School Bus Monitors in Kentucky
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$23,979
after federal, FICA and Kentucky tax
Tax takes
$4,241
15.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$26,506
Kentucky costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Kentucky — 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
$28,220
Kept after tax
$23,979
Worth in national money
$26,506
State rank
43
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Kentucky is among the lower-paying states for school bus monitors. The middle earner takes $28,220, ranking 43 of 50 states — about 19.6% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Measured against other jobs in Kentucky, this one sits low: 483 of 491 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Kentucky is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $28,220 the take-home is $23,979; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $26,506 would nationally. The average lands at $27,180, below the middle of the range.
- Kentucky ranks 43 of 50 for school bus monitors, with a median of $28,220 — about 19.6% below the national figure. A nominal shortfall is not by itself a real one: lower-paying states frequently carry lower tax and lower price levels, and the adjusted figures below are where that is settled rather than assumed.
- School bus monitors occupies position 483 of 491 in Kentucky's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
- Post-tax income for school bus monitors in Kentucky, on $28,220, is $23,979 — equivalent to $26,506 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 $27,180 the mean undershoots the median, an inversion of the usual skew.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: School Bus Monitors
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $19,820 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $28,220 |
| Top tenth earn over | $34,940 |
| This salary | $28,220 |
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 Kentucky | $23,979 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $24,849 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$934 |
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 | $27,163 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,123 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
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 Kentucky earn under $28,220 and half over. The published range runs $19,820 at the tenth percentile to $34,940 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Kentucky the take-home figure of $23,979, from $28,220, 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 483 of 491 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of Kentucky, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $26,506, the adjusted value of that $28,220 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 483 of 491 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for school bus monitors in Kentucky, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $19,820 to $34,940; 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.
- Take-home for Kentucky is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $23,979 from $28,220. 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 483 of 491 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Kentucky, so $26,506 — the adjusted value of that $28,220 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 483 of 491 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 $27,180, 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 $19,820 and the top tenth $34,940, so most people doing this work in Kentucky sit within a fairly tight band.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Kentucky is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $26,506 in national terms.
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; Kentucky then takes its own share, leaving $23,979.
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 Kentucky is $27,180. 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 ($19,820 to $34,940) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Kentucky rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Kentucky'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 $26,506 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 $23,979 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Kentucky 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.