What Light Truck Drivers earn in Wayne County, MI
The median pay for Light Truck Drivers in Wayne County, MI is $44,200 per year, which works out to $21.25 per hour. The figure comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics wage survey for the Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI metropolitan area, the labor market that Wayne County, MI 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 $47,500, which is 7.5% above the median, a sign that a group of high earners lifts the average. The survey counts about 11,530 people working in this occupation across the Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI metropolitan area, so the estimate rests on a substantial pool of workers. Wayne County, MI has roughly 1,772,259 residents, according to the population figures used by the rent data.
The salary range, from entry level to top earners
Pay for Light Truck Drivers in the Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI metropolitan area is not one number. The lowest-paid tenth of workers earn up to $29,750 a year ($14.30 an hour), while the highest-paid tenth earn $82,800 or more ($39.81 an hour). That is a gap of $53,050 between the bottom and the top of the scale. The middle half of workers falls between $37,910 at the 25th percentile and $47,970 at the 75th percentile. A top-tier earner makes 2.8 times what someone at the bottom makes, so experience, certification and employer all matter.
What the hourly rate looks like
Converted to an hourly wage, the median for Light Truck Drivers in Wayne County, MI is $21.25. A full-time schedule of 40 hours for 52 weeks adds up to $44,200, and the same salary is $3,683 a month before taxes or about $1,700 per biweekly pay period. After taxes the same job pays $17.31 per hour of take-home income, which is the number that actually has to cover rent and groceries.
How pay in Wayne County, MI compares
Compared with the Michigan average
Wayne County, MI pays above the state benchmark. The Michigan employment-weighted average for Light Truck Drivers is $43,067; the local median of $44,200 beats it by $1,133, or 2.6%. Within Michigan, Wayne County, MI already has the highest median we track for this job.
Compared with the national average
Nationally, Light Truck Drivers earn an employment-weighted average of $44,271 across the contiguous United States, so $44,200 in Wayne County, MI is essentially average. 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 Wayne County, MI
Among the 590 occupations with published wages in Wayne County, MI, Light Truck Drivers ranks number 474 by median pay, ahead of about 20% of them. The best-paying occupation we track here is Financial Managers at $160,240 a year, which is $116,040 more than the median for Light Truck Drivers.
From gross pay to take-home pay
A salary of $44,200 does not arrive in full. We model a single filer with wage income only, the standard deduction and tax-year 2025 rules, and we keep the three tax layers apart: federal income tax, FICA (Social Security and Medicare) and state income tax. Together they take $8,189 a year, which leaves $36,011, or $3,001 a month.
Put another way, of every $100 earned, about $19 goes to taxes and $81 reaches the paycheck. The overall effective tax rate is 18.5%.
Federal income tax
After the $15,750 standard deduction, taxable income is $28,450. 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 $3,176, an effective 7.2% 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 $2,740 on this salary. Medicare takes 1.45%, or $641. FICA totals $3,381, which is 7.6% of gross pay.
State income tax in Michigan
Michigan income tax on this salary is $1,632 a year, or 3.7% 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 $136 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 Wayne County, MI
IRS Statistics of Income data for Wayne County, MI show an average adjusted gross income of $69,184 per return and an average effective federal income tax rate of 12.1% across all filers. Filers in the $25,000 to under $50,000 bracket, where this salary falls, paid an average of 4.7%, compared with the 7.2% 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 Wayne County, MI
Take-home pay only means something next to what life costs. We price four basics for one adult in Wayne County, MI: a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline. All of them are converted to annual figures first, then compared with the $36,011 of take-home pay.
Rent
The HUD Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Wayne County, MI is $1,167 a month, or $14,004 a year. A two-bedroom costs $1,459 a month. For Light Truck Drivers, a one-bedroom absorbs 38.9% of take-home pay and 31.7% 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 7.8% of gross pay for Light Truck Drivers in Wayne County, MI. It is a thrifty budget with no restaurant meals, so treat it as a floor.
Energy and gasoline
Using Michigan residential prices from the Energy Information Administration and national household averages for consumption, electricity costs about $2,039 a year and other home energy such as natural gas about $416, for $2,455 in total. Gasoline in Michigan 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
Add the four basics together and living costs come to $21,331 a year, 59% of take-home pay. That leaves $14,680 a year, or $1,223 a month, for savings, transportation beyond fuel, health care, debt and everything else. That margin equals 33.2% of gross pay, a comfortable cushion by common budgeting rules.
Can Light Truck Drivers afford to live in Wayne County, MI?
The 30% rent guideline
A common rule of thumb says rent should stay under 30% of gross income. For a gross salary of $44,200 that ceiling is $1,105 a month. The one-bedroom Fair Market Rent of $1,167 is $62 over it, so rent breaks the guideline. Put as a wage, covering a one-bedroom at the 30% guideline takes $22.44 an hour; the median for Light Truck Drivers is $21.25, which is 5% below that mark. Another way to see it: at $17.31 of take-home pay an hour, a one-bedroom takes about 15.6 working hours every week.
Splitting a two-bedroom
Sharing a two-bedroom at $1,459 a month means $730 each. Compared with renting a one-bedroom alone, that saves $5,250 a year. With a roommate, the yearly margin after the basics becomes $19,930.
How fast you can save
At $1,223 a month of margin, building a $10,000 emergency fund would take about 9 months. Setting aside half of the margin stretches the same goal to about 18 months. These figures ignore interest, raises and any spending beyond the four basics.
Frequently asked questions about Light Truck Drivers pay in Wayne County, MI
What is the hourly wage for Light Truck Drivers in Wayne County, MI?
The median is $21.25 per hour, based on $44,200 a year over 2,080 hours. Hourly pay runs from about $14.30 at the 10th percentile to $39.81 at the 90th percentile.
What is the take-home pay for Light Truck Drivers in Wayne County, MI?
After federal income tax, FICA and state income tax, the median salary of $44,200 becomes $36,011 a year. That is $3,001 a month, $1,385 every two weeks or $693 a week.
What percentage of pay goes to taxes for Light Truck Drivers in Wayne County, MI?
Total taxes are $8,189 a year, an effective rate of 18.5%: $3,176 federal income tax, $3,381 FICA and $1,632 Michigan income tax.
Is pay for Light Truck Drivers in Wayne County, MI above the Michigan average?
Yes. The local median of $44,200 is +2.6% versus the Michigan average of $43,067, a difference of $1,133 a year.
Is a one-bedroom rent affordable on the median Light Truck Drivers salary in Wayne County, MI?
A one-bedroom costs $1,167 a month against take-home pay of $3,001, which is 38.9% of take-home pay. That does not meet the 30%-of-gross guideline, which allows up to $1,105 a month.
How much is left after rent, food and energy for Light Truck Drivers in Wayne County, MI?
About $1,223 a month ($14,680 a year) remains after a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline, which together cost $21,331 a year.
What hourly wage covers a one-bedroom in Wayne County, MI at the 30% guideline?
$22.44 an hour for a full-time schedule, calculated as the $14,004 annual rent divided by 0.30 and by 2,080 hours. The median for Light Truck Drivers is $21.25.
How we calculated these numbers
Wages are May 2025 medians from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for the Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI 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 Michigan 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.