Bus Drivers, School in Washington
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$53,098
after federal, FICA and Washington tax
Tax takes
$10,272
16.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$48,910
Washington costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Washington — 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
$63,370
Kept after tax
$53,098
Worth in national money
$48,910
State rank
2
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for bus drivers, school is strong here. Washington's middle earner gets $63,370, putting the state 2 of 51 — about 32.24% ahead of the national figure.
- Against other work in Washington, this sits in the middle: 281 of 493 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $63,370 the take-home is $53,098. But Washington costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $48,910 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is lower, $62,940, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- For bus drivers, school, Washington sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $63,370, ranking 2 of 51 and running about 32.24% 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.
- Bus drivers, school ranks 281 of 493 occupations in Washington 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.
- Retained pay after federal, FICA and Washington income tax is $53,098 for bus drivers, school, from $63,370. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $48,910. ⚠️ This is purchasing power and not a wage; cross-state offer comparisons that stop at the nominal figure systematically overvalue high-cost states. The mean of $62,940 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 | $49,670 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $63,370 |
| Top tenth earn over | $75,530 |
| This salary | $63,370 |
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 Washington | $53,098 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $53,098 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$5,731 |
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 | $63,370 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$6,931 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 109 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Washington earn less than $63,370. The published range is $49,670 up to $75,530, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Washington the take-home figure of $53,098, from $63,370, 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 281 of 493 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of Washington, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $48,910, the adjusted value of that $63,370 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 281 of 493 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for bus drivers, school in Washington the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $49,670 to $75,530. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for Washington is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $53,098 from $63,370. 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 281 of 493 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Washington, so $48,910 — the adjusted value of that $63,370 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 281 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $49,670 and the top tenth $75,530, so most people doing this work in Washington sit within a fairly tight band.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
The number and the value are different things. Washington costs more than the national average, so this take-home stretches like $48,910 rather than its face figure.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
No. $53,098 survives, because Washington 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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($49,670 to $75,530) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Washington rather than a national figure.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
Washington's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $48,910 in national-average terms. ⚠️ RPPs are an all-items index; housing parities vary far more widely than the headline figure.
Why is the take-home ratio comparatively high in this state?
Washington levies no personal income tax on wages, so take-home of $53,098 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.