Bus Drivers, School in Alaska
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$45,730
after federal, FICA and Alaska tax
Tax takes
$8,470
15.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$44,959
Alaska costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Alaska — roughly, since only five points along the band are published.
One filer, standard deduction, no dependants and nothing paid in before tax — the same household the rest of this page uses, so the comparison holds. City and school-district income taxes are not included.
Median here
$54,200
Kept after tax
$45,730
Worth in national money
$44,959
State rank
12
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Alaska is one of the better-paying states for bus drivers, school. The middle earner takes $54,200, which ranks 12 of 51 states with published figures. That is about 13.11% above the national middle.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 430 occupations Alaska reports figures for, this is number 296.
- No great distortion either way. Alaska costs about what the country costs, so from $54,200, take-home of $45,730 is worth roughly $44,959 in national money. The average lands at $51,820, below the middle of the range.
- Alaska ranks 12 of 51 states publishing a median for bus drivers, school, at $54,200 — about 13.11% above the national median. A state's position on nominal pay is the figure wage tables report and the least informative of the three on this page, because it survives neither the tax adjustment nor the price adjustment intact for most occupations.
- In Alaska's occupational distribution, bus drivers, school sits at 296 of 430 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- Price parity in Alaska is near the national base, so for bus drivers, school, whose median is $54,200, the adjusted figure of $44,959 differs little from $45,730 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $51,820 the mean undershoots the median, an inversion of the usual skew.
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Pay band: Bus Drivers, School
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $36,470 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $54,200 |
| Top tenth earn over | $59,910 |
| This salary | $54,200 |
Positions between the published tenth, quarter, half, three-quarter and ninetieth points are estimated by straight line.
The same pay, somewhere else
The state median for this job
| Take-home in Alaska | $45,730 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $45,730 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,100 |
The raise and the real gain point in opposite directions here.
State income tax and state price levels only. No city income tax, and no housing market.
What you would need there
The state median for this job
| To match take-home only | $54,200 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,540 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 102 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $54,200 as a midpoint for Alaska, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $36,470 and the ninetieth is $59,910 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $45,730 take-home in Alaska comes from $54,200. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 296 of 430.
- One number stands for prices across all of Alaska, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $44,959, the adjusted value of that $54,200 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 296 of 430 in the state.
- The Alaska median of $54,200 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $36,470 to $59,910. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $45,730, from $54,200, assumes a single Alaska filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 296 of 430 locally, and the state ranks 12 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Alaska, so $44,959 — the adjusted value of that $54,200 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 296 of 430 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $51,820, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $36,470 at the tenth percentile, $59,910 at the ninetieth.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
The number and the value are different things. Alaska costs more than the national average, so this take-home stretches like $44,959 rather than its face figure.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Most of it arrives. $45,730 lands after tax, since there is no state income tax on wages here — though the federal floor is identical in every state.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
How does the published median differ from the mean for this occupation?
The median is the midpoint of the distribution; the mean for this occupation in Alaska is $51,820. Wage distributions are right-skewed, so the mean exceeds the median wherever a minority earn substantially more. BLS publishes both because substituting one for the other misstates a typical worker's pay.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($36,470 to $59,910) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Alaska rather than a national figure.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
Alaska's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $44,959 in national-average terms. ⚠️ RPPs are an all-items index; housing parities vary far more widely than the headline figure.
Why is the take-home ratio comparatively high in this state?
Alaska levies no personal income tax on wages, so take-home of $45,730 reflects the federal layer and FICA alone. Federal income tax and FICA are unchanged; states without a wage income tax generally recover revenue through consumption and property bases instead.
Is this occupation's state coverage complete?
State-level estimates are published for all 51 jurisdictions for this occupation, so cross-state comparison is not confounded by suppression. ⚠️ Estimates remain survey-based and carry sampling error; small differences between adjacent states should not be over-read.