Key takeaways:
- Despite improving slightly in the past year, the bus driver shortage remains severe. As of September 2024, there were 12.2% fewer school bus drivers on the road than in September 2019.
- The key issue fueling bus driver shortages today is low pay. In 2023, the median school bus driver earned 43% less than the median weekly wage for all workers. And bus drivers’ pay is falling further behind: Weekly earnings for bus drivers have fallen 2.8% since 2019.
- The current bus driver shortage is a result of more than a decade of disinvestment in these workers and reflects a broader trend of underfunding public schools. School districts need adequate funding to raise pay for drivers and reverse the shortage.
As the school year got underway in August and September, school districts throughout the country once again faced a daunting challenge: severe bus driver shortages. For instance, the St. Louis Public School District had to cobble together a transportation plan that included Metro bus rides and private cab companies after the district’s primary bus driver vendor declined to renew its contract due to insufficient pay. Meanwhile, a city in Ohio responded to the shortages by eliminating bus routes for students living within a two-mile radius of its school, forcing many elementary and middle school students to walk to class.
We documented this problem last year, describing how excessively low pay and the particularly acute health risks facing this disproportionately older workforce during the pandemic have led to massive declines in bus driver employment. Unfortunately, since last fall, the situation has hardly improved. Some aspects of the problem, such as pay for drivers, have become even more dire.
Bus driver employment grew last year, but remains woefully inadequate
Because school bus drivers tend to be significantly older than the typical U.S. worker, they are more vulnerable to the health effects of COVID-19. As such, the onset of the pandemic drove many workers to leave the profession, and school districts have struggled to replace them.
Figure A shows the sharp decline in employment during the pandemic, but also highlights how school bus driver employment continues to be far below pre-pandemic levels. The total number of school bus drivers in September 2024 (approximately 199,000) was up 3.5% relative to the same point in 2023. Yet, it was still 12.2% lower than it was in September 2019. Breaking this total into its component parts: Private school bus driver employment (those at private schools or working at private companies contracted by public school districts) declined 12.2% from 43,300 to around 38,000, and publicly employed school bus drivers (those employed directly by the state or local government) declined 11.8% from 181,200 to 159,800 over the same period.
Figure A also shows that school bus driver employment has generally been falling for 15 years. Austerity and budget cuts beginning in the early 2010s forced many school districts to cut bus service and/or privatize bus driver employment. When the school year started in fall of 2019, there were roughly 63,000 fewer bus drivers working in elementary and secondary schools than there had been in the fall of 2009—a nearly 22% decline in the decade following the Great Recession.
Over 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. When fewer bus drivers must pick up more students, it 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.
School bus driver employment is still well below pre-pandemic levels: State and local government (public sector) and private-sector school bus driver employment in elementary and secondary schools, 2008–2024
| 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 |
| 2023-10-01 | 194,580 | 156,011 | 36,626 |
| 2023-11-01 | 197,866 | 156,822 | 39,167 |
| 2023-12-01 | 195,932 | 155,390 | 38,594 |
| 2024-01-01 | 190,953 | 150,013 | 38,916 |
| 2024-02-01 | 188,826 | 148,785 | 37,937 |
| 2024-03-01 | 191,080 | 151,517 | 37,800 |
| 2024-04-01 | 195,682 | 154,024 | 39,183 |
| 2024-05-01 | 196,668 | 154,261 | 40,246 |
| 2024-06-01 | 196,088 | 154,524 | 39,708 |
| 2024-07-01 | 197,407 | 156,503 | 39,389 |
| 2024-08-01 | 199,793 | 158,537 | 39,910 |
| 2024-09-01 | 199,060 | 159,811 | 38,050 |