What Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers earn in Guthrie County, IA
According to the latest federal wage data for the Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA metropolitan area, the median pay for Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers in Guthrie County, IA is $60,720 a year, or $29.19 an hour. After federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare and state income tax, the paycheck shrinks to $48,650 a year, and rent, food and energy take another bite. The sections below walk through each step with the actual math for Guthrie County, IA.
The mean wage is $63,480, which is 4.5% above the median, a sign that a group of high earners lifts the average. The survey counts about 7,840 people working in this occupation across the Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA metropolitan area, so the estimate rests on a substantial pool of workers. Guthrie County, IA has roughly 10,688 residents, according to the population figures used by the rent data.
The salary range, from entry level to top earners
Pay for Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers in the Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA metropolitan area is not one number. The lowest-paid tenth of workers earn up to $43,950 a year ($21.13 an hour), while the highest-paid tenth earn $79,240 or more ($38.10 an hour). That is a gap of $35,290 between the bottom and the top of the scale. The middle half of workers falls between $50,430 at the 25th percentile and $74,040 at the 75th percentile. A top-tier earner makes 1.8 times what someone at the bottom makes, so experience, certification and employer all matter.
What the hourly rate looks like
Employers quote this occupation by the hour or by the year, so here are both: $29.19 an hour or $60,720 a year at the median for Guthrie County, IA. Before any deductions, that is $5,060 a month, $2,335 every two weeks and $1,168 each week. After taxes the same job pays $23.39 per hour of take-home income, which is the number that actually has to cover rent and groceries.
About this occupation: Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers
The U.S. Department of Labor's O*NET database describes the work of Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers this way: "Drive a tractor-trailer combination or a truck with a capacity of at least 26,001 pounds Gross Vehicle Weight (GVW). May be required to unload truck. Requires commercial drivers' license. Includes tow truck drivers."
Core tasks recorded by O*NET include: "Check vehicles to ensure that mechanical, safety, and emergency equipment is in good working order"; "Maintain logs of working hours or of vehicle service or repair status, following applicable state and federal regulations"; "Obtain receipts or signatures for delivered goods and collect payment for services when required"; "Maneuver trucks into loading or unloading positions, following signals from loading crew and checking that vehicle and loading equipment are properly positioned".
Job outlook for Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers
The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects national employment in this occupation to grow from 2,221,200 jobs in 2025 to 2,305,000 in 2035, a change of +3.8%, faster than the 3.5% projected for all occupations. The projection counts 214,500 openings a year on average, including positions created by growth and positions left by workers who retire or move to another occupation; that equals 9.7% of current employment each year. About 7.3% of the people in this occupation are self-employed, and wage figures cover wage and salary workers only.
Typical entry-level education: postsecondary nondegree award. Typical on-the-job training to reach competency: short-term on-the-job training. BLS lists a national median annual wage of $58,640 for this occupation; the Guthrie County, IA median of $60,720 is 3.5% above it.
How pay in Guthrie County, IA compares
Compared with the Iowa average
A worker in this occupation in Guthrie County, IA earns $3,287 more than the Iowa average of $57,433, a premium of 5.7%. Over a year that premium is worth $3,287 before tax and roughly $2,634 after tax. Within Iowa, Guthrie County, IA already has the highest median we track for this job.
Compared with the national average
The national employment-weighted average for Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers is $57,851 across the contiguous United States. At $60,720, Guthrie County, IA pays $2,869 more, which is 5.0% 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 Guthrie County, IA
Among the 452 occupations with published wages in Guthrie County, IA, Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers ranks number 228 by median pay, ahead of about 50% of them. The best-paying occupation we track here is General and Operations Managers at $98,780 a year, which is $38,060 more than the median for Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers.
From gross pay to take-home pay
Three separate tax bills sit between the gross salary and the bank account: federal income tax, FICA, and state income tax. For Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers earning the Guthrie County, IA median of $60,720, they add up to $12,070. The result is $48,650 of take-home pay a year ($4,054 a month), based on a single filer using the standard deduction.
Put another way, of every $100 earned, about $20 goes to taxes and $80 reaches the paycheck. The overall effective tax rate is 19.9%.
Federal income tax
After the $15,750 standard deduction, taxable income is $44,970. 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 $5,158, an effective 8.5% 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 $3,765 on this salary. Medicare takes 1.45%, or $880. FICA totals $4,645, which is 7.6% of gross pay.
State income tax in Iowa
Iowa income tax on this salary is $2,267 a year, or 3.7% of gross pay, after the state's own deductions and exemptions are applied. That is 44% of the federal income tax bill, and it comes out to $189 a month. Local taxes such as county or city income taxes are not included, so a few jurisdictions may withhold slightly more.
A cross-check with IRS data for Guthrie County, IA
IRS Statistics of Income data for Guthrie County, IA show an average adjusted gross income of $86,546 per return and an average effective federal income tax rate of 12.3% across all filers. Filers in the $50,000 to under $75,000 bracket, where this salary falls, paid an average of 6.9%, compared with the 8.5% 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 Guthrie County, IA
Take-home pay only means something next to what life costs. We price four basics for one adult in Guthrie County, IA: a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline. All of them are converted to annual figures first, then compared with the $48,650 of take-home pay.
Rent
Housing is the largest line in most budgets. For Guthrie County, IA, HUD sets the Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom unit at $1,145 a month ($13,740 a year), and at $1,360 for two bedrooms. For Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers, a one-bedroom absorbs 28.2% of take-home pay and 22.6% 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 5.7% of gross pay for Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers in Guthrie County, IA. It is a thrifty budget with no restaurant meals, so treat it as a floor.
Energy and gasoline
Using Iowa residential prices from the Energy Information Administration and national household averages for consumption, electricity costs about $1,416 a year and other home energy such as natural gas about $395, for $1,811 in total. Gasoline in Iowa averages $3.12 per gallon; at about 463 gallons a year (11,106 miles at 24 miles per gallon) fuel adds $1,445.
What is left over
Rent, food, energy and gasoline cost $20,432 a year in Guthrie County, IA. Subtract that from $48,650 of take-home pay and $28,218 remains, which is $2,351 a month of breathing room. That margin equals 46.5% of gross pay, a comfortable cushion by common budgeting rules.
Local housing and commute data for Guthrie County, IA
The budget above covers rent, food, energy and gasoline. Three more local facts shape what a paycheck buys in Guthrie County, IA: 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 Guthrie County, IA, set beside the Iowa and national medians.
Property taxes in Guthrie County, IA
Homeowners in Guthrie County, IA pay a median of $2,199 a year in real estate taxes, 24% below the Iowa median of $2,897 and 29% below the U.S. median of $3,119. Against a median home value of $180,100, the median tax bill is 1.22% of that value (the ratio of the two county medians). For a worker paid the local Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers median of $60,720, a tax bill of that size would equal 3.6% of gross pay, which matters for anyone planning to buy rather than rent.
Rents, home prices and household income in Guthrie County, IA
Renters in Guthrie County, IA pay a median gross rent of $845 a month in the Census survey, 13% below the Iowa median of $972. HUD's Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment, which this site uses in the budget, is $1,145 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 $180,100, 13% below the Iowa median of $208,000. Median household income is $77,711, 4% above the Iowa median of $75,059, so a year of one-bedroom Fair Market Rent equals 17.7% of that income.
Commuting in Guthrie County, IA
Workers in Guthrie County, IA who travel to a workplace spend an average of 27.1 minutes each way, 37% above the Iowa average of 19.8. For someone who commutes five days a week, that is 4.5 hours of round-trip travel every week, a cost the budget does not price. 11.8% of workers in Guthrie County, IA work from home, compared with 15.1% nationally, which removes the commute for them.
Can Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers afford to live in Guthrie County, IA?
The 30% rent guideline
A common rule of thumb says rent should stay under 30% of gross income. For a gross salary of $60,720 that ceiling is $1,518 a month. The one-bedroom Fair Market Rent of $1,145 is $373 under it, so rent fits the guideline. Put as a wage, covering a one-bedroom at the 30% guideline takes $22.02 an hour; the median for Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers is $29.19, which is 33% above that mark. Another way to see it: at $23.39 of take-home pay an hour, a one-bedroom takes about 11.3 working hours every week.
Splitting a two-bedroom
Sharing a two-bedroom at $1,360 a month means $680 each. Compared with renting a one-bedroom alone, that saves $5,580 a year. With a roommate, the yearly margin after the basics becomes $33,798.
How fast you can save
At $2,351 a month of margin, building a $10,000 emergency fund would take about 5 months. Setting aside half of the margin stretches the same goal to about 10 months. These figures ignore interest, raises and any spending beyond the four basics.
Frequently asked questions about Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers pay in Guthrie County, IA
How much do Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers make per hour in Guthrie County, IA?
The median is $29.19 per hour, based on $60,720 a year over 2,080 hours. Hourly pay runs from about $21.13 at the 10th percentile to $38.10 at the 90th percentile.
How much do Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers take home after taxes in Guthrie County, IA?
After federal income tax, FICA and state income tax, the median salary of $60,720 becomes $48,650 a year. That is $4,054 a month, $1,871 every two weeks or $936 a week.
How much tax do Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers pay in Guthrie County, IA?
Total taxes are $12,070 a year, an effective rate of 19.9%: $5,158 federal income tax, $4,645 FICA and $2,267 Iowa income tax.
Do Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers earn more in Guthrie County, IA than elsewhere in Iowa?
Yes. The local median of $60,720 is +5.7% versus the Iowa average of $57,433, a difference of $3,287 a year.
Can Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers afford a one-bedroom apartment in Guthrie County, IA?
A one-bedroom costs $1,145 a month against take-home pay of $4,054, which is 28.2% of take-home pay. That meets the 30%-of-gross guideline, which allows up to $1,518 a month.
What is the monthly budget margin for Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers in Guthrie County, IA?
About $2,351 a month ($28,218 a year) remains after a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline, which together cost $20,432 a year.
What hourly wage covers a one-bedroom in Guthrie County, IA at the 30% guideline?
$22.02 an hour for a full-time schedule, calculated as the $13,740 annual rent divided by 0.30 and by 2,080 hours. The median for Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers is $29.19.
How we calculated these numbers
Wages are May 2025 medians from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for the Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA 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 Iowa 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.