Bus Driver Salary in Albuquerque, NM (2026)

What bus driver pay in Albuquerque really looks like

Bus Driver pay in Albuquerque runs well below the national benchmark. The local median of about $22.36 an hour ($46,510 a year) lands $12,540 (21%) under the U.S. median of $59,050 — a gap wide enough that it should shape how you job-hunt here. Over a full year that is real money left on the table, and the spread between a bottom-of-market and a top-of-market bus driver role in Albuquerque can be larger than the gap to the national number itself, so comparing employers matters more than chasing the average.

Pay is tightly clustered here: the 25th-to-75th-percentile band runs just $46,510 to $46,510 (BLS). A narrow spread means the metro median is a dependable expectation rather than a midpoint between wildly different jobs — there is little room above it without a credential, a specialty, or a supervisory step, so the ladder up is about the role, not just the employer.

This is a substantial local market: BLS estimates roughly 200 bus driver jobs across the Albuquerque, NM metro area (a count of metro employment, not a survey of reported salaries). A deep employer base is good news for pay — it means more openings to compare side by side, more turnover creating vacancies, and more leverage to hold out for an employer at the top of the local range instead of settling for the first offer that lands.

Right now, Jobeezy is tracking 24 open bus driver jobs in Albuquerque against the BLS $46,510 benchmark — the live listings and the employers hiring are below, so you can see which openings actually clear the metro median before you apply.

Put it together and the picture for Albuquerque is concrete: a metro median of $46,510 with most bus drivers landing between $46,510 and $46,510. The practical move is to aim for the upper half of that band. Jobeezy fit-scores local bus driver openings, surfaces the employers posting toward $46,510, and applies for you — so your time goes to the jobs that clear the Albuquerque median, not the ones that sit under it.

How we know this — Albuquerque sources

Wage figures for Bus Driver in Albuquerque, NM are the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS May 2025 estimate for the Albuquerque, NM metro area (MSA code 10740) (SOC 53-3052), released 2026-08-25. Suppressed cells are shown as an em dash, never a zero.

Reviewed by Dalton Metzler · Jobeezy Compensation Data

How we source & label these figures →

Bus Driver pay in Albuquerque, NM — common questions

How much does a Bus Driver make in Albuquerque, NM?

The median Bus Driver salary in Albuquerque, NM is $22.36/hour ($46,510/year) ($12,540 (21%) below the national median), with a typical range of $46,510–$46,510 (25th–75th percentile). Figures are BLS OEWS May 2025, released 2026-08-25.

Is Albuquerque a strong pay market for Bus Drivers?

At a $46,510 median, Albuquerque is $12,540 (21%) below the national median. The U.S. median is $59,050. Jobeezy shows you which local employers actually pay at the top of that band before you apply.

How can I earn more as a Bus Driver in Albuquerque?

Target employers paying toward the $46,510 (75th-percentile) mark and anchor your negotiation to the BLS band. Jobeezy fit-scores Bus Driver openings in Albuquerque and auto-applies, so you reach more high-paying employers fast.

How many Bus Drivers work in Albuquerque?

BLS estimates roughly 200 bus driver jobs across Albuquerque, NM (May 2025 metro employment — a count of jobs, not of salaries reported).