U.S. school bus driver pool shrinks by 21,000 since 2019

The number of employed school bus drivers in the United States fell to 202,076 in August 2025, down from 223,252 in August 2019. This represents a decrease of nearly 10% over six years. The decline has forced school districts to manage daily operations with fewer available staff.

In Fort Wayne, Indiana, the shortage led to remote learning for thousands of students over a three-day period in April 2026. In South Carolina, the state's largest school district issued more than 7,000 bus delay notifications to parents during the first 10 weeks of the 2025-2026 school year. These disruptions are becoming a common experience for families in affected areas.

Victoria Encarnacion, a parent in Waterbury, Connecticut, said her daughter missed her bus pickup about once a month. On one occasion, her daughter waited outside and then walked to multiple stops on North Main before returning home. Encarnacion said her daughter called to say, “Mom, I quit.” Encarnacion noted that the uncertainty of daily pickups creates stress for parents, even if the missed rides happen only occasionally.

Mark Medina, a regional director with the National Association for Pupil Transportation, described the workforce as facing a “lose-lose situation.” He noted that drivers are doing their best to transport buses with 50 children amid many moving parts. Medina said pay has improved in recent years, and the association is working on retirement cap waivers and tax relief for drivers. However, split shifts and changes in risk factors for an older workforce due to the pandemic make it difficult to return to pre-2019 staffing levels.

Lawmakers introduced the Driving Forward Act in 2025 to remove a specific training barrier for prospective drivers. Currently, all commercial driver's license holders must identify engine parts and understand how they work. Critics of the rule say it is designed for long-haul trucking and adds three to four extra days of training for school bus drivers. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration stated that the proposed exemption would not affect safety. Medina said the industry has a “figure it out attitude” and believes the workforce will stabilize if that mindset continues.

The national drop in driver numbers is outpacing local hiring efforts in several states. Districts are currently absorbing the cost of delays and the logistical complexity of managing student transportation with fewer qualified drivers. The 2025-2026 school year data from South Carolina and Fort Wayne illustrates the scale of the operational gaps emerging across the country.