Role across City of Baltimore

Solid Waste Driver

Operate vehicles or heavy equipment safely to move people or materials, and perform routine checks.

420 people hold the Solid Waste Driver role across 19 departments in City of Baltimore, with a median total compensation of $43,369.

Employees: 420
Median pay: $43,369
Departments: 19
Cross-jurisdiction: #1 of 1

Compared with the local labor market

Solid Waste Driver pay vs. the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD area

Across all employers in the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD area, the median wage for Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors — about 1,370 people — is $46,040. City of Baltimore pays a median base salary of $44,189 for this role, 4% below that figure — about the 44th percentile of local pay for the occupation.

Where City of Baltimore sits in the local pay range

10th

25th

Median

75th

90th

$36,180

$38,150

$46,040

$57,110

$68,690

City of Baltimore median · $44,189

The bar is the range of annual wages for Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors across every employer in the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD area, from the 10th to the 90th percentile, with the middle 50% highlighted. The marker shows City of Baltimore’s median base salary for this role. Both figures are base pay only.

And across the country

Nationwide, the median wage for Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors — about 147,240 people — is $49,690. City of Baltimore’s median base salary is 11% below that national figure, about the 37th percentile of pay for the occupation nationally.

10th

25th

Median

75th

90th

$33,590

$39,080

$49,690

$62,020

$75,900

City of Baltimore median · $44,189

Local and national wages differ for reasons beyond how well a job pays — cost of living, the mix of employers, and local demand for the occupation all move the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD range relative to the national one.

Computed over the 400 of 420 people in this role paid at least $25,000 in base salary. The rest are part-year or part-time records, whose actual pay isn’t comparable to a full-time annual wage.

Median total compensation for this role at City of Baltimore is $43,369, which includes overtime and employer-paid benefits. The benchmark above excludes both, so total compensation is deliberately not compared against it.

Benchmark: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (May 2025). BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) covers all employers in the area — private, non-profit, and government alike — so this is a comparison against the whole local labor market for the occupation, not against private-sector pay. OEWS wages are straight-time pay and exclude overtime, shift differentials, and employer-paid benefits, so the government figure shown here is base pay on the same basis. Total compensation is not comparable to it. Job titles are matched to the closest standard occupation, so the comparison is between similar work rather than an identical job classification.

Within City of Baltimore