Bus Drivers, School in Virginia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$40,382
after federal, FICA and Virginia tax
Tax takes
$9,808
19.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$40,082
Virginia costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Virginia — 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
$50,190
Kept after tax
$40,382
Worth in national money
$40,082
State rank
18
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Virginia pays bus drivers, school around $50,190 at the midpoint, 18 of 51 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Against other work in Virginia, this sits in the middle: 309 of 489 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- No great distortion either way. Virginia costs about what the country costs, so from $50,190, take-home of $40,382 is worth roughly $40,082 in national money. The average comes to $53,390, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For bus drivers, school the Virginia median is $50,190, ranking 18 of 51 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- Bus drivers, school ranks 309 of 489 occupations in Virginia by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- Price parity in Virginia is near the national base, so for bus drivers, school, whose median is $50,190, the adjusted figure of $40,082 differs little from $40,382 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $53,390 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Bus Drivers, School
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $38,830 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $50,190 |
| Top tenth earn over | $67,060 |
| This salary | $50,190 |
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 Virginia | $40,382 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $42,508 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,661 |
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 | $47,545 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$4,428 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 101 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of bus drivers, school in Virginia earn under $50,190 and half over. The published range runs $38,830 at the tenth percentile to $67,060 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Virginia the take-home figure of $40,382, from $50,190, 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 309 of 489 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $40,082 uses one figure for the whole of Virginia. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 489 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 309.
- Figures are distribution medians for bus drivers, school in Virginia, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $38,830 to $67,060; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- Take-home for Virginia is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $40,382 from $50,190. 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 309 of 489 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $40,082, worked from $50,190, 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 Virginia address, on work sitting at 309 of 489 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $53,390, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $38,830 at the tenth percentile, $67,060 at the ninetieth.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
A larger wage in a dearer place is not automatically more. Adjusted for local prices, this pay behaves like $40,082 of national purchasing power.
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 Virginia adds its own income tax on top — which is why $40,382 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.
How does the published median differ from the mean for this occupation?
The median is the midpoint of the distribution; the mean for this occupation in Virginia is $53,390. Wage distributions are right-skewed, so the mean exceeds the median wherever a minority earn substantially more. BLS publishes both because substituting one for the other misstates a typical worker's pay.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($38,830 to $67,060) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Virginia rather than a national figure.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
Virginia's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $40,082 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 $40,382 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Virginia 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.