The State of Electric School Bus Adoption in the US

Editor's Note: This article was updated with new findings as of October 2024 from WRI's Electric School Bus Data Dashboard, which is updated monthly and contains the most recent data on electric school bus adoption. Previous versions of this article are available for download at the bottom of this page.

More than 21 million children ride the bus to school in the U.S., and over 90% of these school buses run on fossil fuels, primarily diesel, putting children's health at risk every school day. Diesel exhaust is a known carcinogen, with proven links to serious physical health issues as well as cognitive development impacts. But with more electric school buses on the road, these risks can be greatly reduced.

Electric school buses have zero tailpipe emissions, preventing students' exposure to harmful pollutants. Plus, electric school buses are cleaner for the environment, producing less than half the greenhouse gas emissions of diesel or propane-powered school buses, even after accounting for emissions from electricity generation.

In the U.S., there now are nearly 5,000 electric school buses serving approximately 254,000 students in 49 states, Washington, D.C., American Samoa, Puerto Rico and seven tribal schools. That means electric school buses are on roads across the country, responding to the call for a clean ride to school.

More than 90% of school buses today run on diesel, with dangerous fumes that have proven links to serious physical health issues and cognitive development impacts. Photo by Denisse Leon/Unsplash.

US Electric School Buses by the Numbers

As of Oct. 1, 2024, there are a total of 12,241 electric school bus commitments. We define "commitment" to include electric buses across four stages: those that have been awarded funding for purchase, have a formal purchase agreement with a dealer or manufacturer, have been delivered to school districts or fleet operators, or are in operation.

Over two-thirds, or 67% percent, of all committed electric school buses in the U.S. were funded by the Environmental Protection Agency's Clean School Bus Program, which has awarded nearly $3 billion to fund over 8,000 school bus replacements at more than 1,200 school districts.

Notably, 89% of total Clean School Bus Program funds and 84% of awarded electric school buses went to "priority" school districts, which include school districts with high poverty levels, rural school districts, Bureau of Indian Affairs-funded school districts, and school districts that receive basic support payments for children who reside on Indian land.

Thanks to this program, there are now electric school bus commitments in 49 states, Washington, D.C., American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and several tribal nations including the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe, Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, Morongo Band of Mission Indians, the Soboba Band of Luiseño Indians and the Umo N Ho N Nation. This unprecedented level of funding comes from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law of 2021 and would not have been possible without the tireless advocacy work of groups across the country.

The total number of electric school buses is expected to continue to grow under a $1 billion fourth round of Clean School Bus Program funding announced in September 2024, as well as the EPA's new Clean Heavy Duty Vehicles Grant Program, established under the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 and designed to help transition heavy duty vehicles - including school buses - to zero-emission models. The EPA expects around 70% of the Clean Heavy Duty Vehicles Grant Program funding, or around $700 million, to support school bus replacement projects. Further, several states have passed laws and statutes to transition to zero-emission school buses, setting the stage for more widespread adoption.

WRI has been tracking electric school bus adoption across the U.S. since 2021 to compare data overtime and identify specific trends as more electric school buses make their way to the road.

Here are the key findings from our October 2024 data:

The US. Has Nearly 5,000 Electric School Buses on the Road

As of October 2024, electric school buses are now committed in 1,531 U.S. school districts or by private fleet operators. That is a 500% increase in the number of districts since our first count in 2021, and a 1,000% increase in the number of committed electric school buses.

Among the 12,241 committed buses, 4,958 were already delivered or are operating. Another 5,906 buses have been awarded to school districts from federal and local government initiatives but have not yet been ordered or delivered.

Our data tracking also shows that school districts that receive electric school bus awards have significant follow-through. As of October 2024, there are nearly 1,400 electric buses currently on order from school districts nationwide. Since 2012, when the first electric school buses were committed, more than half (52%) of all electric school bus commitments have translated into bus orders.

Among Commitments in 49 States, Large Increases Are in New England and the Midwest

WRI's most recent data shows every U.S. state, except Wyoming, has electric school bus commitments, including Washington, D.C., American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, seven tribal schools and two private schools operated by a tribal nation.

The most recent data shows electric school bus commitments are becoming more evenly distributed across the country. When tracking first began, more than half of electric school bus commitments were in the West (based on U.S. Census regions). Now, the West represents 34% of committed electric school buses, only a little more than the South's 30% share of commitments. The Northeast and the Midwest have 20% and 15% of committed electric school buses, respectively.

California continues to lead in electric school bus adoption, with over 3,110 committed electric buses across the state, of which nearly 45% are delivered or operating. This is more than four times as many buses as the next leading state, New York, with 764 commitments.

The remaining top 10 states with the most committed electric school buses include Illinois (617), Pennsylvania (469), Florida (467), Maryland (439), Massachusetts (434), Texas (424), Virginia (385) and Georgia (341).

While California had the largest absolute number increase from our last update in December 2023, with 713 new bus commitments, states across New England and the Midwest saw large percentage increases in the number of committed buses.

The number of committed electric school buses in Indiana (46 to 104), North Dakota (8 to 18), Ohio (68 to 165) and Wisconsin (66 to 141) increased by more than 100%. In Nebraska, the number of electric school buses increased by over 200% (7 to 23) and in Minnesota by over 300% (25 to 101). The largest percentage increase of electric school buses was in New Hampshire with an increase of over 1,000% (7 to 117). The New England and Midwest regions of the U.S. now have 4,367 committed ESBs, more than the West's 4,156 buses.

State legislatures are helping to accelerate the electric school bus transition. Since 2022, seven states have statutorily enacted zero-emission school bus transition requirements, including California, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, New York and Washington. Some 100,000 school buses (19% of the entire U.S. fleet) are covered by these measures and 6 million school bus riders (26% of all riders) would benefit directly.

Washington is the most recent state to enact its transition target, requiring that 100% of new school bus purchases be zero-emission once the total cost of ownership is on par with that of diesel buses. The state also directed that grant programs must prioritize environmental justice communities.

In addition, Colorado, Michigan and Washington D.C., have non-binding transition goals, aiming for 100% zero-emission buses on the road by 2035, 100% of school bus sales to be electric by 2030 and the replacement of 100% of school buses with electric models which began in 2021, respectively.

Over 100 Sources Have Funded Electric School Buses Across the US

The federal Clean School Bus Program far surpasses any other single funding source for electric school buses. As of October 2024, it is responsible for 67% (8,125) of all electric school bus commitments. Looking at it another way, out of the 7,283 electric school buses that are awarded or on order as of October 2024, it is funding more than 80%. And the program currently funded 2,200 buses that are already operating or have been delivered.

The next largest funding source is California's Hybrid and Zero-Emission Truck and Bus Voucher Incentive Project, which has funded 1,213 bus commitments. State efforts under the Volkswagen Clean Air Act Civil Settlement has also funded a significant amount of electric school buses, providing 706 commitments across 28 states. Unsurprisingly, California-specific funding sources comprise half of the 10 largest funding sources. The state's robust incentive programs are partly why a quarter of all committed electric school buses in the U.S. can be found there.

Large Commitments for Electric School Buses Are Increasing

The growing number of commitments for more buses suggests increasing trust in electric school bus technology and market conditions, as well as wider funding availability. Over 1,500 U.S. school districts or private fleet operators have committed to electric school buses. Seventy eight percent of them (1,197) have committed to more than one bus, and 52% (800) have electric school buses that are operating or have already been delivered.

Approximately 42% (638) of all school districts and fleet operators with electric school buses have committed to five or more buses, and 23% (353) have committed to 10 or more, compared to just 60 such school districts in 2023. One hundred and forty-seven districts have electric school bus commitments that amount to 50% or more of their current fleet size.

School districts, large and small, have already reached 100% school bus electrification. In April 2024, Steelton-Highspire School District became the first in Pennsylvania to have an all-electric school bus fleet with six buses. And in August, the Oakland Unified School District rolled out one of the largest all-electric school bus fleets in the nation with 74 electric buses.

Top 5 School Districts by Number of Electric School Buses Ordered, Delivered or Operating as of October 2024

Rank	Entity Name	State	Number of Electric School Buses
1	Montgomery County Public Schools	MD	326
2	Los Angeles Unified School District	CA	321
3	Miami-Dade County Public Schools	FL	125
4	Boston Public Schools	MA	114
5	Clayton County School District	GA	100

Is Electric School Bus Adoption Occurring Equitably?

Students from low-income families are particularly exposed to the dangers of diesel exhaust pollution from school buses: 60% ride the bus to school, compared to 45% of students from families with higher incomes. In addition, Black students and children with disabilities rely on school buses more than their peers. Children of color are also more likely to suffer from asthma, due in part to historically racist lending, transit, housing and zoning policies that concentrated Black and Brown communities closer to highways and other sources of vehicle-based air pollution. Electrifying the entire fleet of school buses, and prioritizing these communities in the transition, can help address these concerns.

Overall, committed electric school buses are largely concentrated in historically underserved school districts. Since WRI tracking began in 2021, we have seen an increase in buses in low-income areas and areas with the highest levels of particulate matter (PM2.5) and ozone pollution. A majority of electric school buses continue to be in school districts with high populations of people of color.

Notably, the EPA's Clean School Bus Program led to a more equitable distribution of electric school buses by prioritizing school districts based on whether they were "high need" (focusing on high-poverty districts and those located in the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa or Northern Mariana Islands), rural, tribal or a combination of these criteria. The share of districts with at least one electric school bus in each type of locale (rural, town, suburban and urban) also aligns closely to the distribution of all school districts nationwide among these locales. Thirty- six percent of school districts with at least one committed electric school bus are in rural locales, 26% are in suburban, 22% are in urban and 15% are in town locales. This is a marked change from 2021 when only 17% of school districts in rural locales had electric school buses; a shift mostly due to the Clean School Bus Program's prioritization of rural school districts.

Before the EPA's Clean School Bus Program awards in 2022, the largest percentage of electric school buses were in districts with the smallest shares of low-income households. By October 2024, the largest percentage of electric school buses are now in districts with the highest shares of low-income households (62%).

Electric school bus adoption also appears to be occurring equitably when looking at the distribution of buses among communities of color. Among committed electric school buses, 85% are in school districts with the highest percentages of people of color as defined by the EPA's EJScreen data.

Of note, the percentage of electric school buses in districts with the highest shares of low-income households and people of color decreased from 66% to 62% and 89% to 85%, respectively.

WRI also evaluated data to see if electric school buses were equitably distributed across communities impacted the most by harmful pollutants. We compiled data on concentrations of PM2.5 and ozone in school districts because of their harmful health effects, their close linkage to diesel exhaust and the availability of data, as well as data on adult asthma rates since evidence suggests that children with asthma are especially susceptible to impacts from air pollutants (Childhood asthma rates at the census tract level were not available for most districts).

As of October 2024, 65% of committed electric school buses are in school districts with the highest concentrations of PM2.5. The trend continues with ozone pollution with 65% of committed electric school buses in school districts with the highest levels of ozone pollution. School districts with electric school buses are fairly evenly distributed among different levels of adult asthma rates. A little under half (49%) of committed electric school buses are in school districts with the highest adult asthma rates. As noted above, the use of adult asthma data may not provide a full picture of the impact of pollution levels on communities' asthma incidence, especially given asthma most often starts during childhood and children are more susceptible to the adverse effects from poor air quality, more effort is needed to ensure that electric school buses are brought to these communities.

It's important to note that the metrics presented here reflect only a few equity dimensions. WRI is also closely tracking other community characteristics including disability access and services, tribal equity and other underserved communities to ensure there is an equitable transition to electric school buses.

What's Next to Scale Up Electric School Bus Adoption?

With the third round of Clean School Bus Program awards announced in May 2024, more electric school buses are expected to be introduced across the U.S., through the next two years. The opening of the fourth round of applications, due on Jan. 9, 2025, will provide an additional $1 billion for electric school buses. But that's not the only federal program helping to put more electric school buses on the road.

Last summer, the Internal Revenue Service issued proposed regulations which allows entities like school districts to claim electric school bus-relevant credits such as 45W (Qualified Commercial Clean Vehicles) and 30C (Alternative Fuel Vehicle Refueling Property Credit). These credits can save school bus operators tens and even hundreds of thousands of dollars on school bus electrification.

In March 2024, the EPA revised existing greenhouse gas emission standards for heavy duty vehicles, including school buses. These standards will avoid nearly one billion tons of greenhouse gas emissions by requiring emission control technologies for vehicle model years 2027 through 2032, accelerating the transition to clean buses that allow students and school bus drivers to breathe easier. WRI analysis of these new greenhouse gas emissions standards for heavy-duty vehicles projects that 62% of all school bus sales will be electric by 2032.

In August, it was announced that grant recipients of the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund can begin accessing available funds to mobilize financing for projects, signaling an unprecedented opportunity to bring equitable finance into electric school bus procurements.

State funding programs are also putting more buses on the road. The Michigan Clean Bus Energy Grant Program, which provides funds to school districts to replace aging diesel school buses, opened for its second round of applications in August. Illinois and Pennsylvania are also considering funding and fleet transition targets, such as the Advanced Clean Trucks rule, which would help promote the development and use of electric school buses.

The latest data shows that electric school buses continue to have nationwide momentum. As progress toward an all-electric school bus fleet advances, policymakers at the federal and state levels, including state utility regulators, will need to continue establishing supportive policies, such as fleet transition requirements and programs for charging infrastructure deployment and workforce development.

Federal and state governments can continue to address the upfront cost premium of electric school buses through funding opportunities and financing programs that help maximize the impact and reach of grants for greater scale and ambition. Across these efforts, policymakers should ensure benefits are equitably accessible to communities that would benefit most from school bus electrification through policy prioritization and technical assistance from government and utility programs.

Looking to follow the most up-to-date, interactive electric school bus data? Check out our Electric School Bus Data Dashboard, where you can easily explore trends and dive into the latest data.

View past editions of this article:

• July 2024 Edition
• September 2023 Edition
• April 2023 Edition
• February 2023 Edition
• September 2022 Edition
• June 2022 Edition
• February 2022 Edition
• August 2021 Edition