The State of Electric School Bus Adoption in the US

As of October 2024, there are 12,241 committed electric school buses in the U.S., with nearly 5,000 already delivered or operating. Adoption is heavily driven by the EPA's Clean School Bus Program, which funds 67% of all commitments and prioritizes high-poverty, rural, and tribal districts. While California leads in absolute numbers, the Northeast and Midwest have seen significant percentage increases. Seven states have enacted statutory zero-emission transition requirements, and WRI projects that 62% of all school bus sales will be electric by 2032 following revised EPA greenhouse gas emission standards.

• As of October 2024, there are 12,241 electric school bus commitments in the U.S., with 4,958 already delivered or operating and 5,906 awarded but not yet ordered or delivered.
• The EPA's Clean School Bus Program is the primary driver of adoption, funding 67% of all committed electric school buses and providing nearly $3 billion for over 8,000 replacements across more than 1,200 districts.
• Electric school bus deployment is increasingly equitable, with 62% of committed buses located in districts with the highest shares of low-income households and 85% in districts with the highest percentages of people of color.
• California remains the leader in adoption with over 3,110 committed buses, but the New England and Midwest regions have seen rapid growth, now collectively possessing 4,367 committed buses, surpassing the West's 4,156.
• Seven U.S. states—California, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, New York, and Washington—have statutorily enacted zero-emission school bus transition requirements, covering 19% of the national fleet.
• WRI projects that 62% of all school bus sales will be electric by 2032, following the EPA's March 2024 revision of greenhouse gas emission standards for heavy-duty vehicles.
• The 2025 budget reconciliation bill will eliminate key tax credits for electric school buses: the 45W credit for vehicles acquired after September 30, 2025, and the 30C credit for refueling property placed in service after June 30, 2026.

APA

Freehafer, L., Lazer, L., & Zepka, B. (2024). The State of Electric School Bus Adoption in the US. World Resources Institute. https://files.wri.org/d8/s3fs-public/2025-07/state-of-electric-school-buses-november-2024.pdf

Chicago

Freehafer, Lydia, Leah Lazer, and Brian Zepka. The State of Electric School Bus Adoption in the US. World Resources Institute, 2024. https://files.wri.org/d8/s3fs-public/2025-07/state-of-electric-school-buses-november-2024.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=18 November 2024 |url=https://files.wri.org/d8/s3fs-public/2025-07/state-of-electric-school-buses-november-2024.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{freehafer2024state, 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 = {2024}, month = nov, url = {https://files.wri.org/d8/s3fs-public/2025-07/state-of-electric-school-buses-november-2024.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }