School Bus Monitors
Also called: Bus Aide, Bus Assistant, Bus Attendant, Bus Monitor, Bus Paraeducator, School Bus Aide, School Bus Assistant, School Bus Attendant
Maintain order among students on a school bus.
What school bus monitors do
Typical tasks
- Buckle seatbelts or fasten wheelchair tie-down straps to secure passengers for transportation.
- Escort young children across roads or highways.
- Assist children with disabilities or children with psychological, emotional, or behavioral issues with boarding and exiting the school bus.
- Monitor the conduct of students to maintain discipline and safety.
- Evacuate students from the school bus in emergency situations.
- Direct students boarding and exiting the school bus.
- Direct students evacuating the bus during safety drills.
- Operate a wheelchair lift to load or unload wheelchairs.
- Report delays, accidents, or other traffic and transportation situations to dispatchers or other bus drivers, using phones or mobile two-way radios.
- Prevent or defuse altercations between students.
- Respond to students' questions, requests, or complaints.
- Guide the driver when the bus is moving in reverse gear.
Typical path into the job (BLS)
School Bus Monitors salary
The median annual wage for school bus monitors is $35,100 (BLS OEWS May 2025; BLS Employment Projections 2025–35, national). The lowest 10 percent earn less than $28,130 and the highest 10 percent earn more than $43,250. The mean annual wage is $35,150.
The mean hourly wage of $16.00 is 2.2× the federal minimum wage of $7.25. State minimums are higher in most large states. Minimum wage by state →
How does your pay compare with people your age?
Your numbers are not sent or stored. The comparison uses this occupation's BLS wage percentiles, adjusted for age with BLS median weekly earnings by age group (Q3 2026).
Pay by percentile
Annual wage percentiles from the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS). Percentiles are a good proxy for pay by experience.
Projected pay for School Bus Monitors (3, 5 and 10 years)est.
Today $35,100 → in 3 years $38,200 → in 5 years $40,400 → in 10 years $46,600 (10-year range $40,100–$54,100). The model assumes pay growth of +2.9% per year.
What drives the annual growth rate
Projected pay = current pay × (1 + annual growth)^years. The annual growth rate starts from a base wage-growth rate and adds or subtracts labor demand (BLS projected employment growth), wage momentum and AI replacement risk for each occupation. Projections are not guarantees. How it is calculated →
Outlook score for School Bus Monitors
Each component is a percentile rank among all occupations in the same country (0–100). Weights: labor demand 25, wage momentum / openings 15, pay level 15, AI resistance 25, aging workforce 10 (Japan only), entry barrier 10.
Will AI replace School Bus Monitors? AI replacement risk
How AI is changing this job
A written analysis for this occupation is being prepared.
AI replacement risk compares the parts of a job that are easy to hand to AI or software (processing information, documentation, repetitive computer work) with the parts that are hard to automate (physical work, working closely with people, judgment in unpredictable settings), using O*NET work activities, work context, skills and knowledge. The result is a relative position among all occupations in the country, scaled to 0–100%. Methodology →
Labor demand for School Bus Monitors
Employment projections are from the BLS Employment Projections program (2025–35). Annual openings include both new jobs and replacement of workers who leave the occupation.
Skills, education and requirements for School Bus Monitors
Key skills
O*NET skill level ratings (0–7).
Key knowledge areas
What the work involves
Important abilities
Training before entry
Related work experience
Job Zone 2 — some preparation needed (O*NET)
Difficulty of entry: ★☆☆☆☆ Easy to enter (from education, training, experience and Job Zone)
How to become school bus monitors
A step-by-step guide for this occupation is being prepared. The education, training and experience data above show the typical path.
Career path and how to earn more as school bus monitors
Career-path guidance is being prepared. Pay by percentile is shown in the Pay section.