Bus Drivers, School in Tennessee
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$37,944
after federal, FICA and Tennessee tax
Tax takes
$6,566
14.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$41,014
Tennessee costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Tennessee — 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
$44,510
Kept after tax
$37,944
Worth in national money
$41,014
State rank
40
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for bus drivers, school is on the low side in Tennessee. The middle earner gets $44,510. That is 40 of 51 states, and about 7.12% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Bus drivers, school ranks 356 among 491 occupations Tennessee publishes pay for.
- Tennessee is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $44,510 the take-home is $37,944; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $41,014 would nationally. The average lands at $43,400, below the middle of the range.
- For bus drivers, school, Tennessee sits in the lower band at $44,510, ranking 40 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 7.12%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Position 356 of 491 in Tennessee 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.
- Post-tax income for bus drivers, school in Tennessee, on $44,510, is $37,944 — equivalent to $41,014 once regional price parity is applied. ⚠️ The adjustment uses a statewide index that describes no particular address; within-state price variation, concentrated in housing, routinely exceeds the difference between two states. At $43,400 the mean undershoots the median, an inversion of the usual skew.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Bus Drivers, School
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $22,900 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $44,510 |
| Top tenth earn over | $61,600 |
| This salary | $44,510 |
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 Tennessee | $37,944 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $37,944 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,967 |
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 | $44,510 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,379 |
| 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 Tennessee earn less than $44,510. The published range is $22,900 up to $61,600, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $37,944 take-home in Tennessee comes from $44,510. 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 356 of 491.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $41,014 uses one figure for the whole of Tennessee. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 491 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 356.
- Reported values are medians; for bus drivers, school in Tennessee the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $22,900 to $61,600. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $37,944, from $44,510, assumes a single Tennessee 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 356 of 491 locally, and the state ranks 40 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $41,014, worked from $44,510, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular Tennessee address, on work sitting at 356 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $22,900 at the bottom tenth to $61,600 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Tennessee is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $41,014 in national terms.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Less than people assume. $37,944 of this wage reaches your account, because Tennessee takes no income tax from wages — but federal tax, Social Security and Medicare still apply exactly as they do everywhere else.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($22,900) and the ninetieth ($61,600) 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?
Tennessee'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 $41,014 in national-average terms. The adjustment uses an all-items index and does not isolate housing.
Why is the take-home ratio comparatively high in this state?
Tennessee levies no personal income tax on wages, so take-home of $37,944 reflects the federal layer and FICA alone. Federal income tax and FICA are unchanged; states without a wage income tax generally recover revenue through consumption and property bases instead.
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.