Shuttle Drivers and Chauffeurs in California
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$37,196
after federal, FICA and California tax
Tax takes
$7,534
16.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$33,039
California costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in California — 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
$44,730
Kept after tax
$37,196
Worth in national money
$33,039
State rank
3
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. California pays shuttle drivers and chauffeurs a middle wage of $44,730, ranking 3 of 51 states and sitting about 19.95% above the national middle.
- Against 492 occupations California publishes, shuttle drivers and chauffeurs lands at 433. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- California is an expensive state, and the adjusted figure shows it. From $44,730 the take-home is $37,196; in national-average money that behaves like $33,039. The average comes to $46,500, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- California's median for shuttle drivers and chauffeurs is $44,730, about 19.95% above the national figure and 3 of 51 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Within California, this work ranks 433 of 492 occupations by median pay, in the bottom quartile. The within-state position is the more salient one for anyone weighing this job against alternatives available to them locally.
- Take-home for shuttle drivers and chauffeurs in California, on $44,730, is $37,196; deflated by the state's price level, $33,039. ⚠️ The deflator is statewide, so it understates the erosion in the state's metropolitan areas and overstates it outside them. At $46,500 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Shuttle Drivers and Chauffeurs
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $35,240 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $44,730 |
| Top tenth earn over | $61,750 |
| This salary | $44,730 |
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 California | $37,196 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $38,121 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$6,190 |
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 | $43,579 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$7,486 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 113 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in California earn less than $44,730. The published range is $35,240 up to $61,750, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind California's $37,196, worked from $44,730. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 433 of 492.
- One number stands for prices across all of California, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $33,039, the adjusted value of that $44,730 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 433 of 492 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for shuttle drivers and chauffeurs in California the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $35,240 to $61,750. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The California take-home of $37,196, on $44,730 for work ranking 433 of 492 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 433 of 492 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for California, so $33,039 — the adjusted value of that $44,730 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 433 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $46,500, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $35,240 at the tenth percentile, $61,750 at the ninetieth.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
A larger wage in a dearer place is not automatically more. Adjusted for local prices, this pay behaves like $33,039 of national purchasing power.
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 California's own levy, $37,196 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
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 California is $46,500. 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 ($35,240 to $61,750) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to California rather than a national figure.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
California's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $33,039 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 $37,196 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and California 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.
Is this occupation's state coverage complete?
State-level estimates are published for all 51 jurisdictions for this occupation, so cross-state comparison is not confounded by suppression. ⚠️ Estimates remain survey-based and carry sampling error; small differences between adjacent states should not be over-read.