How much do dot compliance managers make in 2026?
DOT compliance managers fall inside the BLS compliance officers series, where OEWS May 2025 gives a national median of $80,730 a year ($38.81 an hour), a 10th percentile near $48,220 and a 90th percentile of $133,720. This is a broad match and the caveat is unusually large: SOC 13-1041 counts 417,070 compliance officers across environmental, financial, licensing, occupational safety and regulatory fields, so its median describes compliance work in general rather than transportation compliance in particular. What defines this role is a specific and consequential body of federal regulation — driver qualification files, hours-of-service and electronic logging, drug and alcohol testing programmes and Clearinghouse queries, vehicle inspection and maintenance records, hazardous materials rules where applicable, and the CSA safety measurement scores that determine intervention. Pay follows fleet size and risk exposure, and it rises sharply where hazmat, tanker or passenger operations are involved. The other lever is whether the role is administrative or authoritative: managers who own audit readiness and can stop an unsafe operation are paid differently from those who maintain files. Employment is projected to grow 3% through 2034 with roughly 33,300 openings a year. → Full dot compliance manager career guide, career path, credentials & placement →
Note: $80,730 blends every experience level and every setting in this occupation. For pay by level alone, see Pay by Level below.
- DOT Compliance Managers earn a national median $80,730/yr ($38.81/hr) (BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 13-1041); the P10 to P90 range is $48,220 to $133,720.
- The $80,730 median comes from the very broad BLS compliance officers series, which pools environmental, financial, safety and licensing compliance work with transportation compliance across 417,070 people — read the $48,220 to $133,720 band, not the midpoint.
- Fleet size and risk exposure set pay, with hazmat, tanker and passenger operations commanding a clear premium over general freight compliance.
- The pay step is authority: managers who own audit readiness and can halt an unsafe operation are valued differently from those maintaining driver qualification files.
US DOT Compliance Manager Pay Distribution · BLS OEWS May 2025
Pay by Level · BLS OEWS May 2025
How much do dot compliance managers earn at each level?
BLS OEWS publishes one blended wage for the whole occupation and does not break pay out by credential or practice level. The levels below distribute the published percentile range across the credential tiers this role actually hires at.
Level medians are aligned to the BLS OEWS May 2025 percentile distribution for SOC 13-1041; GlobalCybers does not yet publish a verified placement sample for this role, so no verified median is shown.
Methodology & Sources
How the numbers on this page are built
Published (BLS): BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 13-1041, United States national estimate. Public, methodologically rigorous, but sampled on a rolling 3-year basis and published ~10 months after collection — so it reflects wages that are already 1–2 years old by the time you read them.
Level and certification medians: distributed across the published BLS percentile range for this SOC code (P10 through P90) according to the credential tiers this occupation actually hires at. They are modeled reference points, not separately surveyed wages.
State and metro figures: modeled — the BLS national median multiplied by the GlobalCybers state wage index, and for metros by the published metro index for that state. They are estimates of local pay, not BLS state or metropolitan-area observations, and are labelled as modeled in the tables below.
No verified placement sample:GlobalCybers does not yet publish a placement median for this role, so no "verified" figure appears anywhere on this page.
Pay by Career Level
How much does a dot compliance manager earn at each career stage?
Compliance pay follows regulatory scope, fleet risk and the authority attached to the role. Each median is anchored to the BLS OEWS distribution for SOC 13-1041, a broad series covering compliance work across many fields.
By State
Which states pay dot compliance managers the most in 2026?
State figures are modeled estimates — the BLS national median multiplied by the GlobalCybers salary-calculator state wage index — not BLS state observations, and they carry the broad-series caveat with them. The federal regulations are national, so the geographic variation that matters is where large and high-risk fleets are based rather than differences in the rules themselves; California adds meaningful state-level requirements on top of the federal framework.
6 of 51 state guides shown, ranked by median. Bar is relative to California ($92,840), the highest-paying state shown. See all role salary guides →
By Metro
Which cities pay dot compliance managers the most?
Metro figures are modeled — national median times state wage index times published metro index — not BLS MSA observations. The metros that matter for this role are trucking and terminal hubs, where fleet density puts the largest compliance programmes and the senior roles.
BLS OEWS MSA estimates, May 2025. Nominal pay — weigh each metro against its cost of living before relocating.
Certification Impact
Which certifications raise a dot compliance manager’s pay the most?
Median annual pay before and after each credential, based on GlobalCybers placement data cross-referenced with BLS. License upgrades move the needle most; stackable certs add on top.
Impacts are not additive, the licensing rows share the same career ladder. Browse all 167 certifications →
Trade Comparison
How does dot compliance manager pay compare to related roles?
BLS OEWS national median across the closest trades. DOT Compliance Managers sit mid-pack on median but carry one of the widest P10–P90 spreads, licensing and specialization drive the upside.
BLS OEWS May 2025. Verify dot compliance manager wages on BLS.gov →
Take-Home Pay
What does a dot compliance manager actually take home after taxes?
The medians above are gross base wage.
Estimates use 2026 federal brackets, standard deduction, and 7.65% FICA. Actual take-home varies with filing status, deductions, and local tax.
FAQ
DOT Compliance Manager Salary, Frequently Asked Questions
DOT Compliance Manager career research journey
Do your homework, then let the network do the rest.Get the job, then keep rising
FreeSet your intent, matching jobs come to you. No applying.
A roadmap to your next licence tier and higher pay band.
Once placed, we cover all certification, licence & career-guide fees.
Hiring dot compliance managers?
Get a verified shortlist of 3–5 qualified candidates in 48 hours
GlobalCybers verifies active state licenses, trade certifications, Intent and right-to-work status before any candidate reaches your portal. Flat $2,999/mo RPO (Recruitment Process Outsourcing), up to 3 concurrent roles, or a free trial (pay on hire). 90-day written guarantee.
Related · DOT Compliance Manager
Everything for dot compliance managers in one place
Salary data, licensing, interview prep, and hiring, all cross-linked so you (and search engines) can move through the full dot compliance manager cluster.