School Bus Monitors in Arizona
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$29,487
after federal, FICA and Arizona tax
Tax takes
$5,073
14.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$29,165
Arizona costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Arizona — 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
$34,560
Kept after tax
$29,487
Worth in national money
$29,165
State rank
26
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Arizona is 26 of 50 states for school bus monitors, with a middle wage of $34,560. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Within Arizona this is lower-paid work. Of 491 occupations the state publishes figures for, school bus monitors ranks 484. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $34,560 the take-home is $29,487, which is worth about $29,165 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $34,970, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Arizona ranks 26 of 50 for school bus monitors at $34,560. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Against every occupation Arizona reports, school bus monitors ranks 484 of 491, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- Arizona's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for school bus monitors on its $34,560 median: $29,487 retained after tax becomes $29,165 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $34,970 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: School Bus Monitors
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $30,580 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $34,560 |
| Top tenth earn over | $41,440 |
| This salary | $34,560 |
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 Arizona | $29,487 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $29,949 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,654 |
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 | $33,986 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,001 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 101 |
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 school bus monitors in Arizona earn under $34,560 and half over. The published range runs $30,580 at the tenth percentile to $41,440 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $29,487 take-home in Arizona comes from $34,560. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 484 of 491.
- One number stands for prices across all of Arizona, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $29,165, the adjusted value of that $34,560 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 484 of 491 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for school bus monitors in Arizona, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $30,580 to $41,440; 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.
- Retained pay of $29,487, from $34,560, assumes a single Arizona filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 484 of 491 locally, and the state ranks 26 of 50 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Arizona, so $29,165 — the adjusted value of that $34,560 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 484 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $30,580 and the top tenth $41,440, so most people doing this work in Arizona sit within a fairly tight band.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
The number and the value are different things. Arizona costs more than the national average, so this take-home stretches like $29,165 rather than its face figure.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Four deductions, stacked. The federal layer and the two payroll taxes apply wherever you work; Arizona then takes its own share, leaving $29,487.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 50 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($30,580 to $41,440) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Arizona rather than a national figure.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
Arizona's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $29,165 in national-average terms. ⚠️ RPPs are an all-items index; housing parities vary far more widely than the headline figure.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $29,487 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Arizona 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.
Why does this occupation lack published estimates in every state?
BLS suppresses estimates failing disclosure or reliability criteria. This occupation has published state-level estimates in 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.