median annual wage; cost of living from BEA; home price and rent from Zillow; household income from US Census ACS. Rankings are across the 187 metros we hold wage data for in this occupation. Estimates for guidance only. See methodology.