The State of Electric School Bus Adoption in the US

As of June 2023, there are 5,982 committed electric school buses across 914 U.S. school districts or private fleet operators. Adoption is heavily driven by the EPA's Clean School Bus Rebate Program, which funded 39% of all committed buses. While California leads in total numbers, adoption is becoming more geographically distributed, with 49 states now having commitments. The report finds that adoption is occurring equitably, with a majority of buses located in low-income districts and areas with high air pollution. Type C buses are the most common, making up 62.5% of commitments.

• As of June 2023, the United States has 5,982 committed electric school buses across 914 school districts or private fleet operators, with approximately 1,285 buses already delivered or in operation in 40 states.
• The EPA's Clean School Bus Rebate Program is the primary driver of adoption, accounting for 39% of all committed electric school buses and awarding over $900 million for more than 2,300 buses to 365 districts in its first round.
• California remains the leader in adoption with over 2,000 committed buses, though commitments are becoming more evenly distributed; the South now holds a 33% share of commitments compared to California's 35%.
• Electric school bus adoption shows strong trends toward equity: 62% of committed buses are in districts with the highest shares of low-income households, and 86% are in districts with the highest percentages of non-white and/or Hispanic residents.
• Buses are being deployed in areas with significant air quality issues, with 65% of committed buses in districts with the highest PM2.5 concentrations and 75% in districts with the highest ozone pollution.
• Type C buses are the most prevalent model, representing 62.5% of committed electric school buses, followed by Type D at 21.5% and Type A at 15.8%.
• Five states—Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Maine, and New York—have enacted statutory zero-emission school bus transition mandates, with Delaware requiring 30% of new buses to be electric by 2030.

APA

Freehafer, L., Lazer, L., & Zepka, B. (2023). The State of Electric School Bus Adoption in the US. World Resources Institute. https://files.wri.org/d8/s3fs-public/2024-06/state-electric-school-buses-us-september-2023.pdf

Chicago

Freehafer, Lydia, Leah Lazer, and Brian Zepka. The State of Electric School Bus Adoption in the US. World Resources Institute, 2023. https://files.wri.org/d8/s3fs-public/2024-06/state-electric-school-buses-us-september-2023.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Freehafer |first1=Lydia |last2=Lazer |first2=Leah |last3=Zepka |first3=Brian |title=The State of Electric School Bus Adoption in the US |publisher=World Resources Institute |date=21 September 2023 |url=https://files.wri.org/d8/s3fs-public/2024-06/state-electric-school-buses-us-september-2023.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{freehafer2023state, author = {Freehafer, Lydia and Lazer, Leah and Zepka, Brian}, title = {{The State of Electric School Bus Adoption in the US}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, year = {2023}, month = sep, url = {https://files.wri.org/d8/s3fs-public/2024-06/state-electric-school-buses-us-september-2023.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }