CDL Pay Guide was built with one goal: give people considering a trucking career straight answers without the recruiter pressure, the misleading ads, or the vague national averages that tell you nothing.
Why We Built This
When someone Googles "how much does a truck driver make in Texas," they deserve a real answer — not a form asking for their phone number so a recruiter can call them. Every major trucking company and CDL school has a financial incentive to paint trucking as perfectly as possible. We don't. We just want to give you the information you need to make a smart decision.
What We Offer
- Salary calculator by state, driving type, experience, and endorsements
- Complete salary table for all 50 states with real BLS and ZipRecruiter data
- Honest OTR vs Regional vs Local comparison
- Full CDL cost breakdown including the free training options most people miss
- Top company reviews with actual starting pay
- In-depth articles on every aspect of a trucking career
Our Data Sources
Salary data is sourced from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), ZipRecruiter, Indeed, and Salary.com — updated for 2026. We cross-reference multiple sources to give you the most accurate picture possible.
Contact
Questions, corrections, or suggestions: contact@cdlpayguide.com