What Bus Drivers, School earn in St. Croix County, WI
The median pay for Bus Drivers, School in St. Croix County, WI is $50,240 per year, which works out to $24.15 per hour. The figure comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics wage survey for the Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI metropolitan area, the labor market that St. Croix County, WI 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 $51,170, which is 1.9% above the median, so pay is spread fairly evenly. The survey counts about 8,070 people working in this occupation across the Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI metropolitan area, so the estimate rests on a substantial pool of workers. St. Croix County, WI has roughly 96,033 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 Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI metropolitan area is not one number. The lowest-paid tenth of workers earn up to $37,920 a year ($18.23 an hour), while the highest-paid tenth earn $67,380 or more ($32.39 an hour). That is a gap of $29,460 between the bottom and the top of the scale. The middle half of workers falls between $39,760 at the 25th percentile and $58,030 at the 75th percentile. A top-tier earner makes 1.8 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, School in St. Croix County, WI is $24.15. A full-time schedule of 40 hours for 52 weeks adds up to $50,240, and the same salary is $4,187 a month before taxes or about $1,932 per biweekly pay period. After taxes the same job pays $19.70 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 St. Croix County, WI median of $50,240 is 4.8% above it.
How pay in St. Croix County, WI compares
Compared with the Wisconsin average
St. Croix County, WI pays above the state benchmark. The Wisconsin employment-weighted average for Bus Drivers, School is $49,263; the local median of $50,240 beats it by $977, or 2.0%. Within Wisconsin, St. Croix County, WI already has the highest median we track for this job.
Compared with the national average
The national employment-weighted average for Bus Drivers, School is $48,359 across the contiguous United States. At $50,240, St. Croix County, WI pays $1,881 more, which is 3.9% 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 St. Croix County, WI
Among the 586 occupations with published wages in St. Croix County, WI, Bus Drivers, School ranks number 444 by median pay, ahead of about 24% of them. The best-paying occupation we track here is Computer and Information Systems Managers at $178,080 a year, which is $127,840 more than the median for Bus Drivers, School.
From gross pay to take-home pay
A salary of $50,240 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 $9,254 a year, which leaves $40,986, or $3,415 a month.
Put another way, of every $100 earned, about $18 goes to taxes and $82 reaches the paycheck. The overall effective tax rate is 18.4%.
Federal income tax
After the $15,750 standard deduction, taxable income is $34,490. 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 $3,900, an effective 7.8% 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 $3,115 on this salary. Medicare takes 1.45%, or $728. FICA totals $3,843, which is 7.6% of gross pay.
State income tax in Wisconsin
Wisconsin income tax on this salary is $1,510 a year, or 3.0% of gross pay, after the state's own deductions and exemptions are applied. That is 39% of the federal income tax bill, and it comes out to $126 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 St. Croix County, WI
IRS Statistics of Income data for St. Croix County, WI show an average adjusted gross income of $111,422 per return and an average effective federal income tax rate of 14.3% across all filers. Filers in the $50,000 to under $75,000 bracket, where this salary falls, paid an average of 7.7%, compared with the 7.8% 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 St. Croix County, WI
Take-home pay only means something next to what life costs. We price four basics for one adult in St. Croix County, WI: a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline. All of them are converted to annual figures first, then compared with the $40,986 of take-home pay.
Rent
The HUD Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment in St. Croix County, WI is $1,427 a month, or $17,124 a year. A two-bedroom costs $1,734 a month. For Bus Drivers, School, a one-bedroom absorbs 41.8% of take-home pay and 34.1% 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 6.8% of gross pay for Bus Drivers, School in St. Croix County, WI. It is a thrifty budget with no restaurant meals, so treat it as a floor.
Energy and gasoline
Using Wisconsin residential prices from the Energy Information Administration and national household averages for consumption, electricity costs about $1,816 a year and other home energy such as natural gas about $393, for $2,209 in total. Gasoline in Wisconsin averages $3.28 per gallon; at about 463 gallons a year (11,106 miles at 24 miles per gallon) fuel adds $1,518.
What is left over
Add the four basics together and living costs come to $24,287 a year, 59% of take-home pay. That leaves $16,699 a year, or $1,392 a month, for savings, transportation beyond fuel, health care, debt and everything else. That margin equals 33.2% of gross pay, a comfortable cushion by common budgeting rules.
Local housing and commute data for St. Croix County, WI
The budget above covers rent, food, energy and gasoline. Three more local facts shape what a paycheck buys in St. Croix County, WI: 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 St. Croix County, WI, set beside the Wisconsin and national medians.
Property taxes in St. Croix County, WI
Homeowners in St. Croix County, WI pay a median of $4,420 a year in real estate taxes, 17% above the Wisconsin median of $3,792 and 42% above the U.S. median of $3,119. Against a median home value of $377,700, the median tax bill is 1.17% of that value (the ratio of the two county medians). For a worker paid the local Bus Drivers, School median of $50,240, a tax bill of that size would equal 8.8% of gross pay, which matters for anyone planning to buy rather than rent.
Rents, home prices and household income in St. Croix County, WI
Renters in St. Croix County, WI pay a median gross rent of $1,271 a month in the Census survey, 17% above the Wisconsin median of $1,087. HUD's Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment, which this site uses in the budget, is $1,427 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 $377,700, 42% above the Wisconsin median of $266,500. Median household income is $103,046, 33% above the Wisconsin median of $77,485, so a year of one-bedroom Fair Market Rent equals 16.6% of that income.
Commuting in St. Croix County, WI
Workers in St. Croix County, WI who travel to a workplace spend an average of 27.0 minutes each way, 22% above the Wisconsin average of 22.2. For someone who commutes five days a week, that is 4.5 hours of round-trip travel every week, a cost the budget does not price. 16.5% of workers in St. Croix County, WI work from home, compared with 15.1% nationally, which removes the commute for them.
Can Bus Drivers, School afford to live in St. Croix County, WI?
The 30% rent guideline
A common rule of thumb says rent should stay under 30% of gross income. For a gross salary of $50,240 that ceiling is $1,256 a month. The one-bedroom Fair Market Rent of $1,427 is $171 over it, so rent breaks the guideline. Put as a wage, covering a one-bedroom at the 30% guideline takes $27.44 an hour; the median for Bus Drivers, School is $24.15, which is 12% below that mark. Another way to see it: at $19.70 of take-home pay an hour, a one-bedroom takes about 16.7 working hours every week.
Splitting a two-bedroom
Sharing a two-bedroom at $1,734 a month means $867 each. Compared with renting a one-bedroom alone, that saves $6,720 a year. With a roommate, the yearly margin after the basics becomes $23,419.
How fast you can save
At $1,392 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 St. Croix County, WI
What is the hourly wage for Bus Drivers, School in St. Croix County, WI?
The median is $24.15 per hour, based on $50,240 a year over 2,080 hours. Hourly pay runs from about $18.23 at the 10th percentile to $32.39 at the 90th percentile.
What is the take-home pay for Bus Drivers, School in St. Croix County, WI?
After federal income tax, FICA and state income tax, the median salary of $50,240 becomes $40,986 a year. That is $3,415 a month, $1,576 every two weeks or $788 a week.
What percentage of pay goes to taxes for Bus Drivers, School in St. Croix County, WI?
Total taxes are $9,254 a year, an effective rate of 18.4%: $3,900 federal income tax, $3,843 FICA and $1,510 Wisconsin income tax.
Is pay for Bus Drivers, School in St. Croix County, WI above the Wisconsin average?
Yes. The local median of $50,240 is +2.0% versus the Wisconsin average of $49,263, a difference of $977 a year.
Is a one-bedroom rent affordable on the median Bus Drivers, School salary in St. Croix County, WI?
A one-bedroom costs $1,427 a month against take-home pay of $3,415, which is 41.8% of take-home pay. That does not meet the 30%-of-gross guideline, which allows up to $1,256 a month.
How much is left after rent, food and energy for Bus Drivers, School in St. Croix County, WI?
About $1,392 a month ($16,699 a year) remains after a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline, which together cost $24,287 a year.
What hourly wage covers a one-bedroom in St. Croix County, WI at the 30% guideline?
$27.44 an hour for a full-time schedule, calculated as the $17,124 annual rent divided by 0.30 and by 2,080 hours. The median for Bus Drivers, School is $24.15.
How we calculated these numbers
Wages are May 2025 medians from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for the Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI 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 Wisconsin 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.