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Transit Bus Driver

$57,440
median pay per year
full range coming in the next data update

What the job actually is

Drive scheduled routes safely, collect fares, help riders, and keep to timetables in city traffic.

Where you work

City and regional transit routes

The hours

Shifts including early, late, and weekends

By the numbers

May 2024–25 BLS wage data · 2024–34 BLS employment projections.

Median pay
$57,440
per year
What most earn
range coming soon
Openings a year
~20,900
projected, 2024–34
Outlook to 2034
+4%
About average
Working in the U.S.
158,800
people, nationwide

Openings a year counts new jobs plus the ones that open when people retire or move on — a truer picture of your odds than growth alone.

“Median” means half earn more and half earn less. Your city, employer, and years on the job move it a lot — that is what the 10th-to-90th range shows.

How you get in

Typical starting education

High school / no degree

Training path: Paid training, then earn a CDL.

License or certification

Requires a commercial driver's license with a passenger endorsement, usually trained for on the job.

You can earn while you train. This field has a genuinely paid pathway in — an apprenticeship, a paid academy, or employer-funded training — so you draw a paycheck instead of taking on debt to learn it.

What it takes

Safe drivingPatienceCustomer serviceFocus

The honest take

Solid pay and benefits for a job you can train into quickly, with public-transit shifts to expect.

Standard Occupational Classification 53-3052. Pay, employment, and outlook from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (OEWS wage survey and 2024–34 employment projections). See something off? Tell us.