Bus Drivers, School in Maine
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$39,299
after federal, FICA and Maine tax
Tax takes
$9,341
19.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$40,474
Maine costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Maine — 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
$48,640
Kept after tax
$39,299
Worth in national money
$40,474
State rank
21
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Maine sits in the middle of the pack for bus drivers, school. The median is $48,640, ranking 21 of 51 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 484 occupations Maine reports figures for, this is number 329.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $48,640 the take-home is $39,299, which is worth about $40,474 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $48,690, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Maine occupies the middle band for bus drivers, school: a median of $48,640, ranking 21 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.
- In Maine's occupational distribution, bus drivers, school sits at 329 of 484 — 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.
- Maine's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for bus drivers, school on its $48,640 median: $39,299 retained after tax becomes $40,474 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $48,690 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Bus Drivers, School
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $39,050 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $48,640 |
| Top tenth earn over | $58,590 |
| This salary | $48,640 |
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 Maine | $39,299 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $41,262 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,988 |
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 | $46,197 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,404 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 97 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $48,640 as a midpoint for Maine, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $39,050 and the ninetieth is $58,590 — 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 Maine's $39,299, worked from $48,640. 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 329 of 484.
- Two cautions on $40,474, the adjusted value of that $48,640 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Maine. 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 329 of 484 locally.
- The Maine median of $48,640 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $39,050 to $58,590. 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 Maine take-home of $39,299, on $48,640 for work ranking 329 of 484 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 329 of 484 in the state.
- This $40,474 adjusted figure, worked from $48,640, 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 329 of 484 in the state. The occupation ranks 329 of 484 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $39,050 and the top tenth $58,590, so most people doing this work in Maine sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $40,474.
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 Maine's own levy, $39,299 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 ($39,050 to $58,590) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Maine rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Maine'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 $40,474 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 $39,299 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Maine 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.