School Bus Monitors in Arkansas
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$24,293
after federal, FICA and Arkansas tax
Tax takes
$3,967
14.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$28,082
Arkansas costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Arkansas — 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
$28,260
Kept after tax
$24,293
Worth in national money
$28,082
State rank
42
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Arkansas pays school bus monitors a middle wage of $28,260, 42 of 50 states and about 19.49% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Within Arkansas this is lower-paid work. Of 489 occupations the state publishes figures for, school bus monitors ranks 470. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Here is where Arkansas does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $28,260 you keep $24,293, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $28,082 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $30,770, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Arkansas's $28,260 median for school bus monitors places it 42 of 50 states, about 19.49% below national. Because both the tax and price adjustments tend to favor lower-nominal states, this ranking is the least stable of the three reported here.
- Against every occupation Arkansas reports, school bus monitors ranks 470 of 489, 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.
- After federal, FICA and Arkansas income tax, retained pay for school bus monitors on $28,260 is $24,293. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $28,082 in national-average terms. ⚠️ That figure is purchasing power, not a wage, and nobody is paid it; it is what the take-home buys. The mean of $30,770 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: School Bus Monitors
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $23,160 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $28,260 |
| Top tenth earn over | $41,190 |
| This salary | $28,260 |
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 Arkansas | $24,293 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $24,882 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,477 |
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 | $27,545 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,989 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 87 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Arkansas earn less than $28,260. The published range is $23,160 up to $41,190, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $24,293 take-home in Arkansas comes from $28,260. 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 470 of 489.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $28,082 uses one figure for the whole of Arkansas. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 489 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 470.
- Reported values are medians; for school bus monitors in Arkansas the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $23,160 to $41,190. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $24,293, from $28,260, assumes a single Arkansas 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 470 of 489 locally, and the state ranks 42 of 50 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $28,082, worked from $28,260, 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 Arkansas address, on work sitting at 470 of 489 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $30,770, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $23,160 at the bottom tenth to $41,190 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Arkansas sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $28,082 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 Arkansas adds its own income tax on top — which is why $24,293 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 50 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
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 Arkansas is $30,770. 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 ($23,160 to $41,190) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Arkansas rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Arkansas'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 $28,082 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 $24,293 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Arkansas 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.