Nationwide school bus driver count drops by over 21,000

The number of employed school bus drivers in the United States dropped by 21,176 between August 2019 and August 2025. The workforce fell from 223,252 drivers to 202,076, representing a nearly 10 percent decline over that six-year period.

This decrease has created logistical problems for school districts across the country. In Fort Wayne, Indiana, thousands of students learned remotely for three days in April 2026 due to a lack of available drivers. In South Carolina, the state's largest school district sent more than 7,000 delay notifications to parents during the first 10 weeks of the 2025-2026 school year.

Victoria Encarnacion, a parent in Waterbury, Connecticut, described the daily uncertainty her family faces. She said her daughter waited outside for a bus that did not arrive. The girl walked to multiple stops on North Main for an hour before giving up and returning home. Encarnacion said these missed pickups occur about once a month for her daughter.

"She called me and told me, 'Mom, I quit,'" Encarnacion said. "For her to go through that effort just to make it to school, it's impactful for me to be like, all right, you know, just stay home." She noted that the situation is stressful for parents who do not know if transportation will be provided.

Mark Medina, a regional director with the National Association for Pupil Transportation, said the pandemic exposed a labor market shift. Drivers with commercial licenses can move to other industries with higher pay. Medina described the role as difficult, noting that transporting a bus with 50 children involves many moving parts. He said the industry is working to secure retirement cap waivers and tax relief for drivers.

Medina said pay has improved in recent years, but split shifts and health risk factors for an older workforce make it hard to return to pre-pandemic staffing levels. He expressed confidence that the transportation sector can adapt to the new reality.

Lawmakers introduced the Driving Forward Act in 2025 to remove a barrier for new applicants. The bill would exempt school bus drivers from the requirement to identify engine parts, a rule currently applied to all commercial driver's license holders. Proponents say the rule is designed for long-haul trucking and adds three to four days of training. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration says the exemption would not affect safety.