Truck Driver Pay in Massachusetts (2026)

Key numbers at a glance

Truck driver pay in Massachusetts: the numbers

The wage benchmark for this page is the Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS survey for heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers, May 2025 release — the federal government's own series, covering roughly 30,890 driver jobs statewide (about 8.5 of every 1,000 jobs in Massachusetts). Annual figures assume 2,080 hours, so treat them as full-time equivalents, not guarantees.

Two things stand out. First, Massachusetts pays above the national mean on every wage cut BLS publishes — mean, median and both percentiles shown here. Second, the ceiling is modest by Northeast standards: $78,480 at the 90th percentile is strong but not New Jersey-strong, because the market skews toward regional and local freight rather than long-haul premium lanes. Per-mile advertising is less dominant here than in OTR states; hourly and hourly-plus-overtime structures are common in distribution and drayage work, though BLS does not track CPM and carrier offers vary — confirm specifics with the carrier.

How miles and freight shape pay in Massachusetts

Massachusetts freight is a consumption market at the end of the pipeline, not a pass-through state. The Port of Boston's Conley Container Terminal feeds a drayage pool around the city; grocery, food-service and retail distribution centers ring metro Boston along I-495 and out toward Worcester; and the state sits at the eastern terminus of I-90 with the I-95/Route 128 belt carrying the dense local relay work. Roughly speaking, three structures dominate: port and rail drayage (hourly or per-move pay), regional distribution runs (salary or hourly with overtime after 40), and New England regional OTR (CPM plus accessorials) running to New Jersey, Pennsylvania and up I-89/I-91 into Vermont and New Hampshire.

What the state does not have much of is coast-to-coast OTR domiciled locally — the big van carriers' New England freight is usually hauled by drivers based in cheaper states, which caps the local premium. Deadhead discipline matters in a market this dense: a 60-mile empty reposition across Boston traffic burns more clock than 150 miles in Montana, and congestion on the Pike and 128 quietly lowers your effective rate per hour. Owner-operators should also remember that Northeast tolls are a real line item — run offers through the load profit calculator before accepting, and check whether the broker's fuel surcharge actually covers Massachusetts diesel prices, which typically run above the national average. More state-by-state comparisons are on the truck driver pay by state hub.

The tax angle in Massachusetts

Massachusetts taxes wages at a flat 5% (a 4% surtax applies only to income over $1 million — effectively irrelevant for drivers). On a $63,570 mean wage, that is roughly $3,180 to the state before credits, and the state's living costs — housing especially inside Route 128 — do more damage to purchasing power than the tax itself. Drivers who live in New Hampshire and run Massachusetts freight keep the NH advantage on wages; owner-operators apportion through their base state instead. For deduction basics that apply everywhere, see the trucking tax deductions guide, and verify current rates with the Massachusetts Department of Revenue.