Truck Driver vs Registered Nurse Salary: Which Pays More?
One job pays by the mile plus bonuses, the other by the shift with licensing and a degree behind it — the training route explains much of the gap.
Quick answer
- The median annual wage for registered nurses was $97,550 in May 2025 (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2025).
- The median annual wage for heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers was $58,640 in May 2025 (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2025).
- Registered nursing pays more on average: the $97,550 nursing median sits well above the $58,640 driver median, both for May 2025 (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2025).
Registered nursing pays more than heavy truck driving at every stage of the career. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics put the median annual wage for registered nurses at $97,550 in May 2025, against $58,640 for heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers in the same month (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2025).
The gap holds at the bottom of each pay scale and widens among the highest earners in each field. What offsets it, for some people, is the route in: typical entry-level education for drivers is a postsecondary nondegree award, while for registered nurses it is a bachelor's degree (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2025).
Pay Side by Side
All figures below are annual wages from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics for May 2025. "Entry level" uses the lowest 10 percent of earners and "experienced" uses the highest 10 percent, because the Bureau does not publish a separate first-year figure for either job.
| Stage | Heavy and tractor-trailer truck driver | Registered nurse | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entry level (lowest 10 percent) | Less than $40,140 | Less than $68,940 | U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025 |
| Median (midpoint of all workers) | $58,640 | $97,550 | U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025 |
| Experienced (highest 10 percent) | More than $79,380 | More than $137,470 | U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025 |
The same medians expressed hourly are $28.19 for heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers and $46.90 for registered nurses (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2025).
Two cautions before you treat these as take-home comparisons:
- Driver pay is usually not a salary. Drivers of heavy trucks and tractor-trailers are usually paid by how many miles they have driven, plus bonuses, and the per-mile rate varies by employer (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2025). The $58,640 median therefore reflects miles actually run in a year, not a guaranteed base.
- Nurse pay often has add-ons the base rate does not show. Night, weekend, holiday and overtime premiums are set by the employer or by a union contract, so two nurses on the same base rate can finish the year far apart. Ask any prospective employer for its shift differential schedule in writing.
To see what either job pays where you live rather than nationally, look up the occupation in the state and metropolitan-area tables of the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program, and check your state labor department's own wage pages. State nursing licence rules also differ, so compare pay alongside the licensing requirements of the state you plan to work in.
Why the Pay Differs
The gap is not one thing. Four specific differences account for most of it.
1. The licence behind the job costs more to get. Typical entry-level education for heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers is a postsecondary nondegree award (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2025); drivers usually have a high school diploma, attend a professional truck driving school, and must hold a commercial driver's license (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, undated). Typical entry-level education for registered nurses is a bachelor's degree (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2025), and candidates must complete a nursing education program — associate degree, diploma or bachelor's — and pass the NCLEX-RN licensing exam (New York State Education Department, undated). That exam was developed by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing and is administered by Pearson VUE to test knowledge and skills essential for safe and effective entry-level practice (New York State Education Department, undated). The longer, licensed route shows up at the bottom of the scale: the lowest-paid 10 percent of nurses earned less than $68,940 in May 2025, which is still above the $58,640 driver median for the same month (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2025).
2. Who employs you moves the number by thousands. Among drivers, the median annual wage was $60,320 in the truck transportation industry versus $56,080 in construction in May 2025 — the same job, two different industry medians (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2025). Among nurses, the hospital median was $100,220 in May 2025, above the all-industry nursing median of $97,550 (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2025).
3. Federal hours rules cap how much a driver can earn from time behind the wheel. Truck drivers are limited to driving no more than 60 hours within 7 days or 70 hours within 8 days, and must then take 34 hours off before starting another run (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, undated). When pay is per mile, that ceiling is also an earnings ceiling. Nursing hours are set by employer scheduling and state staffing rules rather than a single federal driving cap, so extra shifts and paid overtime are a more open route to a higher annual total.
4. The two labor markets are growing at different rates. Registered nursing had 3,465,400 jobs in 2025, with employment projected to grow 6 percent from 2025 to 2035, described as faster than average. Heavy and tractor-trailer truck driving had 2,221,200 jobs in 2025, with projected growth of 4 percent over the same period, described as as fast as average (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2025).
Earnings Over a Career
The two jobs do not just start apart — they spread further.
For a driver, the first milestone is the commercial driver's license itself, since you cannot be hired to drive a tractor-trailer without one (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, undated). After that, movement upward comes from miles and from the kind of freight you haul. Industry choice is one visible step: the driver median was $60,320 in truck transportation against $56,080 in construction in May 2025 (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2025). Experienced drivers who run high mileage, take specialised loads, or earn employer bonuses sit in the top 10 percent, which was more than $79,380 in May 2025 (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2025). Because pay is usually per mile plus bonuses, with a rate that varies by employer (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2025), a change of carrier can matter as much as years of service.
For a nurse, the first milestone is passing the NCLEX-RN and holding a state licence (New York State Education Department, undated). From there, two steps carry clear dollar effects. Working in a hospital rather than across all settings lifted the median to $100,220 in May 2025, against the $97,550 all-industry nursing median (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2025). The larger step is a master's degree leading to an advanced practice role: nurse anesthetists, nurse midwives and nurse practitioners had a median annual wage of $134,920 in May 2025 (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2025). Experienced registered nurses who stay at the bedside can still reach the top 10 percent, which was more than $137,470 in May 2025 (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2025).
So the comparison runs the same way at every stage, using Bureau of Labor Statistics figures for May 2025: less than $40,140 against less than $68,940 at the bottom decile, $58,640 against $97,550 at the median, and more than $79,380 against more than $137,470 at the top decile. Nursing's advantage grows with experience and with further study; a driver's ceiling is tied to miles run and to the hours-of-service limits.
Frequently asked questions
Can a truck driver ever out-earn a registered nurse?
Yes, at the edges. The top 10 percent of heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers earned more than $79,380 in May 2025, which is above the lowest 10 percent of registered nurses at less than $68,940 in the same month (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2025). But a top-decile driver is still below the $97,550 nursing median, so the overlap sits between an unusually high-earning driver and a new or lower-paid nurse.
Does driving pay off sooner because the training is shorter?
Often, yes, in the first year or two. Typical entry-level education for drivers is a postsecondary nondegree award, against a bachelor's degree for nurses (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2025), so a driver can be earning toward the $58,640 median while a nursing student is still in school. The trade-off is the long run: the nursing median of $97,550 and the top-decile figure of more than $137,470 are both well above the driver equivalents of $58,640 and more than $79,380 (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2025).
Do these figures include overtime, bonuses or tips?
Treat them as wage medians, not take-home totals. Drivers are usually paid by miles driven plus bonuses, with the per-mile rate varying by employer (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2025), so the $58,640 median reflects a year of miles actually run. For nurses, the $97,550 median is a wage figure; shift differentials and extra shifts are set by the employer or a union contract, so ask for the differential schedule before comparing offers.
Where should I check pay for my own state?
Use the state and metropolitan-area tables published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program, and your state labor department's wage pages. The national medians here — $58,640 for heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers and $97,550 for registered nurses in May 2025 — are the starting point, not the number any one employer will offer.
Sources
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers : Occupational Outlook Handbook (2025)
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Registered Nurses : Occupational Outlook Handbook (2025)
Written by
Marisol steers Jobladderhq's coverage of hiring trends and the strange rituals of modern recruiting. She's drawn to the gap between what job ads promise and what the work actually feels like. Her editing hand favors clarity over jargon, always.
