School Bus Monitors in Massachusetts
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$29,641
after federal, FICA and Massachusetts tax
Tax takes
$6,379
17.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$27,385
Massachusetts costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Massachusetts — 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
$36,020
Kept after tax
$29,641
Worth in national money
$27,385
State rank
20
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Massachusetts sits in the middle of the pack for school bus monitors. The median is $36,020, ranking 20 of 50 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Measured against other jobs in Massachusetts, this one sits low: 476 of 485 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $36,020 the take-home is $29,641. But Massachusetts costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $27,385 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $37,340, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Massachusetts occupies the middle band for school bus monitors: a median of $36,020, ranking 20 of 50. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- School bus monitors occupies position 476 of 485 in Massachusetts'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.
- Retained pay after federal, FICA and Massachusetts income tax is $29,641 for school bus monitors, from $36,020. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $27,385. ⚠️ This is purchasing power and not a wage; cross-state offer comparisons that stop at the nominal figure systematically overvalue high-cost states. The mean of $37,340 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 | $33,690 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $36,020 |
| Top tenth earn over | $42,270 |
| This salary | $36,020 |
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 Massachusetts | $29,641 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $31,122 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$4,642 |
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 | $34,177 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$5,614 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 108 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $36,020 as a midpoint for Massachusetts, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $33,690 and the ninetieth is $42,270 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $29,641 take-home in Massachusetts comes from $36,020. 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 476 of 485.
- Two cautions on $27,385, the adjusted value of that $36,020 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Massachusetts. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 476 of 485 locally.
- The Massachusetts median of $36,020 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $33,690 to $42,270. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $29,641, from $36,020, assumes a single Massachusetts 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 476 of 485 locally, and the state ranks 20 of 50 for it.
- This $27,385 adjusted figure, worked from $36,020, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 476 of 485 in the state. The occupation ranks 476 of 485 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 $37,340, 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 $33,690 and the top tenth $42,270, so most people doing this work in Massachusetts sit within a fairly tight band.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
The number and the value are different things. Massachusetts costs more than the national average, so this take-home stretches like $27,385 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; Massachusetts then takes its own share, leaving $29,641.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 50 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
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 Massachusetts is $37,340. 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 ($33,690 to $42,270) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Massachusetts rather than a national figure.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
Massachusetts's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $27,385 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 $29,641 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Massachusetts 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.