Best Heavy programs in North Carolina, ranked by enrollment
Drive a tractor-trailer combination or a truck with a capacity of at least 26,001 pounds Gross Vehicle Weight (GVW). May be required to unload truck. Requires commercial drivers' license.
5 schools in North Carolina run programs that feed this job, graduating 257 people a year. The job pays a median of $51,530 in North Carolina across about 62,400 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
Fields of study in North Carolina that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
1 programs in North Carolina that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in North Carolina (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own North Carolina page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 49.0205In North Carolina → | 257 | 100.0% | 5 | $42,812 | $7,572 |
Top 5 schools in North Carolina
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 4 of the 5 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Miller - Motte College - Jacksonville Jacksonville, NC Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 85 | Truck and Bus Driver/Commercial Vehicle Operator and Instructor | $46,909 | 75% | $21,837 | — |
| 2 | Miller - Motte College - Fayetteville Fayetteville, NC Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 67 | Truck and Bus Driver/Commercial Vehicle Operator and Instructor | $46,909 | 78% | — | — |
| 3 | Johnston Community College Smithfield, NC Public · 1 feeder programs | 61 | Truck and Bus Driver/Commercial Vehicle Operator and Instructor | — | 37% | — | — |
| 4 | Davidson - Davie Community College Thomasville, NC Public · 1 feeder programs | 30 | Truck and Bus Driver/Commercial Vehicle Operator and Instructor | $41,081 | 46% | — | — |
| 5 | Miller - Motte College - Raleigh Raleigh, NC Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 14 | Truck and Bus Driver/Commercial Vehicle Operator and Instructor | $46,909 | 79% | $19,251 | — |
All 5 schools in North Carolina
Every school in North Carolina with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.
| School | City | Control | Graduates / yr | Feeder programs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Miller - Motte College - Jacksonville | Jacksonville | Private for-profit | 85 | 1 |
| Miller - Motte College - Fayetteville | Fayetteville | Private for-profit | 67 | 1 |
| Johnston Community College | Smithfield | Public | 61 | 1 |
| Davidson - Davie Community College | Thomasville | Public | 30 | 1 |
| Miller - Motte College - Raleigh | Raleigh | Private for-profit | 14 | 1 |
What heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers earn in North Carolina
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $58,640. North Carolina pays below the national figure.
1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.
Metro areas in North Carolina
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.
How to get in
The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers page.
How to become a Heavy
Job zone 2 of 5 · SVP Below 6.0- Typical entry education
- Postsecondary nondegree award
- On-the-job training
- Short-term on-the-job training
Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not.
Some occupations may need little or no previous experience; others require several months to a year of experience. For example, landscaping and groundskeeping workers might require very little training or previous experience, while agricultural equipment operators can benefit from on-the job training.
Ranges from a few days to one year of on-the-job training.
Top skills
The same job in other states
Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.
Related careers in North Carolina
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 1 majors mapped to Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers1 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 49.0205Truck and Bus Driver/Commercial Vehicle Operator and Instructor
Common questions
Answers for people weighing heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers programs in North Carolina.
What degree do you need to become a Heavy?+
Postsecondary nondegree award is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Truck and Bus Driver/Commercial Vehicle Operator and Instructor, which awarded 257 degrees in North Carolina in 2024-25, 100.0% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Heavy?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 1 programs to this occupation. The largest are Ground Transportation. Together they graduate about 257 people a year in North Carolina.
How much do heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers earn in North Carolina?+
The median is $51,530 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 12.1% below the U.S. median of $58,640. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.
Is demand for heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers growing?+
BLS projects a +4.0% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, about as fast as average, with roughly 237,600 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in North Carolina?+
5 institutions in North Carolina reported graduates from at least one of the 1 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.
What other job titles do heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Driver, Truck Driver, Line Haul Driver, Over the Road Driver (OTR Driver) among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 53-3032.
About the data on this page
Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).
BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics
May 2025Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.
BLS Employment Projections
2024–34Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.
IPEDS Completions
2024-25 (provisional)Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.
College Scorecard, Field of Study
2020-21 cohortsMedian graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.
Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes
latest availableGraduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.
NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk
CIP 2020 / SOC 2018Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.
O*NET Database 30.3
30.3Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.
Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA
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