What Bus Drivers, Transit and Intercity earn in Los Angeles County, CA
The median pay for Bus Drivers, Transit and Intercity in Los Angeles County, CA is $68,020 per year, which works out to $32.70 per hour. The figure comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics wage survey for the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA metropolitan area, the labor market that Los Angeles County, CA belongs to. Half of the workers in this occupation earn more than the median and half earn less, which makes it a sturdier yardstick than an average that a few very high earners can pull upward.
The mean wage is $65,950, which is 3.0% below the median, which suggests many workers sit near the top of the pay scale. The survey counts about 10,140 people working in this occupation across the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA metropolitan area, so the estimate rests on a substantial pool of workers. Los Angeles County, CA has roughly 9,808,667 residents, according to the population figures used by the rent data.
The salary range, from entry level to top earners
Pay for Bus Drivers, Transit and Intercity in the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA metropolitan area is not one number. The lowest-paid tenth of workers earn up to $48,160 a year ($23.15 an hour), while the highest-paid tenth earn $81,960 or more ($39.40 an hour). That is a gap of $33,800 between the bottom and the top of the scale. The middle half of workers falls between $54,130 at the 25th percentile and $76,040 at the 75th percentile. A top-tier earner makes 1.7 times what someone at the bottom makes, so experience, certification and employer all matter.
What the hourly rate looks like
Converted to an hourly wage, the median for Bus Drivers, Transit and Intercity in Los Angeles County, CA is $32.70. A full-time schedule of 40 hours for 52 weeks adds up to $68,020, and the same salary is $5,668 a month before taxes or about $2,616 per biweekly pay period. After taxes the same job pays $26.01 per hour of take-home income, which is the number that actually has to cover rent and groceries.
How pay in Los Angeles County, CA compares
Compared with the California average
Pay for Bus Drivers, Transit and Intercity in Los Angeles County, CA is in line with the statewide figure: $68,020 locally against an employment-weighted California average of $68,639, a difference of only $619 (0.9%). Within California, Los Angeles County, CA already has the highest median we track for this job.
Compared with the national average
The national employment-weighted average for Bus Drivers, Transit and Intercity is $62,322 across the contiguous United States. At $68,020, Los Angeles County, CA pays $5,698 more, which is 9.1% above that benchmark. Keep in mind that a higher salary only helps if living costs do not rise faster, which is why the cost sections below matter as much as the headline number.
Where this job ranks in Los Angeles County, CA
Among the 633 occupations with published wages in Los Angeles County, CA, Bus Drivers, Transit and Intercity ranks number 320 by median pay, ahead of about 50% of them. The best-paying occupation we track here is Chief Executives at $234,290 a year, which is $166,270 more than the median for Bus Drivers, Transit and Intercity.
From gross pay to take-home pay
A salary of $68,020 does not arrive in full. We model a single filer with wage income only, the standard deduction and tax-year 2025 rules, and we keep the three tax layers apart: federal income tax, FICA (Social Security and Medicare) and state income tax. Together they take $13,927 a year, which leaves $54,093, or $4,508 a month.
Put another way, of every $100 earned, about $20 goes to taxes and $80 reaches the paycheck. The overall effective tax rate is 20.5%.
Federal income tax
After the $15,750 standard deduction, taxable income is $52,270. Federal brackets are marginal, so only the slice of income above each threshold is taxed at the higher rate; the last dollars of this salary fall in the 22% bracket. The resulting federal income tax is $6,413, an effective 9.4% of gross pay, well below the 22% marginal rate because the lower brackets are cheaper.
Social Security and Medicare (FICA)
Payroll taxes are a flat percentage of wages. Social Security takes 6.2% up to a wage base of $176,100, which costs $4,217 on this salary. Medicare takes 1.45%, or $986. FICA totals $5,204, which is 7.6% of gross pay.
State income tax in California
California income tax on this salary is $2,310 a year, or 3.4% of gross pay, after the state's own deductions and exemptions are applied. That is 36% of the federal income tax bill, and it comes out to $192 a month. Local taxes such as county or city income taxes are not included, so a few jurisdictions may withhold slightly more.
A cross-check with IRS data for Los Angeles County, CA
IRS Statistics of Income data for Los Angeles County, CA show an average adjusted gross income of $101,268 per return and an average effective federal income tax rate of 16.7% across all filers. Filers in the $50,000 to under $75,000 bracket, where this salary falls, paid an average of 7.3%, compared with the 9.4% estimated here for a single filer taking the standard deduction. Gaps between the two reflect filing status, dependents, credits and other income, none of which a single-person wage estimate includes.
Cost of living in Los Angeles County, CA
Take-home pay only means something next to what life costs. We price four basics for one adult in Los Angeles County, CA: a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline. All of them are converted to annual figures first, then compared with the $54,093 of take-home pay.
Rent
The HUD Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Los Angeles County, CA is $2,402 a month, or $28,824 a year. A two-bedroom costs $2,964 a month. For Bus Drivers, Transit and Intercity, a one-bedroom absorbs 53.3% of take-home pay and 42.4% of gross pay.
Food
The USDA Thrifty Food Plan (August 2026) puts the cost of a nutritious home-cooked diet for an adult at about $3,436 a year, which is $286 a month or $66.07 a week. That equals 5.1% of gross pay for Bus Drivers, Transit and Intercity in Los Angeles County, CA. It is a thrifty budget with no restaurant meals, so treat it as a floor.
Energy and gasoline
Using California residential prices from the Energy Information Administration and national household averages for consumption, electricity costs about $3,378 a year and other home energy such as natural gas about $751, for $4,129 in total. Gasoline in California averages $4.42 per gallon; at about 463 gallons a year (11,106 miles at 24 miles per gallon) fuel adds $2,047.
What is left over
Add the four basics together and living costs come to $38,435 a year, 71% of take-home pay. That leaves $15,658 a year, or $1,305 a month, for savings, transportation beyond fuel, health care, debt and everything else. That margin equals 23.0% of gross pay, a comfortable cushion by common budgeting rules.
Can Bus Drivers, Transit and Intercity afford to live in Los Angeles County, CA?
The 30% rent guideline
A common rule of thumb says rent should stay under 30% of gross income. For a gross salary of $68,020 that ceiling is $1,700 a month. The one-bedroom Fair Market Rent of $2,402 is $702 over it, so rent breaks the guideline. Put as a wage, covering a one-bedroom at the 30% guideline takes $46.19 an hour; the median for Bus Drivers, Transit and Intercity is $32.70, which is 29% below that mark. Another way to see it: at $26.01 of take-home pay an hour, a one-bedroom takes about 21.3 working hours every week.
Splitting a two-bedroom
Sharing a two-bedroom at $2,964 a month means $1,482 each. Compared with renting a one-bedroom alone, that saves $11,040 a year. With a roommate, the yearly margin after the basics becomes $26,698.
How fast you can save
At $1,305 a month of margin, building a $10,000 emergency fund would take about 8 months. Setting aside half of the margin stretches the same goal to about 16 months. These figures ignore interest, raises and any spending beyond the four basics.
Frequently asked questions about Bus Drivers, Transit and Intercity pay in Los Angeles County, CA
What is the hourly wage for Bus Drivers, Transit and Intercity in Los Angeles County, CA?
The median is $32.70 per hour, based on $68,020 a year over 2,080 hours. Hourly pay runs from about $23.15 at the 10th percentile to $39.40 at the 90th percentile.
What is the take-home pay for Bus Drivers, Transit and Intercity in Los Angeles County, CA?
After federal income tax, FICA and state income tax, the median salary of $68,020 becomes $54,093 a year. That is $4,508 a month, $2,081 every two weeks or $1,040 a week.
What percentage of pay goes to taxes for Bus Drivers, Transit and Intercity in Los Angeles County, CA?
Total taxes are $13,927 a year, an effective rate of 20.5%: $6,413 federal income tax, $5,204 FICA and $2,310 California income tax.
Is pay for Bus Drivers, Transit and Intercity in Los Angeles County, CA above the California average?
It is about the same. The local median of $68,020 is within 0.9% of the California average of $68,639.
Is a one-bedroom rent affordable on the median Bus Drivers, Transit and Intercity salary in Los Angeles County, CA?
A one-bedroom costs $2,402 a month against take-home pay of $4,508, which is 53.3% of take-home pay. That does not meet the 30%-of-gross guideline, which allows up to $1,700 a month.
How much is left after rent, food and energy for Bus Drivers, Transit and Intercity in Los Angeles County, CA?
About $1,305 a month ($15,658 a year) remains after a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline, which together cost $38,435 a year.
What hourly wage covers a one-bedroom in Los Angeles County, CA at the 30% guideline?
$46.19 an hour for a full-time schedule, calculated as the $28,824 annual rent divided by 0.30 and by 2,080 hours. The median for Bus Drivers, Transit and Intercity is $32.70.
How we calculated these numbers
Wages are May 2025 medians from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA metropolitan area; hourly-only values are annualized at 2,080 hours. Rents are HUD Fair Market Rents, food costs come from the USDA Thrifty Food Plan, and energy prices come from the Energy Information Administration. County-level tax statistics come from the IRS Statistics of Income.
Taxes use tax-year 2025 federal brackets, FICA rates and the California rules for a single filer with wage income only. Figures are estimates for planning and comparison, not tax or financial advice, and they exclude local income taxes, benefits, retirement contributions and individual circumstances.