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Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers pay in Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA and Lincoln, NE
The May 2025 BLS OEWS median for Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers is $54,700 per year in Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA. It is $81,790 per year in Lincoln, NE. Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA is 33.1% below Lincoln, NE on the published median.
Both rows use SOC 53-3032 and the same annual wage metric. Median means the middle of each area's published wage spread. It is not one worker's pay. The larger median is not proof that one place gives a better job or a better result. It is one wage fact from one source period.
BLS lists 1,880 wage and salary jobs in Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA and 4,530 in Lincoln, NE. Those are survey job counts, not open posts. Read pay, job scale, local share, and price level as separate facts before you make a choice.
Evidence: bls-oews-may-2025 · Rule: same-soc-same-metric-pair · nominal-median-gap · employment-not-openings