The school bus driver shortage remains severe: Without job quality improvements, workers, children, and parents will suffer

When students returned to school in August and September, numerous media reports drew attention to school bus driver shortages across the country. The turbulence resulting from these shortages has at times been dramatic. In Louisville, Kentucky, school district leaders fumbled the rollout of an expensive new routing software intended to reduce the number of school bus drivers needed, leading to misplaced students and forcing the school district to halt classes for more than a week. Meanwhile, in New York City, the union contract for school bus drivers expired, with contentious negotiations resulting in a narrowly averted strike.

School bus drivers remain a vital part of the education system. Roughly half of school children rely on bus services to get to school. Interrupted services and instability can disrupt learning time and contribute to absenteeism. Reduced bus services can be a particularly challenging hurdle for children with disabilities, who sometimes travel far distances for specialized education. With many students and families already trying to recover from challenges and learning disruptions caused by the pandemic, it is more important than ever to have services as basic as bus transportation to school functioning effectively.

Bus driver employment has improved, but remains woefully inadequate

Figure A shows 12-month rolling averages of K–12 school bus driver employment. The figure shows employment broken out by whether the bus driver is a state and local government employee (i.e., they’re employed by the school district or other relevant state or local public agency) or a private-sector employee (i.e., the school district contracts bus service to a private company or the bus driver works for a private school). The data show that school bus driver employment continues to be far below pre-pandemic levels. There were approximately 192,400 bus drivers working in K–12 schools in September 2023, down 15.1% from September 2019. Employment for state and local government school bus drivers has fallen 13.6% to 156,600 workers over the same period, while private school bus driver employment has declined 21.5% from 43,300 workers to around 34,000.1

Although school bus driver employment has increased from its trough in the pandemic (when it was down 32.5%), states and local governments have much to do to return school bus driver numbers to adequate levels. Figure A shows that even before the pandemic, the number of bus drivers working in elementary and secondary schools had not returned to levels that existed during the Great Recession. Approximately 290,000 bus drivers were employed in the fall of 2009, but those employment levels declined 21.8% by 2019. This marked decline reflects the results of austerity and budget cuts beginning in the early 2010s.

During the same period, student enrollment at public K–12 schools grew by 1.4 million. Like other public education workers, public school bus drivers are being asked to do more with less overall capacity. Asking fewer bus drivers to pick up more students means longer routes, earlier morning pick-ups, and later drop-offs. These burdensome logistics can increase the likelihood of a student missing school time and diminish their chances of participating in other activities—not to mention the additional burden they can place on parents trying to coordinate work schedules.

Figure A

School bus driver employment is still struggling to recover to pre-pandemic levels: State and local government (public sector) and private-sector school bus driver employment in elementary and secondary schools, 2008–2023

Date All school bus drivers employment Public-sector school bus driver employment Private-sector school bus driver employment
2008-01-01 233,042 211,515 20,506
2008-02-01 232,332 210,436 20,863
2008-03-01 230,568 208,370 21,006
2008-04-01 234,883 210,758 22,635
2008-05-01 238,020 212,746 23,807
2008-06-01 244,469 217,427 25,566
2008-07-01 247,794 218,520 27,771
2008-08-01 251,032 220,197 29,306
2008-09-01 255,780 221,862 32,362
2008-10-01 259,264 223,179 34,615
2008-11-01 261,297 223,474 36,559
2008-12-01 263,750 224,444 38,200
2009-01-01 265,898 225,528 39,480
2009-02-01 270,364 227,927 41,691
2009-03-01 278,372 234,632 43,123
2009-04-01 280,508 236,835 43,480
2009-05-01 283,637 239,928 43,517
2009-06-01 285,684 243,996 41,524
2009-07-01 287,061 246,841 40,082
2009-08-01 286,877 247,488 39,279
2009-09-01 289,720 251,989 37,647
2009-10-01 286,958 252,045 34,829
2009-11-01 285,010 251,363 33,563
2009-12-01 284,445 251,996 32,200
2010-01-01 280,063 247,891 31,616
2010-02-01 276,844 245,140 30,881
2010-03-01 269,106 237,779 30,251
2010-04-01 264,989 233,500 30,116
2010-05-01 259,639 228,028 29,984
2010-06-01 256,457 223,854 30,811
2010-07-01 254,215 221,937 30,321
2010-08-01 251,872 220,476 29,439
2010-09-01 251,849 220,433 29,246
2010-10-01 253,628 221,120 30,119
2010-11-01 254,070 221,331 30,260
2010-12-01 252,794 219,167 31,310
2011-01-01 253,376 219,675 31,617
2011-02-01 255,957 221,193 32,527
2011-03-01 260,202 224,323 33,237
2011-04-01 259,532 223,551 33,130
2011-05-01 258,381 223,243 32,099
2011-06-01 257,264 223,450 30,769
2011-07-01 256,972 223,143 30,949
2011-08-01 254,462 220,595 30,987
2011-09-01 246,606 214,709 29,195
2011-10-01 239,505 209,275 27,715
2011-11-01 232,890 204,013 26,419
2011-12-01 229,047 201,578 25,026
2012-01-01 227,381 200,102 24,840
2012-02-01 223,928 197,701 24,141
2012-03-01 219,348 195,681 22,206
2012-04-01 217,757 195,252 21,487
2012-05-01 219,830 197,597 21,657
2012-06-01 217,387 194,726 22,255
2012-07-01 215,206 191,835 22,965
2012-08-01 217,375 192,600 24,370
2012-09-01 218,587 191,820 26,341
2012-10-01 220,684 192,464 27,774
2012-11-01 221,003 192,144 28,391
2012-12-01 217,652 188,387 28,769
2013-01-01 213,246 184,322 28,497
2013-02-01 209,307 180,849 28,099
2013-03-01 210,469 180,073 30,100
2013-04-01 212,749 182,205 30,255
2013-05-01 212,659 181,832 30,053
2013-06-01 215,309 183,364 30,683
2013-07-01 216,794 185,408 29,662
2013-08-01 217,978 187,258 28,542
2013-09-01 218,335 188,809 27,402
2013-10-01 217,965 188,885 26,962
2013-11-01 218,343 188,553 27,680
2013-12-01 220,318 189,644 28,367
2014-01-01 223,047 191,618 28,857
2014-02-01 226,709 194,831 29,308
2014-03-01 228,024 196,792 28,662
2014-04-01 225,923 194,960 28,447
2014-05-01 222,576 190,994 29,187
2014-06-01 218,173 187,569 28,698
2014-07-01 217,326 186,144 29,737
2014-08-01 213,670 182,683 29,946
2014-09-01 212,232 179,344 31,807
2014-10-01 212,873 178,896 32,723
2014-11-01 214,917 180,821 32,646
2014-12-01 217,926 184,204 32,096
2015-01-01 221,806 188,068 32,377
2015-02-01 222,357 188,499 32,497
2015-03-01 218,447 185,110 31,976
2015-04-01 214,187 181,033 31,611
2015-05-01 211,188 178,664 31,345
2015-06-01 208,285 175,592 31,514
2015-07-01 204,765 171,924 31,662
2015-08-01 205,966 172,157 32,679
2015-09-01 207,148 172,843 33,216
2015-10-01 208,138 173,214 34,059
2015-11-01 206,388 171,872 33,890
2015-12-01 202,776 168,989 33,482
2016-01-01 201,344 168,161 32,762
2016-02-01 201,236 169,371 31,444
2016-03-01 200,523 169,075 31,028
2016-04-01 202,682 171,430 31,014
2016-05-01 204,052 173,020 30,481
2016-06-01 205,667 174,774 30,025
2016-07-01 207,642 177,121 29,652
2016-08-01 207,602 179,034 27,700
2016-09-01 208,053 181,468 25,717
2016-10-01 203,986 180,131 22,986
2016-11-01 199,736 177,879 20,988
2016-12-01 200,441 179,305 20,321
2017-01-01 199,016 178,312 20,005
2017-02-01 198,311 177,420 20,126
2017-03-01 201,141 179,699 20,560
2017-04-01 201,530 179,525 21,065
2017-05-01 203,982 181,980 21,180
2017-06-01 208,397 186,403 21,296
2017-07-01 212,996 191,335 20,789
2017-08-01 213,143 190,548 21,393
2017-09-01 213,938 189,884 22,542
2017-10-01 214,516 188,845 24,159
2017-11-01 216,058 188,295 26,251
2017-12-01 217,737 187,041 29,253
2018-01-01 218,440 186,569 30,427
2018-02-01 221,711 188,009 32,181
2018-03-01 225,910 190,731 33,250
2018-04-01 232,331 196,069 33,727
2018-05-01 233,334 196,267 34,427
2018-06-01 230,100 194,098 33,556
2018-07-01 228,551 191,932 34,347
2018-08-01 228,069 190,351 35,777
2018-09-01 224,799 186,765 36,237
2018-10-01 227,282 187,820 37,347
2018-11-01 229,249 188,107 38,869
2018-12-01 227,465 186,318 38,709
2019-01-01 227,327 185,798 39,090
2019-02-01 228,503 186,013 39,658
2019-03-01 228,412 186,122 39,719
2019-04-01 228,660 185,266 41,187
2019-05-01 229,148 183,771 43,206
2019-06-01 228,195 180,451 45,573
2019-07-01 224,532 176,806 45,555
2019-08-01 223,252 176,621 44,460
2019-09-01 226,687 181,224 43,328
2019-10-01 229,114 184,404 42,760
2019-11-01 231,854 187,119 42,808
2019-12-01 233,491 189,469 42,126
2020-01-01 232,416 188,403 42,118
2020-02-01 225,707 184,594 39,756
2020-03-01 217,820 177,499 39,226
2020-04-01 203,194 165,888 36,512
2020-05-01 192,297 157,142 34,342
2020-06-01 190,419 155,213 34,172
2020-07-01 185,737 150,942 33,493
2020-08-01 180,835 146,750 32,563
2020-09-01 174,182 139,351 33,439
2020-10-01 165,390 131,048 33,083
2020-11-01 157,190 125,490 30,575
2020-12-01 154,723 123,686 30,047
2021-01-01 153,039 122,336 29,713
2021-02-01 158,489 126,491 30,743
2021-03-01 166,367 133,753 31,360
2021-04-01 177,064 144,008 31,801
2021-05-01 189,497 156,484 32,041
2021-06-01 195,468 163,502 31,214
2021-07-01 203,375 171,500 31,253
2021-08-01 212,452 179,315 32,626
2021-09-01 216,118 183,066 32,540
2021-10-01 219,744 186,370 32,773
2021-11-01 224,169 188,291 35,277
2021-12-01 227,333 190,222 36,510
2022-01-01 231,491 193,862 37,028
2022-02-01 230,290 192,209 37,744
2022-03-01 227,841 190,074 37,430
2022-04-01 224,639 185,462 38,841
2022-05-01 219,328 179,893 39,098
2022-06-01 214,029 175,038 38,654
2022-07-01 208,450 170,670 37,581
2022-08-01 203,472 167,341 36,042
2022-09-01 200,720 166,426 34,205
2022-10-01 199,434 165,446 33,988
2022-11-01 198,697 166,008 32,622
2022-12-01 196,906 164,627 32,212
2023-01-01 197,683 166,389 31,227
2023-02-01 199,643 168,226 31,350
2023-03-01 198,746 166,942 31,299
2023-04-01 196,132 165,778 29,849
2023-05-01 194,486 165,176 28,492
2023-06-01 195,320 165,358 28,838
2023-07-01 192,345 161,660 29,221
2023-08-01 189,966 157,647 30,686
2023-09-01 192,367 156,573 34,014
ChartData Download data

The data below can be saved or copied directly into Excel.

Notes: 12-month rolling averages of monthly CPS employment data. Does not include school bus drivers who are federally employed, self-employed, or unpaid family workers. Does not include school bus drivers employed in other industries.

Source: EPI analysis of CPS microdata.

Copy the code below to embed this chart on your website.

Bus drivers tend to be older and are paid dismal weekly wages

Although the worst health threats of the pandemic have abated, school bus drivers are still sharply impacted by the pandemic’s fallout. School bus drivers tend to be significantly older than the typical worker. In 2021, 72.6% of state and local government school bus drivers were age 50 and older, compared with 37.5% of state and local government employees and 30.8% of private-sector workers. The age makeup of the school bus driver workforce made these workers more vulnerable to the effects of COVID, contributing to workers leaving the profession and being reluctant to return. Since the return to in-person schooling, bus drivers also report increased confrontations with students and parents.

However, many of the challenges of the profession predate COVID. For one, school bus driver wages are far lower than most other workers, according to our analysis of Current Population Survey (CPS) microdata. The typical school bus driver earned $20.00 an hour in 2022, which is 16.8% less than the median wage for all workers in the economy ($24.04). However, the average public school bus driver works only around 32 hours per week, meaning that the weekly wages for bus drivers are significantly lower than the hourly wage might imply. School bus drivers often are not full-time employees and instead work a “split-shift” schedule coinciding with the beginning and end of the school day. Figure B shows that, in 2022, the median school bus driver earned $548 in weekly wages, which is approximately 43.0% less than the median weekly wage for all workers ($961).

Figure B

School bus drivers earn 43% less in weekly wages than the typical worker and have not seen significant wage increases since the financial crisis: Three-year averages of real weekly median wages of school bus drivers and all workers, 2006–2008, 2017–2019, and 2020–2022

All workers Bus drivers in elementary and secondary schools
2006–2008  $ 857  $ 522
2017–2019  $ 905  $ 559
2020–2022  $ 961  $ 548
ChartData Download data

The data below can be saved or copied directly into Excel.

Note: All wage values in 2022 dollars.

Source: EPI analysis of CPS ORG microdata.

Copy the code below to embed this chart on your website.

Since the Great Recession, hourly wages of school bus drivers have struggled to keep pace with median worker wage growth. Figure C shows that real hourly wages for the median worker grew 5.3% between 2008 and 2019, while growth was only 1.5% for school bus drivers. During the same period, weekly wage growth for school bus drivers (7.0%) slightly outpaced the median (5.6%). This is because school bus driver hours grew modestly over the decade, presumably because employment decreases and student enrollment increases required more hours of work to be filled by fewer workers. From 2019 to 2022, hourly wages for school bus drivers increased by 4.9%, a welcome increase over the post-Great Recession period but still lagging median worker wage growth (5.7%).

Further wage increases are badly needed for a profession that must recruit new workers, especially since current low wages mean many bus drivers live in poverty. In 2021, 7.8% of school bus drivers had incomes below the poverty line, which is greater than the 5.6% share of private-sector workers in poverty and more than double the 3.4% of public-sector workers in poverty.2

Figure C

Wage growth for school bus drivers has been slow since the financial crisis: Percent change in real hourly and weekly wages for all workers and school bus drivers, 2008–2019 and 2019–2022

All workers School bus drivers
Weekly wage change 2008–2019 5.6% 7.0%
Weekly wage change 2019–2022 6.1% -1.8%
Hourly wage change 2008–2019 5.3% 1.5%
Hourly wage change 2019–2022 5.7% 4.9%
ChartData Download data

The data below can be saved or copied directly into Excel.

Source: EPI analysis of CPS ORG microdata.

Copy the code below to embed this chart on your website.

Improving bus driver jobs and solving staffing shortages are not only important for the welfare and success of students, but also for advancing racial and gender equity. Figure D shows that like other public-sector workers, school bus drivers are disproportionately Black and women workers. In 2021, 20.0% of state and local government school bus drivers were Black, compared with 13.3% of all state and local government employees and 10.8% of private-sector workers.3 Women are more concentrated in the school bus driver profession than in the private-sector workforce, but not at such high levels as in the overall public sector. More than half (54.3%) of state and local government school bus drivers are women, compared with 46.8% of all private-sector workers and 59.5% of all state and local government workers.

The concentration of Black workers and women in public school bus driving reflects the public sector historically offering more equitable opportunities for women and people of color. In particular, state and local government jobs are subject to equal opportunity and affirmative action regulations that have been shown to be effective anti-discrimination policies.

Figure D

Public school bus drivers are more likely to be women and Black workers than workers in the private sector: Share of state and local government school bus drivers, all state and local government workers, and private-sector workers by gender and race/ethnicity

Group State and local government school bus drivers All state and local government workers Private-sector workers
Men 45.7% 40.5% 53.2%
Women 54.3% 59.5% 46.8%
White 61.7% 62.7% 59.1%
Black 20.0% 13.3% 10.8%
Hispanic 12.6% 14.6% 18.9%
AAPI 1.3% 4.9% 6.6%
Other 4.3% 4.6% 4.6%
ChartData Download data

The data below can be saved or copied directly into Excel.

Note: AAPI stands for Asian American and Pacific Islander.

Source: EPI analysis of 2021 American Community Survey microdata.

Copy the code below to embed this chart on your website.

An effective public education system depends on critical support staff to run effectively. The current bus driver shortage is a result of more than a decade of disinvestment in these professionals. The unfair burden of these disruptions is most damaging to the education and well-being of the students who need it the most, particularly students with disabilities. In light of these disruptions, it is imperative that state and local policymakers, school districts, and communities act to fairly compensate and invest in their bus drivers and other school support staff.

Notes

1. The data in Figure A is restricted to bus drivers reporting that they work in elementary and secondary schools. This classification leaves out a significant number of school bus drivers but is the only way to examine trends in school bus driver employment before 2018. Prior to 2018, there was only a single Census Occupation Classification code for bus drivers, with no differentiation between school bus drivers and other types of bus drivers. The 2018 codes added separate Census codes for school bus drivers and “transit and intercity” bus drivers. With the updated classification, we can identify that around 33% of school bus drivers do not work in the elementary and secondary school industry. Table 1 shows that the majority of these school bus drivers work in “bus service and urban transit.” In 2019, there were more than 106,000 school bus drivers employed in “bus service and urban transit,” around 30% of the total number of school bus drivers. Unlike school bus drivers in elementary and secondary schools, “bus service and urban transit” school bus drivers are more likely to be private-sector workers. In 2019, 83.5% of these workers were in the private sector, compared with 17.4% of school bus drivers classified in elementary and secondary schools. “Bus service and urban transit” school bus driver employment was also significantly harmed by the pandemic. From 2019 to 2021 (the most recent ACS data available), employment for this subset of school bus drivers fell 18.7%, compared with 16.5% for all school bus drivers. For now, the pandemic does not seem to have significantly changed the share of workers who are privately or publicly employed. The share of school bus drivers who are state and local government employees increased slightly between 2019 and 2021 from 59.2% to 62.2% since private school bus driver employment fell more steeply during the pandemic.

2. EPI analysis of American Community Survey microdata.

3. In 2021, 17.8% of private school bus drivers were Black.

Table 1

Employment and change in employment for school bus drivers by class of worker and selected industries

2019 2021
Industry group Class of worker Count Share of total Count Share of total 2019 to 2021 percent change in employment
All school bus drivers Private 134,220 39.0% 102,459 35.7% -23.7%
S&L 203,436 59.2% 178,615 62.2% -12.2%
Other 6,094 1.8% 6,002 2.1% -1.5%
Total 343,750 100.0% 287,076 100.0% -16.5%
“Elementary and secondary schools” bus drivers Private 39,779 17.4% 31,163 16.2% -21.7%
S&L 186,299 81.5% 159,614 82.8% -14.3%
Other 2,382 1.0% 1,962 1.0% -17.6%
Total 228,460 100.0% 192,739 100.0% -15.6%
“Bus service and urban transit” school bus drivers Private 88,541 83.5% 66,261 76.9% -25.2%
S&L 14,258 13.4% 16,164 18.8% 13.4%
Other 3,218 3.0% 3,754 4.4% 16.7%
Total 106,017 100.0% 86,179 100.0% -18.7%

Notes: S&L stands for state and local government. "Other" includes self-employed workers, federal employees, and unpaid family workers. "Elementary and secondary schools" bus drivers includes both "school bus drivers" and "transit and intercity bus drivers."

Source: EPI analysis of American Community Survey microdata.

Copy the code below to embed this chart on your website.