Bus Drivers, School in South Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$33,744
after federal, FICA and South Carolina tax
Tax takes
$6,156
15.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$36,215
South Carolina costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in South Carolina — 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
$39,900
Kept after tax
$33,744
Worth in national money
$36,215
State rank
43
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. South Carolina pays bus drivers, school a middle wage of $39,900, 43 of 51 states and about 16.74% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Within South Carolina this is lower-paid work. Of 492 occupations the state publishes figures for, bus drivers, school ranks 382. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Here is where South Carolina does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $39,900 you keep $33,744, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $36,215 would elsewhere. The average is lower, $39,640, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- South Carolina's $39,900 median for bus drivers, school places it 43 of 51 states, about 16.74% below national. Because both the tax and price adjustments tend to favor lower-nominal states, this ranking is the least stable of the three reported here.
- Against every occupation South Carolina reports, bus drivers, school ranks 382 of 492, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- After federal, FICA and South Carolina income tax, retained pay for bus drivers, school on $39,900 is $33,744. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $36,215 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 $39,640 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 | $23,640 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $39,900 |
| Top tenth earn over | $57,150 |
| This salary | $39,900 |
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 South Carolina | $33,744 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $34,240 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$980 |
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 | $39,283 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,185 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 93 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in South Carolina earn less than $39,900. The published range is $23,640 up to $57,150, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In South Carolina the take-home figure of $33,744, from $39,900, 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 382 of 492 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $36,215, the adjusted value of that $39,900 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of South Carolina. 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 382 of 492 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for bus drivers, school in South Carolina the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $23,640 to $57,150. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for South Carolina is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $33,744 from $39,900. 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 382 of 492 locally.
- This $36,215 adjusted figure, worked from $39,900, 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 382 of 492 in the state. The occupation ranks 382 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $23,640 and the top tenth $57,150 — 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 $36,215.
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 South Carolina adds its own income tax on top — which is why $33,744 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 drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($23,640) and the ninetieth ($57,150) 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?
South Carolina'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 $36,215 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 $33,744 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and South Carolina 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.