How to transfer your Bus driver licence to Oregon (2026)

4 min read

Bus driver work in Oregon is licensed at state level, by the Oregon driver licence agency. Oregon gives new residents 30 days to transfer a driver's licence, including a CDL. This page says what a bus driver licensed or working in another state has to do to work in Oregon, in the order to do it, and what goes wrong when the order is reversed.

How the transfer works

A bus driver's CDL with passenger (P) and school bus (S) endorsements transfers like any CDL, within 30 days of residency, at a Oregon driver licence office. The school bus endorsement needs a fresh background check in Oregon, and school districts and transit agencies add their own training and testing on hire.

How long: same day for the licence; a district background check adds weeks. Fee: $30 to $150; the current figure is on the licensing body's own site.

What to have ready before you move

Current CDL with P and S endorsements
DOT medical certificate
Driving record

Start the paperwork before you give notice. Every week the licence is not done is a week you are not paid, and nothing in the process needs you to be in Oregon already.

Plan your move: licence steps for your two states, free

What people get wrong

Assuming the S endorsement carries without a new background check
Underestimating the district's own training requirement

Who hires bus drivers in Oregon

Bus drivers in Oregon are hired by school districts, transit agencies, charter companies and contractors like First Student. The metros with the most of that work are Portland, Salem, Eugene and Bend. Employers who could not hire locally and have filed with the Department of Labor are on the Oregon openings page.

For the money side: the median bus driver in Oregon earned $62,900 a year ($30 an hour) in May 2024 across 2,730 jobs, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and Oregon has a progressive state income tax with a top rate of 9.9%. What that leaves you after tax is its own page.

Everything about Oregon, on one page

The Oregon page has the registries and boards, the income tax table, the programs that pay you to come and the openings filed this month. If you know which state you are leaving, the move pages compare the two directly. Creating a free Workmerica profile with your trade and your destination puts you in front of Oregon employers hiring from out of state.

Moving for a job?

Tell us your trade and your two states. We send the licence steps and show you to employers hiring from out of state. Free.

What work do you do, and where are you now?

Any trade. Any state.

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