Bus Drivers, School in New Jersey
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$48,196
after federal, FICA and New Jersey tax
Tax takes
$11,234
18.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$44,264
New Jersey costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in New Jersey — 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
$59,430
Kept after tax
$48,196
Worth in national money
$44,264
State rank
5
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- New Jersey is one of the better-paying states for bus drivers, school. The middle earner takes $59,430, which ranks 5 of 51 states with published figures. That is about 24.02% above the national middle.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 490 occupations New Jersey reports figures for, this is number 296.
- New Jersey is an expensive state, and the adjusted figure shows it. From $59,430 the take-home is $48,196; in national-average money that behaves like $44,264. The average lands at $58,470, below the middle of the range.
- New Jersey ranks 5 of 51 states publishing a median for bus drivers, school, at $59,430 — about 24.02% 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.
- In New Jersey's occupational distribution, bus drivers, school sits at 296 of 490 — 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.
- Take-home for bus drivers, school in New Jersey, on $59,430, is $48,196; deflated by the state's price level, $44,264. ⚠️ The deflator is statewide, so it understates the erosion in the state's metropolitan areas and overstates it outside them. At $58,470 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 | $46,640 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $59,430 |
| Top tenth earn over | $71,520 |
| This salary | $59,430 |
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 New Jersey | $48,196 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $49,932 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$7,119 |
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 | $57,270 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$8,610 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 109 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $59,430 as a midpoint for New Jersey, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $46,640 and the ninetieth is $71,520 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $48,196 take-home in New Jersey comes from $59,430. 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 296 of 490.
- One number stands for prices across all of New Jersey, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $44,264, the adjusted value of that $59,430 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 296 of 490 in the state.
- The New Jersey median of $59,430 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $46,640 to $71,520. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $48,196, from $59,430, assumes a single New Jersey 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 296 of 490 locally, and the state ranks 5 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for New Jersey, so $44,264 — the adjusted value of that $59,430 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 296 of 490 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $46,640 and the top tenth $71,520, so most people doing this work in New Jersey sit within a fairly tight band.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
The number and the value are different things. New Jersey costs more than the national average, so this take-home stretches like $44,264 rather than its face figure.
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 New Jersey adds its own income tax on top — which is why $48,196 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($46,640 to $71,520) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to New Jersey rather than a national figure.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
New Jersey's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $44,264 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 $48,196 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and New Jersey 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.