Bus Driver Salary in East Midlands
Official ONS earnings for East Midlands.
Median salary — East Midlands
£28,200
gross, per year, all employees
▼ 1.4% change on the previous year
Mean
£28,074
What a typical bus driver takes home
On the median of £28,200, 2026/27 tax year, England, Wales and Northern Ireland rates, no pension or student loan.
Take-home a month
£1,985
Take-home a year
£23,824
Income Tax
£3,126
National Insurance
£1,250
What most bus drivers actually earn
Half of bus drivers in East Midlands earn between £22,660 and £42,166. Earning above £42,166 puts you in the top quarter of the profession.
ONS suppresses the detailed spread for this occupation at regional level, so this range describes the wider “Road Transport Drivers” group in East Midlands.
The full pay range
Each bar is the salary at that percentile — the 25th means a quarter of bus drivers earn less than this.
Where this figure comes from
- ONS occupation group
- Bus and coach drivers
- SOC 2020 code
- 8212
- Measure
- Gross annual pay, all employees
- Edition
- ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, 2025 provisional
ONS publishes a sampling error of 19.4% for this figure and asks that anything above 10% is treated as imprecise — too few people in this region answered the survey for this occupation. The figure is shown because it is the one ONS published, but it is not firm enough to rank East Midlands against anywhere else, so this page doesn't.
Source: Office for National Statistics, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Figures are estimates from a survey of PAYE jobs and are not financial advice.
Bus Driver salary FAQs
What is the average Bus Driver salary in East Midlands?
The median is £28,200 a year and the mean is £28,074, according to the ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings. Those cover all employees; ASHE publishes no full-time split at regional level.
How much does a bus driver earn per hour?
Across the UK the median hourly rate is £16.21 excluding overtime, or £16.43 for full-time employees. ASHE publishes hourly pay by occupation nationally only, so there is no separate rate for East Midlands.
What is a good Bus Driver salary?
Half of bus drivers earn between £22,660 and £42,166. Anything above £42,166 is in the top quarter for the role.
Do bus drivers in East Midlands earn more than the UK average?
The median in East Midlands is £28,200 against £33,947 across the UK, 16.9% lower. ONS marks the East Midlands figure as imprecise, so treat the gap as indicative.
Has bus driver pay gone up in the last year?
ASHE puts the year-on-year change in the median at -1.4% for this occupation in East Midlands. That compares the latest survey with the one before it and is not adjusted for inflation.
Is this figure official?
Yes. It comes from the ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, an accredited official statistic based on employer PAYE records.
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