The Average School Bus Driver Salary

School bus drivers earn an average annual salary of less than $30,000 nationwide.

School bus drivers play a vital role in the education system, especially in rural or suburban areas, transporting students from their houses or designated stops to their schools in the morning and then back home in the afternoon.

Wages

Nearly half a million people in the United States work as school bus drivers, earning average wages of $13.49 per hour or $28,050 per year, according to a May 2009 employment survey by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). A PayScale.com survey of 1,654 school bus drivers updated in September 2010 found that hourly wages ranged from $12.05 to $16.29 per hour, with yearly earnings of $23,082 to $33,950.

Top Employers

Elementary and secondary schools were the biggest employer of school bus drivers, reports the BLS, providing jobs to 233,890, with an average annual salary of $27,370. The school and employee bus transportation industry employed 146,100 school bus drivers and paid an average of $29,370. PayScale.com reported that school bus drivers employed by school districts made $12.42 to $17.09 per hour, while those working for kindergarten to Grade 12 schools earned $12.49 to $17.21 per hour.

Highest-Paying Areas

New York, Washington and Nevada were the three highest-paying states for school bus drivers, according to the BLS, with New York on top at $34,890 per year. The top-paying cities for respondents to PayScale.com's survey were Sacramento, New York and Louisville, Kentucky, with hourly wages ranging from $13.42 to to $26.53.

References

• Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2009: Bus Drivers, School
• Pay Scale: Bus Driver, School, Wages, Hourly Wage Rate