Texas·Transportation and Material Moving Occupations·SOC 53-3033

Best Light Truck Driver programs in Texas, ranked by enrollment

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.

12 schools in Texas run programs that feed this job, graduating 1,225 people a year. The job pays a median of $42,500 in Texas across about 78,540 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).

Also calledDriverTruck DriverDelivery DriverPackage Car DriverRoutemanServicerDelivererCar Escort
Graduates / yr
1,225
in Texas
Median pay · Texas
$42,500
BLS OEWS May 2025
Jobs in state
78,540
people employed
Schools
12
with a feeder program
Avg graduation rate
68%
across those schools
Median net price
$22,622
per year, IPEDS

Fields of study in Texas that lead to this job

Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.

1 programs in Texas that lead to this job

Ranked by graduates per year in Texas (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 Texas page.

Degree programs that lead to this occupation, ranked by graduates per year
#ProgramGraduates / yrShare of pipelineSchoolsGrad earnings (1 yr)Median debt
1
CIP 49.0205In Texas
1,225
100.0%
12$42,812$7,572

Top 12 schools in Texas

Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 5 of the 12 schools in this state.

Schools ranked by graduates per year into this occupation
#SchoolGraduates / yrTop feeder programGrad earnings (1 yr)Grad rateNet priceAcceptance
1M T Training Center
Desoto, TX Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs
343Truck and Bus Driver/Commercial Vehicle Operator and Instructor$28,53283%$11,290
2Western Technical College
El Paso, TX Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs
319Truck and Bus Driver/Commercial Vehicle Operator and Instructor72%
3Amarillo College
Amarillo, TX Public · 1 feeder programs
116Truck and Bus Driver/Commercial Vehicle Operator and Instructor32%
4Miller - Motte College - STVT - Arlington
Arlington, TX Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs
106Truck and Bus Driver/Commercial Vehicle Operator and Instructor$46,90984%$24,000
5Miller - Motte College - STVT - Corpus Christi
Corpus Christi, TX Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs
79Truck and Bus Driver/Commercial Vehicle Operator and Instructor68%$22,622
6Miller - Motte College - STVT - McAllen
McAllen, TX Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs
76Truck and Bus Driver/Commercial Vehicle Operator and Instructor$46,90978%$23,260
7Miller - Motte College - STVT - San Antonio
San Antonio, TX Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs
46Truck and Bus Driver/Commercial Vehicle Operator and Instructor$46,90969%$23,546
8South Texas Vocational Technical Institute - Weslaco
Weslaco, TX Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs
44Truck and Bus Driver/Commercial Vehicle Operator and Instructor80%$21,631
9CET - El Paso
El Paso, TX Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
43Truck and Bus Driver/Commercial Vehicle Operator and Instructor$34,66564%$19,179
10South Texas Vocational Technical Institute - Brownsville
Brownsville, TX Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs
34Truck and Bus Driver/Commercial Vehicle Operator and Instructor78%$22,129
11Lee College
Baytown, TX Public · 1 feeder programs
18Truck and Bus Driver/Commercial Vehicle Operator and Instructor53%
12Western Texas College
Snyder, TX Public · 1 feeder programs
1Truck and Bus Driver/Commercial Vehicle Operator and Instructor53%

All 12 schools in Texas

Every school in Texas 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.

All schools in Texas that feed this occupation
SchoolCityControlGraduates / yrFeeder programs
M T Training CenterDesotoPrivate for-profit3431
Western Technical CollegeEl PasoPrivate for-profit3191
Amarillo CollegeAmarilloPublic1161
Miller - Motte College - STVT - ArlingtonArlingtonPrivate for-profit1061
Miller - Motte College - STVT - Corpus ChristiCorpus ChristiPrivate for-profit791
Miller - Motte College - STVT - McAllenMcAllenPrivate for-profit761
Miller - Motte College - STVT - San AntonioSan AntonioPrivate for-profit461
South Texas Vocational Technical Institute - WeslacoWeslacoPrivate for-profit441
CET - El PasoEl PasoPrivate not-for-profit431
South Texas Vocational Technical Institute - BrownsvilleBrownsvillePrivate for-profit341
Lee CollegeBaytownPublic181
Western Texas CollegeSnyderPublic11

What light truck drivers earn in Texas

What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.

Median annual in Texas
$42,500
Mean annual
$46,950
Jobs in state
78,540
What the range looks like
10th pct$28,120Median$42,50090th pct$91,280
Versus the national median
-5.3%

U.S. median $44,860. Texas pays below the national figure.

Job concentration
0.88×

1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.

Metro areas in Texas

Midland, TX
$47,330median
540 jobs
Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX
$45,820median
6,380 jobs
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX
$43,920median
19,050 jobs
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX
$44,050median
25,890 jobs
Waco, TX
$42,640median
660 jobs
San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX
$41,600median
7,010 jobs
Tyler, TX
$38,090median
830 jobs
Texarkana, TX-AR
$38,800median
440 jobs

Job outlook

Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.

Projected growth 2024–34
+7.3%
Faster than average
Openings per year
120,200
new jobs plus replacements
Employment change
78,900
1,079,800 → 1,158,600
Typical entry education
High school diploma or equivalent
Plus short-term on-the-job training

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 Light Truck Drivers page.

How to become a Light Truck Driver

Job zone 2 of 5 · SVP Below 6.0
Typical entry education
High school diploma or equivalent
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

MonitoringActive ListeningSpeakingReading ComprehensionCritical ThinkingWriting

The same job in other states

Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.

Related careers in Texas

Every major mapped to this job

The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.

All 1 majors mapped to Light 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 light truck drivers programs in Texas.

What degree do you need to become a Light Truck Driver?+

High school diploma or equivalent 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 1,225 degrees in Texas in 2024-25, 100.0% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.

Which college majors lead to becoming a Light Truck Driver?+

The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 1 programs to this occupation. The largest are Ground Transportation. Together they graduate about 1,225 people a year in Texas.

How much do light truck drivers earn in Texas?+

The median is $42,500 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 5.3% below the U.S. median of $44,860. 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 light truck drivers growing?+

BLS projects a +7.3% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, faster than average, with roughly 120,200 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.

How many schools offer programs for this career in Texas?+

12 institutions in Texas 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 light truck drivers work under?+

Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Driver, Truck Driver, Delivery Driver, Package Car Driver among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 53-3033.

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 2025

    Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.

  • BLS Employment Projections

    2024–34

    Projected 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 cohorts

    Median graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.

  • Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes

    latest available

    Graduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.

  • NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk

    CIP 2020 / SOC 2018

    Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.

  • O*NET Database 30.3

    30.3

    Tasks, 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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