What Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers earn in Rush County, KS
The median pay for Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers in Rush County, KS is $51,070 per year, which works out to $24.55 per hour. The figure comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics wage survey for the Kansas nonmetropolitan area, the labor market that Rush County, KS belongs to. Half of the workers in this occupation earn more than the median and half earn less, which makes it a sturdier yardstick than an average that a few very high earners can pull upward.
The mean wage is $57,630, which is 12.8% above the median, a sign that a group of high earners lifts the average. The survey counts about 8,100 people working in this occupation across the Kansas nonmetropolitan area, so the estimate rests on a substantial pool of workers. Rush County, KS has roughly 2,947 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 Kansas nonmetropolitan area is not one number. The lowest-paid tenth of workers earn up to $40,310 a year ($19.38 an hour), while the highest-paid tenth earn $78,730 or more ($37.85 an hour). That is a gap of $38,420 between the bottom and the top of the scale. The middle half of workers falls between $45,420 at the 25th percentile and $62,880 at the 75th percentile. A top-tier earner makes 2.0 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: $24.55 an hour or $51,070 a year at the median for Rush County, KS. Before any deductions, that is $4,256 a month, $1,964 every two weeks and $982 each week. After taxes the same job pays $19.77 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 Rush County, KS median of $51,070 is 12.9% below it.
How pay in Rush County, KS compares
Compared with the Kansas average
Pay in Rush County, KS runs $5,405 below the Kansas average of $56,475, a gap of 9.6%. A worker who moved to a better-paying part of Kansas would, on paper, gain that difference before taxes. Within Kansas, the highest median we track for this job is $60,170 in Johnson County, KS.
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 $51,070, Rush County, KS pays $6,781 less, which is 11.7% below 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 Rush County, KS
Among the 446 occupations with published wages in Rush County, KS, Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers ranks number 206 by median pay, ahead of about 54% of them. The best-paying occupation we track here is Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive at $38,290 a year, which is $12,780 less 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 Rush County, KS median of $51,070, they add up to $9,957. The result is $41,113 of take-home pay a year ($3,426 a month), based on a single filer using the standard deduction.
Put another way, of every $100 earned, about $19 goes to taxes and $81 reaches the paycheck. The overall effective tax rate is 19.5%.
Federal income tax
After the $15,750 standard deduction, taxable income is $35,320. 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 $4,000, an effective 7.8% 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 $3,166 on this salary. Medicare takes 1.45%, or $741. FICA totals $3,907, which is 7.7% of gross pay.
State income tax in Kansas
Kansas income tax on this salary is $2,050 a year, or 4.0% of gross pay, after the state's own deductions and exemptions are applied. That is 51% of the federal income tax bill, and it comes out to $171 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 Rush County, KS
IRS Statistics of Income data for Rush County, KS show an average adjusted gross income of $59,076 per return and an average effective federal income tax rate of 10.0% across all filers. Filers in the $50,000 to under $75,000 bracket, where this salary falls, paid an average of 6.5%, compared with the 7.8% 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 Rush County, KS
Take-home pay only means something next to what life costs. We price four basics for one adult in Rush County, KS: a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline. All of them are converted to annual figures first, then compared with the $41,113 of take-home pay.
Rent
Housing is the largest line in most budgets. For Rush County, KS, HUD sets the Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom unit at $735 a month ($8,820 a year), and at $961 for two bedrooms. For Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers, a one-bedroom absorbs 21.4% of take-home pay and 17.3% 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 6.7% of gross pay for Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers in Rush County, KS. It is a thrifty budget with no restaurant meals, so treat it as a floor.
Energy and gasoline
Using Kansas residential prices from the Energy Information Administration and national household averages for consumption, electricity costs about $1,495 a year and other home energy such as natural gas about $515, for $2,011 in total. Gasoline in Kansas averages $3.10 per gallon; at about 463 gallons a year (11,106 miles at 24 miles per gallon) fuel adds $1,436.
What is left over
Rent, food, energy and gasoline cost $15,702 a year in Rush County, KS. Subtract that from $41,113 of take-home pay and $25,411 remains, which is $2,118 a month of breathing room. That margin equals 49.8% of gross pay, a comfortable cushion by common budgeting rules.
Local housing and commute data for Rush County, KS
The budget above covers rent, food, energy and gasoline. Three more local facts shape what a paycheck buys in Rush County, KS: 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 Rush County, KS, set beside the Kansas and national medians.
Property taxes in Rush County, KS
Homeowners in Rush County, KS pay a median of $1,562 a year in real estate taxes, 44% below the Kansas median of $2,798 and 50% below the U.S. median of $3,119. Against a median home value of $83,600, the median tax bill is 1.87% of that value (the ratio of the two county medians). For a worker paid the local Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers median of $51,070, a tax bill of that size would equal 3.1% of gross pay, which matters for anyone planning to buy rather than rent.
Rents, home prices and household income in Rush County, KS
Renters in Rush County, KS pay a median gross rent of $711 a month in the Census survey, 33% below the Kansas median of $1,060. HUD's Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment, which this site uses in the budget, is $735 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 $83,600, 62% below the Kansas median of $217,200. Median household income is $59,970, 19% below the Kansas median of $74,275, so a year of one-bedroom Fair Market Rent equals 14.7% of that income.
Commuting in Rush County, KS
Workers in Rush County, KS who travel to a workplace spend an average of 22.4 minutes each way, 14% above the Kansas average of 19.7. For someone who commutes five days a week, that is 3.7 hours of round-trip travel every week, a cost the budget does not price. 7.0% of workers in Rush County, KS 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 Rush County, KS?
The 30% rent guideline
A common rule of thumb says rent should stay under 30% of gross income. For a gross salary of $51,070 that ceiling is $1,277 a month. The one-bedroom Fair Market Rent of $735 is $542 under it, so rent fits the guideline. Put as a wage, covering a one-bedroom at the 30% guideline takes $14.13 an hour; the median for Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers is $24.55, which is 74% above that mark. Another way to see it: at $19.77 of take-home pay an hour, a one-bedroom takes about 8.6 working hours every week.
Splitting a two-bedroom
Sharing a two-bedroom at $961 a month means $481 each. Compared with renting a one-bedroom alone, that saves $3,054 a year. With a roommate, the yearly margin after the basics becomes $28,465.
How fast you can save
At $2,118 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 Rush County, KS
How much do Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers make per hour in Rush County, KS?
The median is $24.55 per hour, based on $51,070 a year over 2,080 hours. Hourly pay runs from about $19.38 at the 10th percentile to $37.85 at the 90th percentile.
How much do Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers take home after taxes in Rush County, KS?
After federal income tax, FICA and state income tax, the median salary of $51,070 becomes $41,113 a year. That is $3,426 a month, $1,581 every two weeks or $791 a week.
How much tax do Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers pay in Rush County, KS?
Total taxes are $9,957 a year, an effective rate of 19.5%: $4,000 federal income tax, $3,907 FICA and $2,050 Kansas income tax.
Do Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers earn more in Rush County, KS than elsewhere in Kansas?
No. The local median of $51,070 is -9.6% versus the Kansas average of $56,475, a difference of $5,405 a year.
Can Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers afford a one-bedroom apartment in Rush County, KS?
A one-bedroom costs $735 a month against take-home pay of $3,426, which is 21.5% of take-home pay. That meets the 30%-of-gross guideline, which allows up to $1,277 a month.
What is the monthly budget margin for Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers in Rush County, KS?
About $2,118 a month ($25,411 a year) remains after a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline, which together cost $15,702 a year.
What hourly wage covers a one-bedroom in Rush County, KS at the 30% guideline?
$14.13 an hour for a full-time schedule, calculated as the $8,820 annual rent divided by 0.30 and by 2,080 hours. The median for Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers is $24.55.
How we calculated these numbers
Wages are May 2025 medians from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for the Kansas nonmetropolitan 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 Kansas 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.