Bus Drivers, School in Georgia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$36,653
after federal, FICA and Georgia tax
Tax takes
$8,297
18.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$37,904
Georgia costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Georgia — 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
$44,950
Kept after tax
$36,653
Worth in national money
$37,904
State rank
37
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for bus drivers, school is on the low side in Georgia. The middle earner gets $44,950. That is 37 of 51 states, and about 6.2% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 492 occupations Georgia reports figures for, this is number 364.
- Georgia is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $44,950 the take-home is $36,653; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $37,904 would nationally. The average lands at $41,410, below the middle of the range.
- For bus drivers, school, Georgia sits in the lower band at $44,950, ranking 37 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 6.2%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- In Georgia's occupational distribution, bus drivers, school sits at 364 of 492 — 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.
- Post-tax income for bus drivers, school in Georgia, on $44,950, is $36,653 — equivalent to $37,904 once regional price parity is applied. ⚠️ The adjustment uses a statewide index that describes no particular address; within-state price variation, concentrated in housing, routinely exceeds the difference between two states. At $41,410 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 | $20,740 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $44,950 |
| Top tenth earn over | $62,060 |
| This salary | $44,950 |
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 Georgia | $36,653 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $38,297 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,506 |
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 | $42,904 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$1,822 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 97 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $44,950 as a midpoint for Georgia, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $20,740 and the ninetieth is $62,060 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Georgia the take-home figure of $36,653, from $44,950, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 364 of 492 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $37,904 uses one figure for the whole of Georgia. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 492 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 364.
- The Georgia median of $44,950 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $20,740 to $62,060. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for Georgia is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $36,653 from $44,950. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 364 of 492 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $37,904, worked from $44,950, 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 Georgia address, on work sitting at 364 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $41,410, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $20,740, the highest tenth $62,060, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Georgia is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $37,904 in national terms.
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 Georgia's own levy, $36,653 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.
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 Georgia is $41,410. 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 drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($20,740) and the ninetieth ($62,060) 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?
Georgia'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 $37,904 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 $36,653 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Georgia 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.