Bus Drivers, Transit and Intercity in Missouri
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$49,007
after federal, FICA and Missouri tax
Tax takes
$11,653
19.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$53,406
Missouri costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Missouri — 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
$60,660
Kept after tax
$49,007
Worth in national money
$53,406
State rank
14
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Missouri pays this job a middle wage of $60,660, ranking 14 of 51 states and sitting about 2.73% above the national middle.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 204 among 488 occupations Missouri publishes pay for.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $60,660 you keep $49,007 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $53,406 at national prices. Here the average runs under the middle, at $54,810.
- Missouri's median for bus drivers, transit and intercity is $60,660, about 2.73% above the national figure and 14 of 51 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Position 204 of 488 in Missouri 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.
- Retained pay in Missouri is $49,007 after the full tax stack, from $60,660. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $53,406 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $54,810 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
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 | $39,030 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $60,660 |
| Top tenth earn over | $67,040 |
| This salary | $60,660 |
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 Missouri | $49,007 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $50,920 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,006 |
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 | $58,278 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,216 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 92 |
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 Missouri earn under $60,660 and half over. The published range runs $39,030 at the tenth percentile to $67,040 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Missouri's $49,007, worked from $60,660. 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 204 of 488.
- One number stands for prices across all of Missouri, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $53,406, the adjusted value of that $60,660 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 204 of 488 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for bus drivers, transit and intercity in Missouri, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $39,030 to $67,040; 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.
- The Missouri take-home of $49,007, on $60,660 for work ranking 204 of 488 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 204 of 488 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Missouri, so $53,406 — the adjusted value of that $60,660 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 204 of 488 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 $54,810, 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?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $39,030 and the top tenth $67,040, so most people doing this work in Missouri sit within a fairly tight band.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Missouri is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $53,406 in national terms.
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 Missouri's own levy, $49,007 remains.
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.
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 Missouri is $54,810. 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 ($39,030 to $67,040) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Missouri rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Missouri'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 $53,406 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 $49,007 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Missouri 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.