← Driver Wages: National Trend
Metro Wage Data · May 2025

Delivery Driver Wages in New York, NY-NJ

58,140 light truck and delivery drivers work in the New York metro area. The median wage is $22.81/hour 5.7% above the national median of $21.57, ranking #11 of 50 major metros on driver pay.

Median hourly
$22.81
national $21.57
Mean hourly
$25.23
national $23.45
Annualized (median)
$47,445
median × 2,080 hrs
Drivers in metro
58,140
SOC 53-3033

What drivers earn in New York

The spread matters as much as the median: the 10th-to-90th percentile range is what you compete against when hiring — and what your drivers see when they compare offers.

10th percentile
entry / new drivers
$17.38 · $36,150/yr
25th percentile
$21.39 · $44,491/yr
Median
the market rate
$22.81 · $47,445/yr
75th percentile
$27.78 · $57,782/yr
90th percentile
senior / specialized
$36.71 · $76,357/yr
For Fleet Operators

What a route day actually costs in New York

Wages aren’t your labor cost. Add payroll taxes, workers’ comp, and benefits (≈27% on top of base pay) and a median-wage driver in New York runs:

Fully-loaded hourly
$28.97
Per 8.5-hour route day
$246
Per driver, annually
$60,255

Driver pay is typically the largest single line in a last-mile P&L. Run your full cost structure — fuel, payments, maintenance, insurance, and New York-level wages — through the forecast tool to see where your margin is headed.

Forecast Your Fleet Costs →Plan Fleet Capacity →

Compare driver pay in other metros

Philadelphia, PA-NJ-DE
$21.99/hr median (-3.6% vs New York)
Buffalo, NY
$20.50/hr median (-10.1% vs New York)
Portland, OR-WA
$22.94/hr median (+0.6% vs New York)
St. Louis, MO-IL
$22.67/hr median (-0.6% vs New York)
Chicago, IL
$23.05/hr median (+1.1% vs New York)
Louisville, KY-IN
$22.67/hr median (-0.6% vs New York)
All 50 metros + national trend →

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OES), May 2025Light Truck Drivers (SOC 53-3033), cross-industry estimates for the New York metro area (CBSA 35620). Retrieved 2026-07-04. This occupation covers drivers of light trucks and delivery vans, including last-mile delivery. Annual figures are hourly × 2,080 hours. Fully-loaded cost assumes ≈27% burden for payroll taxes, workers’ comp, and benefits — Pexara’s standard modeling assumption; your burden varies by state and benefits package.