Bus Drivers, Transit and Intercity in Delaware
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$48,008
after federal, FICA and Delaware tax
Tax takes
$12,502
20.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$48,370
Delaware costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Delaware — 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
$60,510
Kept after tax
$48,008
Worth in national money
$48,370
State rank
15
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Delaware is one of the better-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $60,510, which ranks 15 of 51 states with published figures. That is about 2.47% above the national middle.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 218 among 445 occupations Delaware publishes pay for.
- Cost of living is unremarkable here. From $60,510, tax leaves $48,008, and adjusting for local prices barely moves it — about $48,370 in comparable terms. Here the average runs under the middle, at $55,980.
- Delaware ranks 15 of 51 states publishing a median for bus drivers, transit and intercity, at $60,510 — about 2.47% above the national median. A state's position on nominal pay is the figure wage tables report and the least informative of the three on this page, because it survives neither the tax adjustment nor the price adjustment intact for most occupations.
- Position 218 of 445 in Delaware places bus drivers, transit and intercity 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.
- Because Delaware sits close to the national price level, the real-terms figure for bus drivers, transit and intercity — median $60,510 — tracks the post-tax figure closely: $48,008 retained, $48,370 adjusted. ⚠️ Neither is a wage; the second describes what the first buys. Mean pay of $55,980 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
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Pay band: Bus Drivers, Transit and Intercity
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $39,390 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $60,510 |
| Top tenth earn over | $65,710 |
| This salary | $60,510 |
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 Delaware | $48,008 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $50,800 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,907 |
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 | $57,036 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$4,725 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 99 |
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, transit and intercity in Delaware earn under $60,510 and half over. The published range runs $39,390 at the tenth percentile to $65,710 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Delaware the take-home figure of $48,008, from $60,510, 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 218 of 445 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $48,370 uses one figure for the whole of Delaware. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 445 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 218.
- Figures are distribution medians for bus drivers, transit and intercity in Delaware, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $39,390 to $65,710; 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 Delaware is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $48,008 from $60,510. 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 218 of 445 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $48,370, worked from $60,510, 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 Delaware address, on work sitting at 218 of 445 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $55,980, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $39,390 at the tenth percentile, $65,710 at the ninetieth.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Delaware is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $48,370 in national terms.
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 Delaware adds its own income tax on top — which is why $48,008 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 Delaware is $55,980. 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 ($39,390 to $65,710) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Delaware rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Delaware'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 $48,370 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 $48,008 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Delaware 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.