Transport and logistics
What does a Bus or Coach Driver do?
Getting people and goods where they need to be, on time and in one piece.
What the day is like
- Right or wrong, to a standard.
- The same shape each day.
- Answerable for your own work.
The facts
- Pay
- $49,390 a year, median
- Bus Drivers, May 2025
- Usually needs
- High school diploma or equivalent
- Weeks to months. Most people can start from where they are.
- Jobs
- +2% projected change in jobs, 2025-2035 projections
- Demand looks growing slowly
What is good about it
- You can be earning at it within months rather than after years of training.
- You answer for your own work rather than for other people, which suits more people than admit it.
What people find hard about it
- Split shifts
- Difficult passengers
- Traffic you cannot beat
Steady and public-facing, with early starts and late finishes.
Will machines take this job?
What machines will do to this work. Routing and scheduling are heavily automated; responsibility for a vehicle, a load and a schedule stays with a person.
How to find out whether it suits you
Ride a full shift with a driver, including the school run or rush hour.
Would this actually suit you?
CareerDNA works that out from what you choose rather than from what you say about yourself: two minutes of choosing between real jobs, a few puzzles, and some questions about what you are like. It is free, it saves as you go, and it will tell you plainly where the answer is thin.