Bus Drivers, School in Arkansas
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$37,514
after federal, FICA and Arkansas tax
Tax takes
$7,986
17.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$43,365
Arkansas costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Arkansas — 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
$45,500
Kept after tax
$37,514
Worth in national money
$43,365
State rank
35
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for bus drivers, school is on the low side in Arkansas. The middle earner gets $45,500. That is 35 of 51 states, and about 5.05% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Against other work in Arkansas, this sits in the middle: 282 of 489 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $45,500 you keep $37,514 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $43,365 at national prices. Here the average runs under the middle, at $44,410.
- For bus drivers, school, Arkansas sits in the lower band at $45,500, ranking 35 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 5.05%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Bus drivers, school ranks 282 of 489 occupations in Arkansas by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- Retained pay in Arkansas is $37,514 after the full tax stack, from $45,500. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $43,365 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $44,410 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
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Pay band: Bus Drivers, School
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $24,080 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $45,500 |
| Top tenth earn over | $63,300 |
| This salary | $45,500 |
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 Arkansas | $37,514 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $38,739 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$3,500 |
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 | $43,976 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$4,233 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 87 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of bus drivers, school in Arkansas earn under $45,500 and half over. The published range runs $24,080 at the tenth percentile to $63,300 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Arkansas's $37,514, worked from $45,500. 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 282 of 489.
- One number stands for prices across all of Arkansas, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $43,365, the adjusted value of that $45,500 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 282 of 489 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for bus drivers, school in Arkansas, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $24,080 to $63,300; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- The Arkansas take-home of $37,514, on $45,500 for work ranking 282 of 489 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 282 of 489 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Arkansas, so $43,365 — the adjusted value of that $45,500 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 282 of 489 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $24,080, the highest tenth $63,300, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Arkansas sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $43,365 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and Arkansas adds its own income tax on top — which is why $37,514 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($24,080) and the ninetieth ($63,300) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Arkansas's regional price parity is at or below the national average, so nominal wages understate purchasing power. Take-home deflated by the state price level is $43,365 in national-average terms. The adjustment uses an all-items index and does not isolate housing.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $37,514 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Arkansas 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.