Bus Drivers, School in New York
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$45,229
after federal, FICA and New York tax
Tax takes
$11,411
20.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$42,024
New York costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in New York — 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
$56,640
Kept after tax
$45,229
Worth in national money
$42,024
State rank
8
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for bus drivers, school is strong here. New York's middle earner gets $56,640, putting the state 8 of 51 — about 18.2% ahead of the national figure.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 493 occupations New York reports figures for, this is number 331.
- Costs eat into it here. Of $56,640, tax leaves $45,229 — and because New York is dearer than average, that stretches only as far as $42,024 would nationally. Averages run higher here, $57,140, since top earners drag the number up.
- For bus drivers, school, New York sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $56,640, ranking 8 of 51 and running about 18.2% above the national midpoint. Nominal advantage of this size is usually, though not always, large enough to survive the state's own tax and price levels.
- In New York's occupational distribution, bus drivers, school sits at 331 of 493 — 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.
- After tax, $45,229 remains from the New York median of $56,640 for this occupation. Applying the state's above-average price parity yields $42,024 in national-average terms — the quantity relevant to a relocation decision, and the one absent from essentially every published wage comparison. Mean pay of $57,140 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Bus Drivers, School
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $46,270 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $56,640 |
| Top tenth earn over | $76,070 |
| This salary | $56,640 |
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 New York | $45,229 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $47,690 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$7,053 |
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 | $53,576 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$8,530 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 108 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $56,640 as a midpoint for New York, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $46,270 and the ninetieth is $76,070 — 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 New York's $45,229, worked from $56,640. 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 331 of 493.
- Two cautions on $42,024, the adjusted value of that $56,640 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of New York. 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 331 of 493 locally.
- The New York median of $56,640 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $46,270 to $76,070. 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 New York take-home of $45,229, on $56,640 for work ranking 331 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 331 of 493 in the state.
- This $42,024 adjusted figure, worked from $56,640, 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 331 of 493 in the state. The occupation ranks 331 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $46,270 at the bottom tenth to $76,070 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
Not on its own. Prices in New York run above the national level, so the same dollars buy less here. Adjusted for that, this pay is worth $42,024 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
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 York adds its own income tax on top — which is why $45,229 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($46,270 to $76,070) 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 York rather than a national figure.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
New York's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $42,024 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 $45,229 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and New York 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.