Tank Car, Truck, and Ship Loaders Salary
In St. Louis, MO-IL, tank car, truck, and ship loaders earn $60,950 at the median, or about $29.3 an hour. The range runs from $42K at the entry level to $72K for experienced workers. Adjusted for local prices (RPP 95.09), that's roughly $64,097 in purchasing power. A 2-bedroom apartment runs $1,218/month, about 30.4% of take-home, which is tight.
So what does $61K get you in St. Louis?
Groceries, utilities, transportation, and healthcare scaled from national averages by St. Louis’s Regional Price Parity (95.09). Rent from HUD Fair Market Rents. Taxes estimated for single filer, standard deduction. * Healthcare is the employee-paid share only (premiums + out-of-pocket). Actual costs vary by coverage type: employer-sponsored, ACA marketplace, or uninsured.
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What this looks like in St. Louis
Tank car, truck, and ship loaders pay in St. Louis tracks closely to the national median, $61K locally vs. $59K nationwide, a 4% difference. Rent runs $1,218/month for a 2-bedroom (HUD FMR), taking 29.9% of the median take-home. That's within the 30% rule, though not by much. Cost of living (RPP 95.09) is near the national average, so spending patterns here track the typical American budget fairly closely. Pay and costs are both near average, leaving limited margin for savings at the median wage.
Compared to nearby metros
Median pay for tank car, truck, and ship loaders in metros near St. Louis, adjusted for local cost of living.
| Metro | Median pay | COL-adjusted |
|---|---|---|
| Chicago-Naperville-Elgin | $61K | $59K |
| Louisville/Jefferson County | $63K | $68K |
| Memphis | $56K | $60K |
COL-adjusted = median salary ÷ (BEA Regional Price Parity ÷ 100). Expresses purchasing power in national-average dollars.
Compensation breakdown
Annual earnings by percentile, St. Louis, MO-IL
Entry-level tank car, truck, and ship loaders (10th percentile) start around $42K. Mid-career wages sit at $61K. Top earners bring in $72K or more, a $30K spread from bottom to top.
Tank Car, Truck, and Ship Loaders pay across states
Median income ranked highest to lowest, compared to the national figure
View Tank Car, Truck, and Ship Loaders salary in all states
| State | Median salary | vs. national | Employment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maryland | $81K | +38% | 110 |
| South Carolina | $81K | +37% | 90 |
| Montana | $80K | +36% | 80 |
| Minnesota | $77K | +30% | N/A |
| Alabama | $75K | +28% | 240 |
| Oregon | $74K | +26% | N/A |
| Massachusetts | $72K | +22% | 140 |
| New Hampshire | $70K | +19% | 40 |
| California | $69K | +17% | 110 |
| New Jersey | $65K | +10% | 120 |
| North Dakota | $61K | +4% | 310 |
| Texas | $61K | +4% | 1,620 |
| Louisiana | $59K | +0% | 500 |
| Michigan | $58K | -2% | 200 |
| Missouri | $58K | -2% | 180 |
| Ohio | $58K | -2% | 820 |
| Wisconsin | $57K | -3% | 170 |
| West Virginia | $55K | -7% | 90 |
| Utah | $53K | -9% | N/A |
| Kentucky | $53K | -10% | 130 |
| Iowa | $51K | -13% | 180 |
| Colorado | $51K | -13% | 80 |
| Georgia | $51K | -13% | 50 |
| New York | $48K | -18% | 110 |
| Pennsylvania | $48K | -18% | 90 |
| New Mexico | $48K | -18% | 80 |
| Nebraska | $46K | -21% | N/A |
| Florida | $46K | -23% | 430 |
| Hawaii | $45K | -23% | N/A |
| North Carolina | $45K | -24% | 240 |
| Indiana | $44K | -25% | 250 |
| Idaho | $42K | -29% | 80 |
| Virginia | $41K | -30% | 60 |
| Oklahoma | $35K | -40% | 170 |
| Arkansas | $34K | -43% | 150 |
Showing 1–10 of 35 states with published data
BLS does not publish data for every state when sample sizes are too small
Track tank car, truck, and ship loaders salary changes
BLS updates this data quarterly. We'll email you when St. Louis numbers change.
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Frequently asked questions
Can a tank car, truck, and ship loader afford a 2BR apartment alone in St. Louis?
Yes — at the median salary of $61K, rent takes 29.9% of take-home pay. A 2-bedroom at the HUD Fair Market Rent runs $1,218/month. That stays under the 30% guideline most financial planners use.
What’s the entry-level salary for tank car, truck, and ship loaders in St. Louis?
The 10th-percentile wage — what new tank car, truck, and ship loaders typically earn — is $42K/year. Take-home on that works out to about $2,512/month. At HUD’s $1,218/month FMR, rent would take 48% of that take-home — above the 30% guideline, so a 1-bedroom or shared housing is likely necessary starting out.
Is tank car, truck, and ship loader a high-paying job in St. Louis?
Pay here is roughly in line with the national average — $61K locally vs. $59K nationally, a 4% difference.
How does St. Louis compare to the national average for tank car, truck, and ship loaders?
St. Louis pays $61K median vs. the U.S. average of $59K — that’s +4%. After adjusting for local cost of living (RPP 95.09), the purchasing-power equivalent is $64K — still ahead of the national median.
How much do tank car, truck, and ship loaders make in St. Louis, MO-IL?
The median is $60,950 a year, that works out to about $29 an hour. But the range is wide: entry-level workers start around $41,860, and experienced tank car, truck, and ship loaders can clear $72,060. These are BLS numbers, based on employer-reported data, not self-reported surveys.
Is $61K enough to live in St. Louis?
On that salary, you'd take home roughly $4,075/month after taxes. A 2-bedroom here rents for about $1,218/month, which eats 29.9% of your paycheck. That's under the 30% guideline most financial planners use, so the numbers work.
How far does a tank car, truck, and ship loaders salary go in St. Louis?
St. Louis has a Regional Price Parity of 95.09 (100 is the national average). That's below average, your money stretches further here than the raw salary number suggests. After cost-of-living adjustment, the median tank car, truck, and ship loaders salary is worth about $64,097 in national-average purchasing power.
Where do tank car, truck, and ship loaders get paid the most?
The table above ranks every state by median pay for this role. Keep in mind that the highest-paying states tend to have the highest costs of living, so the top salary doesn't always mean the most money in your pocket.