Bus Drivers, Transit and Intercity in Wisconsin
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$42,750
after federal, FICA and Wisconsin tax
Tax takes
$9,910
18.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$45,920
Wisconsin costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Wisconsin — 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
$52,660
Kept after tax
$42,750
Worth in national money
$45,920
State rank
25
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Wisconsin pays this job around $52,660 at the midpoint, 25 of 51 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Against other work in Wisconsin, this sits in the middle: 299 of 491 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $52,660 you keep $42,750 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $45,920 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $53,420, since top earners drag the number up.
- For bus drivers, transit and intercity the Wisconsin median is $52,660, ranking 25 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, transit and intercity ranks 299 of 491 occupations in Wisconsin 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 in Wisconsin is $42,750 after the full tax stack, from $52,660. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $45,920 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $53,420 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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 | $43,740 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $52,660 |
| Top tenth earn over | $63,810 |
| This salary | $52,660 |
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 Wisconsin | $42,750 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $44,492 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$134 |
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 | $50,491 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$162 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 93 |
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 Wisconsin earn under $52,660 and half over. The published range runs $43,740 at the tenth percentile to $63,810 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 Wisconsin's $42,750, worked from $52,660. 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 299 of 491.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $45,920 uses one figure for the whole of Wisconsin. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 491 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 299.
- Figures are distribution medians for bus drivers, transit and intercity in Wisconsin, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $43,740 to $63,810; 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 Wisconsin take-home of $42,750, on $52,660 for work ranking 299 of 491 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 299 of 491 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $45,920, worked from $52,660, 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 Wisconsin address, on work sitting at 299 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $43,740 at the tenth percentile, $63,810 at the ninetieth.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Wisconsin sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $45,920 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 Wisconsin adds its own income tax on top — which is why $42,750 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.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($43,740 to $63,810) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Wisconsin rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Wisconsin'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 $45,920 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 $42,750 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Wisconsin 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.