How much do owner operators make?
Gross and take-home are different conversations. A truck grossing $250,000 a year is having a good one; what reaches the driver's account is closer to $66,424, and the whole distance between those two numbers is made of things you can measure.
The honest range
Same truck, same 100,000 miles, same costs — only the rate changes. This is why the question has no single answer.
| Gross | All-in rate | Pre-tax profit | After self-employment tax | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A hard year | $190,000 | $1.90/mi | $17,354 | $14,902 |
| A normal year | $220,000 | $2.20/mi | $47,354 | $40,663 |
| A strong year | $250,000 | $2.50/mi | $77,354 | $66,424 |
The cost side, line by line
One truck, 100,000 miles. These are typical rather than optimistic, and they barely move with the rate — which is the point.
| Cost | Per year | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Fuel | $100,446 | 100,000 mi at 6.5 mpg, diesel $6.53 |
| Truck payment | $25,200 | $2,100 a month |
| Insurance | $14,400 | Liability, cargo, physical damage, occupational accident |
| Maintenance and tyres | $20,000 | 20¢ a mile, averaged over good years and bad |
| Tolls, scales, parking | $6,000 | Lane dependent; north-east is worse |
| Permits, IFTA, IRP, UCR | $3,000 | Annual, unavoidable |
| Accounting, phone, software | $3,600 | The cost of being a business |
| Total costs | $172,646 | 173¢ a mile |
Fuel priced at $6.53 a gallon, the EIA national average for the week of 21 Sep 2026. Self-employment tax at 15.3% on 92.35% of net; income tax is on top and depends on your situation.
The four numbers that decide the range
- Rate per mile. Ten cents a mile over 100,000 miles is $10,000 — straight to the bottom line. Knowing your floor is what lets you hold out for it.
- Deadhead percentage. Going from 20% to 12% empty on 100,000 miles saves roughly $5,360 in cost and frees the time to earn on those miles instead. See deadhead.
- MPG. Half a gallon is $8,371 a year at today's price.
- Utilisation. Fixed costs do not care whether you run. Two weeks off the road with a breakdown costs you the revenue and the payment.
What the line-haul figure hides
Leased-on drivers see a percentage of the linehaul and often a fuel surcharge; under your own authority you see the whole rate and pay the whole cost. The gross numbers are not comparable, and neither are the risks: under your own authority a broker's non-payment is your problem, not your carrier's. That is why checking who you book with matters — see the MC number lookup.
The other thing gross hides is the truck itself. A paid-off truck is $25,200 a year of cost that vanishes and a repair bill that grows. Neither shows up in a rate per mile.
Questions
How much do owner operators make?
Take-home of roughly $14,902 to $66,424 for a single truck running 100,000 miles, depending on what the freight paid. The cost side is the stable part — about $172,646 a year, or 173¢ a mile — so almost the whole spread comes from the rate per mile you managed to hold.
Is being an owner operator worth it over company driving?
It is worth it if you run the business. The pay gap over a good company job is real but not enormous once you account for the hours spent on paperwork, the capital tied up in the truck and the risk of a major repair. The people for whom it clearly works are the ones who know their cost per mile and refuse loads below it.
What is the biggest cost?
Fuel, by a distance — $100,446 of the $172,646 above, which is 58% of total costs. It is also the most controllable, which is why mpg matters more than any other single number.
How much should I set aside for tax?
Self-employment tax alone is 15.3% on roughly 92.35% of net earnings, before any income tax. Setting aside 25–30% of profit is the usual advice, and quarterly estimated payments are not optional once you owe them.
How much should I keep for maintenance?
Set aside per mile rather than per month — 15 to 25¢ a mile into a separate account. A clutch, a turbo or an after-treatment failure is a five-figure event and it arrives without warning, usually in a week you were already short.