What Bus Drivers, School earn in New Castle County, DE
If you are weighing a move or a job offer, start with $51,960: the median annual pay for Bus Drivers, School in New Castle County, DE. Spread over a standard 2,080-hour work year, that is $24.98 an hour. Because the wage survey covers the whole Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD metropolitan area, the number reflects employers across the region rather than a single town or a single company.
The mean wage is $52,890, which is 1.8% above the median, so pay is spread fairly evenly. The survey counts about 8,980 people working in this occupation across the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD metropolitan area, so the estimate rests on a substantial pool of workers. New Castle County, DE has roughly 577,961 residents, according to the population figures used by the rent data.
The salary range, from entry level to top earners
Pay for Bus Drivers, School in the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD metropolitan area is not one number. The lowest-paid tenth of workers earn up to $39,450 a year ($18.97 an hour), while the highest-paid tenth earn $65,460 or more ($31.47 an hour). That is a gap of $26,010 between the bottom and the top of the scale. The middle half of workers falls between $47,210 at the 25th percentile and $59,100 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
Employers quote this occupation by the hour or by the year, so here are both: $24.98 an hour or $51,960 a year at the median for New Castle County, DE. Before any deductions, that is $4,330 a month, $1,998 every two weeks and $999 each week. After taxes the same job pays $20.03 per hour of take-home income, which is the number that actually has to cover rent and groceries.
About this occupation: Bus Drivers, School
The U.S. Department of Labor's O*NET database describes the work of Bus Drivers, School this way: "Drive a school bus to transport students. Ensure adherence to safety rules. May assist students in boarding or exiting."
Core tasks recorded by O*NET include: "Check the condition of a vehicle's tires, brakes, windshield wipers, lights, oil, fuel, water, and safety equipment to ensure that everything is in working order"; "Comply with traffic regulations to operate vehicles in a safe and courteous manner"; "Drive gasoline, diesel, or electrically powered multi-passenger vehicles to transport students between neighborhoods, schools, and school activities"; "Follow safety rules as students board and exit buses or cross streets near bus stops".
Job outlook for Bus Drivers, School
The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects national employment in this occupation to grow from 396,800 jobs in 2025 to 399,700 in 2035, a change of +0.7%, slower than the 3.5% projected for all occupations. The projection counts 56,500 openings a year on average, including positions created by growth and positions left by workers who retire or move to another occupation; that equals 14.2% of current employment each year.
Typical entry-level education: high school diploma or equivalent. Typical on-the-job training to reach competency: short-term on-the-job training. BLS lists a national median annual wage of $47,920 for this occupation; the New Castle County, DE median of $51,960 is 8.4% above it.
How pay in New Castle County, DE compares
Compared with the Delaware average
A worker in this occupation in New Castle County, DE earns $1,053 more than the Delaware average of $50,907, a premium of 2.1%. Over a year that premium is worth $1,053 before tax and roughly $844 after tax.
Compared with the national average
The national employment-weighted average for Bus Drivers, School is $48,359 across the contiguous United States. At $51,960, New Castle County, DE pays $3,601 more, which is 7.5% 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 New Castle County, DE
Among the 636 occupations with published wages in New Castle County, DE, Bus Drivers, School ranks number 419 by median pay, ahead of about 34% of them. The best-paying occupation we track here is Computer and Information Systems Managers at $173,470 a year, which is $121,510 more than the median for Bus Drivers, School.
From gross pay to take-home pay
Three separate tax bills sit between the gross salary and the bank account: federal income tax, FICA, and state income tax. For Bus Drivers, School earning the New Castle County, DE median of $51,960, they add up to $10,289. The result is $41,671 of take-home pay a year ($3,473 a month), based on a single filer using the standard deduction.
Put another way, of every $100 earned, about $20 goes to taxes and $80 reaches the paycheck. The overall effective tax rate is 19.8%.
Federal income tax
After the $15,750 standard deduction, taxable income is $36,210. 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 12% bracket. The resulting federal income tax is $4,107, an effective 7.9% of gross pay, well below the 12% 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 $3,222 on this salary. Medicare takes 1.45%, or $753. FICA totals $3,975, which is 7.6% of gross pay.
State income tax in Delaware
Delaware income tax on this salary is $2,207 a year, or 4.2% of gross pay, after the state's own deductions and exemptions are applied. That is 54% of the federal income tax bill, and it comes out to $184 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 New Castle County, DE
IRS Statistics of Income data for New Castle County, DE show an average adjusted gross income of $93,743 per return and an average effective federal income tax rate of 13.8% 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 7.9% 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 New Castle County, DE
Take-home pay only means something next to what life costs. We price four basics for one adult in New Castle County, DE: a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline. All of them are converted to annual figures first, then compared with the $41,671 of take-home pay.
Rent
Housing is the largest line in most budgets. For New Castle County, DE, HUD sets the Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom unit at $1,558 a month ($18,696 a year), and at $1,860 for two bedrooms. For Bus Drivers, School, a one-bedroom absorbs 44.9% of take-home pay and 36.0% 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 6.6% of gross pay for Bus Drivers, School in New Castle County, DE. It is a thrifty budget with no restaurant meals, so treat it as a floor.
Energy and gasoline
Using Delaware residential prices from the Energy Information Administration and national household averages for consumption, electricity costs about $1,750 a year and other home energy such as natural gas about $582, for $2,333 in total. Gasoline in Delaware averages $3.31 per gallon; at about 463 gallons a year (11,106 miles at 24 miles per gallon) fuel adds $1,532.
What is left over
Rent, food, energy and gasoline cost $25,996 a year in New Castle County, DE. Subtract that from $41,671 of take-home pay and $15,675 remains, which is $1,306 a month of breathing room. That margin equals 30.2% of gross pay, a comfortable cushion by common budgeting rules.
Local housing and commute data for New Castle County, DE
The budget above covers rent, food, energy and gasoline. Three more local facts shape what a paycheck buys in New Castle County, DE: property taxes, housing prices and the daily commute. The figures below are exact U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates for New Castle County, DE, set beside the Delaware and national medians.
Property taxes in New Castle County, DE
Homeowners in New Castle County, DE pay a median of $2,499 a year in real estate taxes, 41% above the Delaware median of $1,768 and 20% below the U.S. median of $3,119. Against a median home value of $352,200, the median tax bill is 0.71% of that value (the ratio of the two county medians). For a worker paid the local Bus Drivers, School median of $51,960, a tax bill of that size would equal 4.8% of gross pay, which matters for anyone planning to buy rather than rent.
Rents, home prices and household income in New Castle County, DE
Renters in New Castle County, DE pay a median gross rent of $1,448 a month in the Census survey, 3% above the Delaware median of $1,401. HUD's Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment, which this site uses in the budget, is $1,558 a month; the two measures differ because the Census figure covers units of every size that renters already occupy, while the HUD figure is a one-bedroom benchmark. The median value of an owner-occupied home is $352,200, in line with the Delaware median of $352,000. Median household income is $91,166, 7% above the Delaware median of $84,954, so a year of one-bedroom Fair Market Rent equals 20.5% of that income.
Commuting in New Castle County, DE
Workers in New Castle County, DE who travel to a workplace spend an average of 25.3 minutes each way, 3% below the Delaware average of 26.0. For someone who commutes five days a week, that is 4.2 hours of round-trip travel every week, a cost the budget does not price. 17.6% of workers in New Castle County, DE work from home, compared with 15.1% nationally, which removes the commute for them.
Can Bus Drivers, School afford to live in New Castle County, DE?
The 30% rent guideline
A common rule of thumb says rent should stay under 30% of gross income. For a gross salary of $51,960 that ceiling is $1,299 a month. The one-bedroom Fair Market Rent of $1,558 is $259 over it, so rent breaks the guideline. Put as a wage, covering a one-bedroom at the 30% guideline takes $29.96 an hour; the median for Bus Drivers, School is $24.98, which is 17% below that mark. Another way to see it: at $20.03 of take-home pay an hour, a one-bedroom takes about 17.9 working hours every week.
Splitting a two-bedroom
Sharing a two-bedroom at $1,860 a month means $930 each. Compared with renting a one-bedroom alone, that saves $7,536 a year. With a roommate, the yearly margin after the basics becomes $23,211.
How fast you can save
At $1,306 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, School pay in New Castle County, DE
How much do Bus Drivers, School make per hour in New Castle County, DE?
The median is $24.98 per hour, based on $51,960 a year over 2,080 hours. Hourly pay runs from about $18.97 at the 10th percentile to $31.47 at the 90th percentile.
How much do Bus Drivers, School take home after taxes in New Castle County, DE?
After federal income tax, FICA and state income tax, the median salary of $51,960 becomes $41,671 a year. That is $3,473 a month, $1,603 every two weeks or $801 a week.
How much tax do Bus Drivers, School pay in New Castle County, DE?
Total taxes are $10,289 a year, an effective rate of 19.8%: $4,107 federal income tax, $3,975 FICA and $2,207 Delaware income tax.
Do Bus Drivers, School earn more in New Castle County, DE than elsewhere in Delaware?
Yes. The local median of $51,960 is +2.1% versus the Delaware average of $50,907, a difference of $1,053 a year.
Can Bus Drivers, School afford a one-bedroom apartment in New Castle County, DE?
A one-bedroom costs $1,558 a month against take-home pay of $3,473, which is 44.9% of take-home pay. That does not meet the 30%-of-gross guideline, which allows up to $1,299 a month.
What is the monthly budget margin for Bus Drivers, School in New Castle County, DE?
About $1,306 a month ($15,675 a year) remains after a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline, which together cost $25,996 a year.
What hourly wage covers a one-bedroom in New Castle County, DE at the 30% guideline?
$29.96 an hour for a full-time schedule, calculated as the $18,696 annual rent divided by 0.30 and by 2,080 hours. The median for Bus Drivers, School is $24.98.
How we calculated these numbers
Wages are May 2025 medians from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD 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 Delaware 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.