Bus Drivers, School in Arizona
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$38,432
after federal, FICA and Arizona tax
Tax takes
$7,618
16.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$38,012
Arizona costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Arizona — 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
$46,050
Kept after tax
$38,432
Worth in national money
$38,012
State rank
31
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Arizona pays bus drivers, school around $46,050 at the midpoint, 31 of 51 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 491 occupations Arizona reports figures for, this is number 368.
- Cost of living is unremarkable here. From $46,050, tax leaves $38,432, and adjusting for local prices barely moves it — about $38,012 in comparable terms. Here the average runs under the middle, at $45,390.
- For bus drivers, school the Arizona median is $46,050, ranking 31 of 51 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- In Arizona's occupational distribution, bus drivers, school sits at 368 of 491 — 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.
- Because Arizona sits close to the national price level, the real-terms figure for bus drivers, school — median $46,050 — tracks the post-tax figure closely: $38,432 retained, $38,012 adjusted. ⚠️ Neither is a wage; the second describes what the first buys. Mean pay of $45,390 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Bus Drivers, School
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $37,370 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $46,050 |
| Top tenth earn over | $52,870 |
| This salary | $46,050 |
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 Arizona | $38,432 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $39,181 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,308 |
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 | $45,118 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,791 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 101 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $46,050 as a midpoint for Arizona, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $37,370 and the ninetieth is $52,870 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Arizona's $38,432, worked from $46,050. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 368 of 491.
- Two cautions on $38,012, the adjusted value of that $46,050 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Arizona. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 368 of 491 locally.
- The Arizona median of $46,050 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $37,370 to $52,870. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The Arizona take-home of $38,432, on $46,050 for work ranking 368 of 491 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 368 of 491 in the state.
- This $38,012 adjusted figure, worked from $46,050, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 368 of 491 in the state. The occupation ranks 368 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $37,370 and the top tenth $52,870, so most people doing this work in Arizona sit within a fairly tight band.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
Not on its own. Prices in Arizona run above the national level, so the same dollars buy less here. Adjusted for that, this pay is worth $38,012 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and Arizona's own levy, $38,432 remains.
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.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($37,370 to $52,870) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Arizona rather than a national figure.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
Arizona's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $38,012 in national-average terms. ⚠️ RPPs are an all-items index; housing parities vary far more widely than the headline figure.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $38,432 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Arizona income tax for a single filer with no adjustments. The state layer is levied in addition to the federal one; only its rate and base differ between states.
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.