A garbage truck driver in the US makes a median of $49,690 a year, or $23.89 an hour, according to the federal government's newest wage survey. That number hides a huge spread. In Illinois the median is $75,050. In South Dakota it is $32,950. And a New York City sanitation worker reaches $95,316 in base pay after five and a half years.
We pulled the May 2025 numbers for every state and the biggest metro areas straight from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, checked the New York contract, and read 2026 city council purchase records to see what the trucks themselves cost. Everything here was checked on October 30, 2026.
What the national numbers say
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) counts these workers as "refuse and recyclable material collectors," occupation code 53-7081. Its definition covers people who collect and dump trash or recycling into the truck and may drive it. There were 147,240 of them on payrolls in May 2025.
One caveat matters for anyone searching for driver pay specifically. Some companies list the person behind the wheel as a heavy truck driver instead, so that pay lands in a different BLS category. The numbers below are the closest official measure of what people on a garbage route earn, not a payroll for CDL drivers alone.
| Percentile | Annual pay |
|---|---|
| 10th (lowest earners) | $33,590 |
| 25th | $39,080 |
| Median | $49,690 |
| 75th | $62,020 |
| 90th (top earners) | $75,900 |
| Mean (average) | $52,820 |
The average hourly wage is $25.39, a bit above the $23.89 median, because a smaller group of well-paid workers pulls the average up. Those workers are mostly in big unionized cities, as the state numbers show.
Garbage truck driver salary by state
Here is the median for every state plus Washington, D.C., ranked from highest to lowest, with the number of workers BLS counted. California, Texas, New York and Florida have the most collectors, but none of them is at the top.
| Rank | State | Median annual pay | Workers |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Illinois | $75,050 | 4,910 |
| 2 | Washington | $74,620 | 3,750 |
| 3 | New York | $64,950 | 11,630 |
| 4 | California | $64,890 | 13,930 |
| 5 | Oregon | $63,210 | 2,500 |
| 6 | Minnesota | $62,570 | 2,500 |
| 7 | Nevada | $61,310 | 770 |
| 8 | Delaware | $61,290 | 600 |
| 9 | Colorado | $60,310 | 3,700 |
| 10 | Wisconsin | $59,810 | 1,550 |
| 11 | Utah | $59,310 | 960 |
| 12 | North Dakota | $59,000 | 360 |
| 13 | Indiana | $58,900 | 3,180 |
| 14 | Hawaii | $56,270 | 770 |
| 15 | Rhode Island | $55,970 | 470 |
| 16 | District of Columbia | $55,490 | 540 |
| 17 | New Jersey | $54,630 | 4,330 |
| 18 | Vermont | $51,960 | 160 |
| 19 | Michigan | $51,030 | 4,020 |
| 20 | Massachusetts | $50,310 | 1,010 |
| 21 | Missouri | $50,010 | 1,930 |
| 22 | Idaho | $49,880 | 730 |
| 23 | Iowa | $49,850 | 1,780 |
| 24 | Montana | $49,420 | 370 |
| 25 | Nebraska | $49,390 | 910 |
| 26 | Ohio | $49,330 | 4,710 |
| 27 | Wyoming | $48,820 | 280 |
| 28 | Pennsylvania | $48,240 | 6,220 |
| 29 | Florida | $47,820 | 11,650 |
| 30 | New Mexico | $47,660 | 1,070 |
| 31 | Georgia | $46,960 | 4,830 |
| 32 | Arizona | $46,910 | 2,380 |
| 33 | New Hampshire | $46,580 | 340 |
| 34 | Virginia | $46,530 | 4,330 |
| 35 | Texas | $46,330 | 12,860 |
| 36 | Alabama | $46,240 | 2,790 |
| 37 | Alaska | $45,740 | 250 |
| 38 | Kansas | $45,510 | 910 |
| 39 | North Carolina | $44,670 | 7,250 |
| 40 | Maine | $43,360 | 770 |
| 41 | Tennessee | $43,270 | 2,550 |
| 42 | Kentucky | $43,100 | 1,580 |
| 43 | Oklahoma | $43,060 | 2,030 |
| 44 | Maryland | $41,870 | 3,120 |
| 45 | Mississippi | $39,170 | 1,970 |
| 46 | Louisiana | $38,810 | 2,200 |
| 47 | Connecticut | $38,220 | 810 |
| 48 | West Virginia | $35,840 | 1,000 |
| 49 | Arkansas | $35,640 | 1,600 |
| 50 | South Carolina | $34,880 | 2,020 |
| 51 | South Dakota | $32,950 | 340 |
Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, occupation 53-7081.
Illinois and Washington are the only states with a median above $70,000. Texas, with the second-largest workforce at 12,860 workers, sits in the bottom half at $46,330. Florida is at $47,820. The gap between the top and bottom state is more than $42,000 a year for the same job.
The metro areas people ask about
Google's suggestions for this search are full of cities: New York, Los Angeles, Houston. The metro-level numbers show that the city matters even more than the state.
Source: BLS OEWS May 2025, occupation 53-7081, metropolitan statistical areas
Chicago's metro median, $77,470, is higher than Illinois as a whole. Houston and Dallas both pay below the national median, even though Texas's big metros employ thousands of collectors. If you are weighing a move for this work, the metro number is the one to look at.
How New York City gets to $95,316
New York's Department of Sanitation (DSNY) is the best-known high payer, and its numbers are public. DSNY says a sanitation worker starts at $47,752 a year and moves up in steps to $95,316 after five and a half years. Assignment differentials and overtime come on top of that base.
The contract behind those numbers runs from December 28, 2022 to February 27, 2028. When the city announced the deal in October 2023, the mayor's office said it covers about 7,100 workers. It also said the raises run between 3.25% and 4.00% a year, with the next 4.00% raise due on December 28, 2026, and that starting pay is meant to reach $50,000 by the end of the deal.
Compare that with the metro data. The median for all collectors in the New York metro area is $65,310, because it includes private haulers and suburban towns. A DSNY worker at the top step makes about $30,000 more in base pay alone.
Why the pay is higher than people expect
The job is dangerous, and the pay reflects it. In the federal Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries, refuse and recyclable material collectors had a fatal injury rate of 37.4 per 100,000 full-time workers in 2024. That is more than 11 times the 3.3 rate for all workers. Thirty-six collectors died on the job that year. In BLS's chart of high-risk jobs, only logging, fishing, roofing and structural iron and steel work ranked higher.
Collectors work at the curb, next to moving traffic. That is the same risk tow operators face on the shoulder, and it is why drivers are told to slow down and give room to stopped work vehicles. Our state-by-state look at move over law fines shows how unevenly states protect the people who stop on the roadside.
The other pressure is staffing. Cities need drivers with a commercial driver's license (CDL) to run these routes, and they compete with every other fleet for them. We wrote about why the truck market is short of drivers, not vehicles.
What the truck costs
The worker earns $50,000 to $95,000 a year. The truck they drive often costs more than seven years of median pay. We used the same method as our fire truck price check: read what cities actually signed for in 2026.
Source: Council records: Fayetteville AR (Apr 21, 2026), Athens AL (Mar 9, 2026), Casa Grande AZ Res. 5875 (Jan 2026), Tampa FL (Jan 8, 2026), Folsom CA via Folsom Times (Jun 24, 2026)
| City | Date | Truck | Price per truck |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fayetteville, AR | Apr 21, 2026 | Mack LR with New Way automated side loader | $384,700, plus surcharges, freight and delivery |
| Athens, AL | Mar 9, 2026 | Heil automated side loader | $417,888 |
| Athens, AL | Mar 9, 2026 | Heil front loader | $403,570 |
| Casa Grande, AZ | Jan 2026 | Automated side loader (2 trucks) | $427,440.73 |
| Tampa, FL | Jan 8, 2026 | Battle Motors Raider with New Way Sidewinder side loader | $455,735 (open market: $490,160) |
| Tampa, FL | Jan 8, 2026 | Battle Motors Raider with Labrie side loader | $439,707 |
| Tampa, FL | Jan 8, 2026 | Battle Motors Raider CNG with Labrie side loader | $527,155 |
| Folsom, CA | Jun 2026 | Peterbilt with New Way side loader | $464,392.76, incl. tax and delivery |
| Folsom, CA | Jun 2026 | New Way front loader | $454,463.32 |
| Folsom, CA | Jun 2026 | New Way rear loader | $405,563.93 |
| Folsom, CA | Jun 2026 | Amrep roll-off | $300,770.79 |
Sources: Fayetteville resolution and staff memo, Athens council minutes, Casa Grande Resolution 5875, Tampa agenda summary, Folsom Times, June 24, 2026.
Most cities in the table did not run their own bid. They bought through cooperative contracts such as Sourcewell or the Florida Sheriffs Association, which another agency already put out to bid. Tampa's staff wrote that the contract saved $34,425 per truck against the $490,160 open-market price.
The replacement cycle is short, too. Casa Grande's resolution says its two 2013 side loaders had passed their "expected seven-year service life." Fayetteville's memo says the truck it replaced was a 2020 model. Steel prices are part of that bill; we covered how the metals tariff now counts the whole part.
What this means if you want the job
- Location beats almost everything. A collector in Chicago or Seattle earns roughly $27,000 to $31,000 more at the median than one in Houston or Dallas.
- City jobs with a step scale pay off over time. New York's scale doubles base pay in five and a half years. Ask any employer for its pay steps, not just the starting rate.
- Get the CDL. Driving the truck is how you move off the bottom of the range, and fleets are short of licensed drivers.
- Count the risk. The fatality rate is among the highest of any job BLS tracks. Ask how a company handles traffic control on routes and how many of its trucks are automated side loaders, which keep the operator in the cab.
We will update the city price table as new council purchases come in. If you run a refuse body shop or a hauling company and want to share what you pay drivers or what your last truck cost, write to editorial@cabtoaxle.com.
