Get a commercial license paid for by your employer and drive a route every day.
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Pay, the path, pros and cons and the facts on one printable page. Good for a wall or a guidance counsellor.
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What you earn and what it costs to get there.
Typical
$47,920
New, part-time hours
$29,240
Senior or city transit
$65,730
The national median is $47,920 a year, and the bottom tenth start near $29,240. These figures are for school bus drivers. Many of them work split shifts and only during the school year, which is why the low end is so low. City transit drivers are counted separately and generally earn more.
$18 to $26 an hour
Most districts pay hourly for about 5 to 6 hours a day
Driver shortages pushed starting rates up in a lot of districts, and many now offer signing bonuses of $1,000 to $3,000.
$65,730 and up
Top tenth: long-service drivers and unionized city transit
Field trips, sports charters and summer routes are paid extra. Moving a Class B (large single vehicle) license up to a Class A opens tractor-trailer work, which pays more again.
Tuition, fees, exams and kit. Not rent, food or travel
School districts short of drivers train you for the commercial license, pay you while you learn, and often cover every fee on the condition that you drive for them afterwards, so the low end is nothing. The high end is paying the permit and license fees, the medical examination certificate and the background check and fingerprinting yourself. The medical certificate comes round again every one to two years. This is the cheapest way onto this whole site.
This is the cheapest way onto this whole site. A district that is short of drivers will often pay every one of these fees for you, on condition that you drive for them afterwards.
A public pension
School districts enroll drivers in the state public employee retirement system.
Health insurance
Offered by most districts, though sometimes only above a set number of hours a week.
Summers and school holidays off
Unpaid in most districts, so budget for it.
No student debt
You never pay tuition to start this job.
Union membership
Many districts and nearly all city transit systems are unionized.
The exact path from high school to qualified.
You get hired first, then trained. Most people are driving a route within a few months.
Meet the basics
Now
Age 18 for driving inside one state, 21 to cross state lines. A clean driving record matters more than any diploma.
Apply to a district or transit agency
Weeks
They hire people with no experience and train them, because almost everyone is short of drivers.
Entry-level driver training
3 to 8 weeks
A federally required course, both classroom theory and behind the wheel, taken before your first commercial license or new endorsement.
Permit, then license
1 to 2 months
Written tests for a commercial learner permit, then a skills and road test for a CDL (commercial driver's license), usually Class B.
Endorsements and clearances
Weeks
Add the passenger and school bus endorsements, pass the medical examination, the background check and a fingerprint clearance.
Driver education
The only class that directly touches the job.
English
You read route sheets, incident reports and a fat commercial driving manual.
Health or first aid
You may be the first adult on the scene.
Spanish
Useful for talking with families on many routes.
Commercial licensing rules are set nationally by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration but the license itself is issued by your state motor vehicle agency, so the fees and the road test differ from state to state. Since 2022 every new commercial driver has to complete entry-level driver training from a provider on the federal registry. You also need the passenger and school bus endorsements, a valid medical examiner's certificate, and a criminal background check. Some states add extra requirements: California, for example, demands at least 15 hours of documented behind-the-wheel training.
Say this part out loud before you plan on it. A drunk driving conviction, a hit-and-run, a suspended license or too many recent moving violations will disqualify you. So will certain criminal convictions on the background check, and some medical conditions that fail the commercial physical, including uncontrolled diabetes, seizures or poor vision that cannot be corrected. Commercial drivers are also in a national drug and alcohol testing clearinghouse, and a failed test follows you.
Things you don't need, but that help.
Passenger and school bus
Required for this job. You cannot drive students without both.
Air brakes
Not an endorsement but a restriction you want removed. Without it you cannot drive most buses.
Class A upgrade
Lets you pull a trailer. This is the doorway to truck driving, which pays more.
Hazardous materials
Adds a federal security check and opens tanker and freight work.
Motorcoach and charter
Tour and intercity buses, longer days, higher pay, overnight trips.
Patience with children
You are watching 50 kids in a mirror while driving a 30,000 pound vehicle.
CPR and first aid certification
Districts like it and some require it.
Special-needs training
Routes with wheelchair lifts and medical equipment often pay a higher rate.
A second job that fits split shifts
Many drivers work mornings and afternoons and fill the middle of the day elsewhere.
A school bus is often the cheapest way to get a commercial license without paying for driving school. Once you hold it, the same license moves you into city transit, motorcoach touring, waste collection, dump trucks or long-haul freight. Plenty of drivers also move up inside the district to trainer, dispatcher or transportation supervisor, which is a salaried job with full-year pay.
Day to day, pros and cons, where you'd work.
Up around 5am. Pre-trip inspection in the yard: tires, brakes, lights, mirrors, emergency exits, all of it written down. Morning route from about 6:30 to 8:30, dropping students at two or three schools. Then a long gap in the middle of the day, unless you take a mid-day run or a field trip. Afternoon route from about 2 to 4:30. Post-trip walk through the bus checking every seat, fuel up, park, go home.
The good
The hard parts
Things people don't tell you.
Federal standards cover the seat height, the padding, the roof strength, the flashing lights and the stop arm. That yellow is a specific color chosen in the 1930s because it is easiest to see at dawn.
When the stop arm swings out and the red lights flash, traffic in both directions has to stop in most situations. Districts now mount cameras on the arm to catch drivers who do not.
Commercial driving standards, tests and endorsements are set by the federal government so they are the same everywhere, but you get your actual license from your own state motor vehicle agency, at your state's price.
The United States Department of Labor career profile lists little or no growth for this occupation, yet districts across the country advertise for drivers every single year because so many people leave.
Last checked September 2026. Pay figures are typical full-time annual amounts in United States dollars, based on Bureau of Labor Statistics wage data and published pay scales. They vary by state, employer and experience. Tuition is for in-state students at public schools unless the card says otherwise.