What is the median weekly pay for tanker drivers in the United States?

As of July 2026, the median weekly pay across 509 active tanker job postings is $1,250. The middle half of postings pay between $1,060 and $1,500 per week.

What do the top-paying carriers offer tanker drivers?

The 90th percentile of active tanker postings is $1,750 per week (July 2026). Offers above that beat 9 in 10 competing postings in the United States.

How is the tanker driver pay benchmark computed?

Each active job posting counts as the midpoint of its advertised weekly-pay range. Outliers are removed with an interquartile filter, percentiles are computed by nearest rank, and segments with fewer than 30 active postings are not published.

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Updated July 2026

What Companies Pay Tanker Drivers in the United States (July 2026)

Written by Lanefinder Editorial Team

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For tanker carriers in the United States: a median alone can hide a wide market. This July 2026 benchmark lays out the weekly-pay distribution end to end, quartiles through the 90th percentile, to show where a competitive offer sits. Right now the median is $1,250/week, the middle half of postings pay $1,060–$1,500, and the 90th percentile sits at $1,750, across 509 active postings.

Tanker driver pay distribution (July 2026)

Median weekly pay

$1,250/wk

509 active postings · July 2026

25th: $1,06075th: $1,50090th: $1,750

Half of the United States postings pay between $1,060 and $1,500 a week; the top carriers (90th percentile) post $1,750. Find where your offer sits on the scale above.

Weekly pay distribution by hiring type in the United States

Hiring type	25th	Median	75th	Active postings
Company Driver (W2)	$1,050	$1,250	$1,475	452
Independent Contractor (1099)	$1,360	$1,750	$2,250	37

Source: Lanefinder index, July 2026

Behind the tanker pay premium

Tanker pay reflects endorsement and handling requirements: the tanker (N) endorsement, surge/baffle handling, and often hazmat (H) on top. Liquid-bulk loads command a premium over general freight, with hazmat tanker higher still.

Benchmark your offer

If applications are slow, pay is the first thing to rule out. Tell us what you're offering and we'll show you where it sits in the July 2026 distribution, and how the fastest-hiring carriers on Lanefinder structure their offers.

Get your pay benchmark

CDL driver pay by segment

How this benchmark is computed

Each posting contributes the midpoint of its posted weekly-pay range. The set is cleaned with an IQR outlier filter, and the percentile bands (25th / median / 75th / 90th) are computed by nearest rank over what remains. Only currently-active postings count, and only segments clearing a 30-posting minimum are published. Read the full methodology. Updated July 2026.