Bus Drivers, School in Indiana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$39,377
after federal, FICA and Indiana tax
Tax takes
$8,643
18.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$42,716
Indiana costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Indiana — 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
$48,020
Kept after tax
$39,377
Worth in national money
$42,716
State rank
22
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Indiana sits in the middle of the pack for bus drivers, school. The median is $48,020, ranking 22 of 51 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Bus drivers, school ranks 322 among 493 occupations Indiana publishes pay for.
- Here is where Indiana does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $48,020 you keep $39,377, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $42,716 would elsewhere. The average is lower, $46,460, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- Indiana occupies the middle band for bus drivers, school: a median of $48,020, ranking 22 of 51. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Position 322 of 493 in Indiana 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.
- After federal, FICA and Indiana income tax, retained pay for bus drivers, school on $48,020 is $39,377. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $42,716 in national-average terms. ⚠️ That figure is purchasing power, not a wage, and nobody is paid it; it is what the take-home buys. The mean of $46,460 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
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Pay band: Bus Drivers, School
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $22,900 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $48,020 |
| Top tenth earn over | $65,240 |
| This salary | $48,020 |
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 Indiana | $39,377 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $40,764 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$767 |
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 | $46,294 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$927 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 92 |
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 Indiana earn under $48,020 and half over. The published range runs $22,900 at the tenth percentile to $65,240 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 Indiana's $39,377, worked from $48,020. 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 322 of 493.
- One number stands for prices across all of Indiana, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $42,716, the adjusted value of that $48,020 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 322 of 493 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for bus drivers, school in Indiana, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $22,900 to $65,240; 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 Indiana take-home of $39,377, on $48,020 for work ranking 322 of 493 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 322 of 493 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Indiana, so $42,716 — the adjusted value of that $48,020 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 322 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $46,460 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $22,900 and the top tenth $65,240 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
A smaller wage in a cheaper place is not automatically less. Adjusted for local prices, this is worth $42,716.
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; Indiana then takes its own share, leaving $39,377.
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 Indiana is $46,460. 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 ($22,900) and the ninetieth ($65,240) 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?
Indiana'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 $42,716 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 $39,377 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Indiana 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.