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California training programs, and what happened to the people who took them

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Light Truck Drivers

SOC 53-3033 · 2024-2034

Drive a light vehicle, such as a truck or van, with a capacity of less than 26,001 pounds Gross Vehicle Weight (GVW), primarily to pick up merchandise or packages from a distribution center and deliver. May load and unload vehicle.

How the U.S. Department of Labor describes this work. Published in English only.

What California expects of this job

Typical pay in California
$47,814per year
Projected openings
157,370
Projected change
+17.9%
Usually needs
High school diploma or equivalent

Bright Outlook — a U.S. Department of Labor designation
Rapid Growth · Numerous Job Openings

The Department's own designation, made from its national projections. It is not this project's assessment and it is not California's: every other figure on this page comes from California's projection, which can point the other way and for some occupations does.

Skills this work uses most

O*NET, the U.S. Department of Labor's occupation database, rates how important each of these is to this work, and they are listed in that order, most important first. The ratings themselves are not shown, because the data carries the number without the scale it was measured on. The names are as published, in English.

  1. Speaking
  2. Operation and Control
  3. Reading Comprehension
  4. Active Listening
  5. Monitoring
  6. Time Management

Pay by region

RegionTypical pay in CaliforniaProjected openings
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara MSA (San Benito and Santa Clara Counties)$51,2778,380
Oakland-Fremont-Berkeley MD (Alameda and Contra Costa Counties)$50,71211,240
Eastern Sierra-Mother Lode Region (Alpine, Amador, Calaveras, Inyo, Mariposa, Mono, and Tuolumne Counties)$50,437430
San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City MD (San Francisco and San Mateo Counties)$49,8898,970
San Rafael MD (Marin County)$48,878530
Vallejo MSA (Solano County)$47,6921,170
Santa Rosa-Petaluma MSA (Sonoma County)$47,1281,470
Napa MSA (Napa County)$47,057640
North Coast Region (Del Norte, Humboldt, Lake, and Mendocino Counties)$46,545820
Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom MSA (El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento, and Yolo Counties)$46,3818,480
Santa Cruz-Watsonville MSA (Santa Cruz County)$46,3501,060
San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles MSA (San Luis Obispo County)$46,196560
Chico MSA (Butte County)$46,125600
Stockton-Lodi MSA (San Joaquin County)$45,9813,500
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale MD (Los Angeles County)$45,77239,530
Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario MSA (Riverside and San Bernardino Counties)$45,64318,040
Yuba City MSA (Sutter and Yuba Counties)$45,479290
Santa Maria-Santa Barbara MSA (Santa Barbara County)$45,3561,350
San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad MSA (San Diego County)$44,88510,640
North Valley-Northern Mountains Region (Colusa, Glenn, Lassen, Modoc, Nevada, Plumas, Sierra, Siskiyou, Tehama, and Trinity Counties)$44,598620
Anaheim-Santa Ana-Irvine MD (Orange County)$44,48812,830
Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura MSA (Ventura County)$43,7383,060
Redding MSA (Shasta County)$43,574680
Visalia MSA (Tulare County)$43,0211,230
Bakersfield-Delano MSA (Kern County)$42,9802,140
Merced MSA (Merced County)$42,980620
Modesto MSA (Stanislaus County)$42,9801,590
Fresno MSA (Fresno and Madera Counties)$41,6183,910
Hanford-Corcoran MSA (Kings County)$40,317220
El Centro MSA (Imperial County)$40,235390

What the pay actually ranges across

The lowest-paid tenth earn under
$37,554
A quarter earn under
$43,083
Half earn under
$47,814
Three quarters earn under
$58,084
The highest-paid tenth earn over
$95,322

A median is one point. These are the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics' 2026 figures for California, and they say how far apart the people doing this job actually are. Read them as the spread across everyone already in the work — not as a starting wage and not as a promise about where anyone lands.

Similar work

O*NET, the U.S. Department of Labor's occupation database, names these as occupations involving work similar to this one — its own reading of the job, not a grouping by code. They keep O*NET's order, and only those California publishes a projection for are shown.

OccupationTypical pay in CaliforniaProjected openingsProjected change
Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers$61,548262,610+11.4%
Shuttle Drivers and Chauffeurs$45,70952,480+19.9%
Driver/Sales Workers$46,59844,250+11.7%
Couriers and Messengers$46,03432,970+17.8%
Taxi Drivers$40,11966,330+48%
Industrial Truck and Tractor Operators$48,816100,140+11.4%

Programs that train for this job — 49