Bus Drivers, Transit and Intercity in Idaho
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$39,808
after federal, FICA and Idaho tax
Tax takes
$9,192
18.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$43,541
Idaho costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Idaho — 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
$49,000
Kept after tax
$39,808
Worth in national money
$43,541
State rank
30
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Idaho is 30 of 51 states for this job, with a middle wage of $49,000. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Against other work in Idaho, this sits in the middle: 293 of 476 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Idaho is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $49,000 the take-home is $39,808; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $43,541 would nationally. The average comes to $49,420, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Idaho ranks 30 of 51 for bus drivers, transit and intercity at $49,000. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Bus drivers, transit and intercity ranks 293 of 476 occupations in Idaho 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.
- Post-tax income for bus drivers, transit and intercity in Idaho, on $49,000, is $39,808 — equivalent to $43,541 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 $49,420 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Bus Drivers, Transit and Intercity
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $39,460 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $49,000 |
| Top tenth earn over | $62,530 |
| This salary | $49,000 |
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 Idaho | $39,808 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $41,552 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$782 |
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 | $46,830 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$946 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 91 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $49,000 as a midpoint for Idaho, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $39,460 and the ninetieth is $62,530 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Idaho the take-home figure of $39,808, from $49,000, 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 293 of 476 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of Idaho, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $43,541, the adjusted value of that $49,000 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 293 of 476 in the state.
- The Idaho median of $49,000 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $39,460 to $62,530. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for Idaho is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $39,808 from $49,000. 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 293 of 476 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Idaho, so $43,541 — the adjusted value of that $49,000 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 293 of 476 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $39,460 and the top tenth $62,530, so most people doing this work in Idaho sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $43,541.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and Idaho's own levy, $39,808 remains.
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.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($39,460 to $62,530) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Idaho rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Idaho'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 $43,541 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 $39,808 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Idaho 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.