Bus Driver Salary in San Francisco, CA (2026)

What bus driver pay in San Francisco really looks like

San Francisco is a standout-pay market for bus drivers. The local median of $78,900 a year runs $19,850 (34%) above the national median of $59,050, one of the widest premiums in the country for this occupation. Offers benchmarked to U.S.-wide averages will read far too low here — hold out for the local number, and treat the metro median as your floor, not your target.

The local range is moderate — $61,150 at the 25th percentile to $94,940 at the 75th (BLS). Half of San Francisco Bus Drivers earn inside that band, so it is a realistic target window: an offer near $94,940 is genuinely strong for the metro, while anything under $61,150 is worth pushing back on with the BLS figures in hand.

This is a substantial local market: BLS estimates roughly 5,540 bus driver jobs across the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA 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 San Francisco against the BLS $78,900 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 San Francisco is concrete: a metro median of $78,900 with most bus drivers landing between $61,150 and $94,940. 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 $94,940, and applies for you — so your time goes to the jobs that clear the San Francisco median, not the ones that sit under it.

How we know this — San Francisco sources

Wage figures for Bus Driver in San Francisco, CA are the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS May 2025 estimate for the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA metro area (MSA code 41860) (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 San Francisco, CA — common questions

How much does a Bus Driver make in San Francisco, CA?

The median Bus Driver salary in San Francisco, CA is $78,900/year ($19,850 (34%) above the national median), with a typical range of $61,150–$94,940 (25th–75th percentile). Figures are BLS OEWS May 2025, released 2026-08-25.

Is San Francisco a strong pay market for Bus Drivers?

At a $78,900 median, San Francisco is $19,850 (34%) above 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 San Francisco?

Target employers paying toward the $94,940 (75th-percentile) mark and anchor your negotiation to the BLS band. Jobeezy fit-scores Bus Driver openings in San Francisco and auto-applies, so you reach more high-paying employers fast.

How many Bus Drivers work in San Francisco?

BLS estimates roughly 5,540 bus driver jobs across San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA (May 2025 metro employment — a count of jobs, not of salaries reported).