Bus Drivers, School in Connecticut
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$48,978
after federal, FICA and Connecticut tax
Tax takes
$12,542
20.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$47,235
Connecticut costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Connecticut — 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
$61,520
Kept after tax
$48,978
Worth in national money
$47,235
State rank
3
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Connecticut is one of the better-paying states for bus drivers, school. The middle earner takes $61,520, which ranks 3 of 51 states with published figures. That is about 28.38% above the national middle.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Bus drivers, school ranks 275 among 482 occupations Connecticut publishes pay for.
- Connecticut is an expensive state, and the adjusted figure shows it. From $61,520 the take-home is $48,978; in national-average money that behaves like $47,235. The average lands at $56,240, below the middle of the range.
- Connecticut ranks 3 of 51 states publishing a median for bus drivers, school, at $61,520 — about 28.38% 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.
- Position 275 of 482 in Connecticut places bus drivers, school in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- Take-home for bus drivers, school in Connecticut, on $61,520, is $48,978; deflated by the state's price level, $47,235. ⚠️ The deflator is statewide, so it understates the erosion in the state's metropolitan areas and overstates it outside them. At $56,240 the mean undershoots the median, an inversion of the usual skew.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Bus Drivers, School
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $45,830 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $61,520 |
| Top tenth earn over | $65,090 |
| This salary | $61,520 |
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 Connecticut | $48,978 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $51,611 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$5,877 |
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 | $58,242 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$7,107 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 104 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Connecticut earn less than $61,520. The published range is $45,830 up to $65,090, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $48,978 take-home in Connecticut comes from $61,520. 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 275 of 482.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $47,235 uses one figure for the whole of Connecticut. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 482 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 275.
- Reported values are medians; for bus drivers, school in Connecticut the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $45,830 to $65,090. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $48,978, from $61,520, assumes a single Connecticut 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 275 of 482 locally, and the state ranks 3 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $47,235, worked from $61,520, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular Connecticut address, on work sitting at 275 of 482 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 $56,240, 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 — $45,830 at the tenth percentile, $65,090 at the ninetieth.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
A larger wage in a dearer place is not automatically more. Adjusted for local prices, this pay behaves like $47,235 of national purchasing power.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Four deductions, stacked. The federal layer and the two payroll taxes apply wherever you work; Connecticut then takes its own share, leaving $48,978.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
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 Connecticut is $56,240. 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 ($45,830 to $65,090) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Connecticut rather than a national figure.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
Connecticut's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $47,235 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 $48,978 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Connecticut 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.