Bus Drivers, School in Texas
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$37,928
after federal, FICA and Texas tax
Tax takes
$6,562
14.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$39,030
Texas costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Texas — 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
$44,490
Kept after tax
$37,928
Worth in national money
$39,030
State rank
41
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Texas is among the lower-paying states for bus drivers, school. The middle earner takes $44,490, ranking 41 of 51 states — about 7.16% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Bus drivers, school ranks 353 among 493 occupations Texas publishes pay for.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $44,490 the take-home is $37,928, which is worth about $39,030 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is lower, $43,540, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- Texas ranks 41 of 51 for bus drivers, school, with a median of $44,490 — about 7.16% below the national figure. A nominal shortfall is not by itself a real one: lower-paying states frequently carry lower tax and lower price levels, and the adjusted figures below are where that is settled rather than assumed.
- Position 353 of 493 in Texas 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.
- Texas's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for bus drivers, school on its $44,490 median: $37,928 retained after tax becomes $39,030 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $43,540 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Bus Drivers, School
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $23,690 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $44,490 |
| Top tenth earn over | $60,740 |
| This salary | $44,490 |
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 Texas | $37,928 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Florida | $37,928 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,368 |
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 | $44,490 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,049 |
| Prices in Florida | 103 vs 97 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $44,490 as a midpoint for Texas, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $23,690 and the ninetieth is $60,740 — 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 Texas's $37,928, worked from $44,490. 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 353 of 493.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $39,030 uses one figure for the whole of Texas. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 493 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 353.
- The Texas median of $44,490 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $23,690 to $60,740. 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 Texas take-home of $37,928, on $44,490 for work ranking 353 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 353 of 493 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $39,030, worked from $44,490, 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 Texas address, on work sitting at 353 of 493 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 $23,690 and the top tenth $60,740 — 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 $39,030.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
No. $37,928 survives, because Texas levies no wage income tax. The federal share does not change with the state you work in.
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 drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($23,690) and the ninetieth ($60,740) 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?
Texas'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 $39,030 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?
Texas levies no personal income tax on wages, so take-home of $37,928 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.