School Bus Monitors in Maine
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$31,464
after federal, FICA and Maine tax
Tax takes
$6,596
17.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$32,405
Maine costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Maine — 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
$38,060
Kept after tax
$31,464
Worth in national money
$32,405
State rank
10
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Maine pays school bus monitors a middle wage of $38,060, ranking 10 of 50 states and sitting about 8.43% above the national middle.
- Within Maine this is lower-paid work. Of 484 occupations the state publishes figures for, school bus monitors ranks 451. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- No great distortion either way. Maine costs about what the country costs, so from $38,060, take-home of $31,464 is worth roughly $32,405 in national money. The average comes to $38,330, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Maine's median for school bus monitors is $38,060, about 8.43% above the national figure and 10 of 50 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Against every occupation Maine reports, school bus monitors ranks 451 of 484, 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.
- Price parity in Maine is near the national base, so for school bus monitors, whose median is $38,060, the adjusted figure of $32,405 differs little from $31,464 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $38,330 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: School Bus Monitors
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $30,470 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $38,060 |
| Top tenth earn over | $46,770 |
| This salary | $38,060 |
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 Maine | $31,464 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $32,761 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,309 |
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 | $36,446 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$1,583 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 97 |
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 Maine earn under $38,060 and half over. The published range runs $30,470 at the tenth percentile to $46,770 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $31,464 take-home in Maine comes from $38,060. 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 451 of 484.
- One number stands for prices across all of Maine, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $32,405, the adjusted value of that $38,060 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 451 of 484 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for school bus monitors in Maine, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $30,470 to $46,770; 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 $31,464, from $38,060, assumes a single Maine 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 451 of 484 locally, and the state ranks 10 of 50 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Maine, so $32,405 — the adjusted value of that $38,060 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 451 of 484 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $30,470 and the top tenth $46,770, so most people doing this work in Maine sit within a fairly tight band.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Maine sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $32,405 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 Maine's own levy, $31,464 remains.
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 ($30,470 to $46,770) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Maine rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Maine'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 $32,405 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 $31,464 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Maine 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.