Bus Drivers, Transit and Intercity · SOC 53-3052

Highest-Paying Metro Areas for Bus Drivers, Transit and Intercitys

Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025U.S. metropolitan areas

Metro areas ranked by published median annual wage for bus drivers, transit and intercity. Areas where BLS suppressed the median are not ranked (2 such areas are excluded here). Higher medians often track higher living costs — this is a pay comparison, not a ranking of where the job is “best”.

Top 25 of 171 metro areas

Bus Drivers, Transit and Intercity: metro areas with the highest published median annual wages, May 2025
#	Metro area	Median annual	Employment	Per 1,000 jobs
1	Las Vegas-Henderson-North Las Vegas, NV	$90,460	2,180	1.9
2	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$83,430	4,430	2.1
3	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$80,170	2,130	1.8
4	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$78,900	5,540	2.3
5	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$78,130	19,770	2.1
6	Columbus, OH	$73,790	700	0.6
7	Salinas, CA	$71,290	180	1.0
8	Atlantic City-Hammonton, NJ	$70,700	300	1.8
9	Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	$70,680	810	0.8
10	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$70,120	3,270	1.2
11	Akron, OH	$70,000	360	1.1
12	Urban Honolulu, HI	$68,500	1,810	4.0
13	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$68,020	10,140	1.6
14	Dayton-Kettering-Beavercreek, OH	$67,420	270	0.7
15	Boulder, CO	$66,840	Not published	Not published
16	Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO	$66,590	2,140	1.3
17	Springfield, MA	$65,770	290	1.4
18	Eugene-Springfield, OR	$65,510	290	1.8
19	Ann Arbor, MI	$65,370	280	1.3
20	Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard, WA	$65,360	250	2.6
21	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	$65,220	4,070	1.3
22	Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN	$65,200	7,080	1.6
23	Anchorage, AK	$63,450	150	0.8
24	Portland-South Portland, ME	$63,360	240	0.8
25	Colorado Springs, CO	$63,010	380	1.2

Full state and metro tables, the national distribution, and the pay map are on the Bus Drivers, Transit and Intercity overview.

About this data. Estimates are from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program, May 2025 release, retrieved from bls.gov/oes/tables.htm on July 24, 2026. OEWS estimates describe metropolitan/nonmetropolitan areas and states — not city limits — and are not designed for year-over-year comparisons. See BLS methodology, our plain-English methodology, and sources. CitySalaryData is independent and not affiliated with BLS.