Firefighters salary

SOC 33-2011 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$59,280

per year, nationally

Middle half

$44,490–$77,250

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

345,990

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

+3.4%

27,100 openings/yr

What the range looks like

A single median hides most of what a job pays. The bar below is the full national range: the wash spans the 10th to 90th percentile, the solid bar is the middle half, and the tick is the median.

$34,910$101,040

10th: $34,910
25th: $44,490
Median: $59,280
75th: $77,250
90th: $101,040

Getting in

Typical education to enter: Postsecondary nondegree award
Related work experience: None
On-the-job training: Long-term on-the-job training

Entry requirements describe what is typical, not mandatory. Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34.

Where firefighters earn the most

Nominal pay and pay adjusted for local prices rank states differently — a high-wage state with high costs can be worse off in real terms than a middling one. Switch between the two below.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	State	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	New York	$100,960	107.9	12,950	0.60×
2	Washington	$94,520	107.0	7,560	0.96×
3	California	$85,120	110.7	31,470	0.78×
4	New Jersey	$84,130	108.8	7,500	0.79×
5	Illinois	$78,380	100.0	18,400	1.36×
6	Connecticut	$77,630	103.6	2,970	0.79×
7	District of Columbia	$75,870	109.9	1,480	0.95×
8	Colorado	$74,170	103.1	6,510	1.02×
9	Maryland	$73,810	105.0	5,340	0.87×
10	Pennsylvania	$73,460	97.6	5,020	0.37×
11	Massachusetts	$72,800	105.8	11,940	1.48×
12	Oregon	$70,900	103.4	3,790	0.87×
13	Rhode Island	$67,380	102.3	1,620	1.46×
14	Nevada	$66,570	100.0	2,640	0.77×
15	Indiana	$62,780	93.3	8,530	1.20×
16	Nebraska	$61,040	90.1	1,070	0.47×
17	Texas	$60,180	97.1	28,170	0.90×
18	Ohio	$59,370	92.8	18,100	1.47×
19	Montana	$59,310	94.6	1,010	0.89×
20	Arizona	$59,280	100.7	7,500	1.04×
21	Alaska	$58,830	102.4	1,040	1.43×
22	Virginia	$58,670	101.1	11,160	1.22×
23	Florida	$58,550	103.4	24,570	1.11×
24	Wyoming	$58,090	92.7	680	1.09×
25	New Hampshire	$56,620	104.2	2,700	1.77×
26	Iowa	$55,810	87.8	2,170	0.63×
27	North Dakota	$55,080	89.0	820	0.86×
28	Michigan	$54,640	96.2	6,610	0.67×
29	Oklahoma	$49,710	87.8	4,150	1.09×
30	Tennessee	$49,300	91.9	7,020	0.96×
31	Missouri	$49,080	90.8	6,580	1.01×
32	Utah	$48,310	98.9	2,870	0.74×
33	Maine	$48,290	97.0	2,480	1.74×
34	South Dakota	$48,160	88.6	610	0.60×
35	Alabama	$47,600	88.8	7,260	1.54×
36	Idaho	$47,320	95.5	2,240	1.17×
37	Wisconsin	$46,850	94.1	8,120	1.24×
38	Delaware	$46,710	99.8	560	0.52×
39	Georgia	$46,550	96.3	12,700	1.17×
40	Vermont	$46,430	98.0	—	—
41	Kansas	$45,900	90.1	3,360	1.05×
42	South Carolina	$42,570	93.7	7,780	1.52×
43	New Mexico	$41,590	92.2	2,420	1.25×
44	Arkansas	$39,690	86.9	2,480	0.86×
45	Minnesota	$38,110	98.6	5,810	0.89×
46	North Carolina	$37,940	94.3	19,410	1.77×
47	West Virginia	$37,350	89.5	900	0.58×
48	Kentucky	$37,150	90.2	5,150	1.16×
49	Mississippi	$35,880	87.0	2,920	1.13×
50	Louisiana	$33,120	88.2	5,230	1.22×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. States where firefighters wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for firefighters

The 40 highest-paying metros with a published estimate. BLS suppresses roughly half of all occupation-by-metro cells, so a metro absent here has no local figure rather than a low one.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	Metro area	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$152,100	110.4	1,330	0.53×
2	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$113,700	115.6	3,450	0.65×
3	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$106,420	112.6	14,960	0.71×
4	Bellingham, WA	$101,130	103.3	320	1.56×
5	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$101,090	111.1	3,760	0.81×
6	Fort Collins-Loveland, CO	$99,930	101.1	300	0.79×
7	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$98,050	113.6	7,200	0.52×
8	Vallejo, CA	$95,950	108.5	330	1.04×
9	Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard, WA	$95,910	105.6	290	1.40×
10	Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	$94,080	106.7	2,590	1.08×
11	Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, WA	$90,050	103.7	260	0.90×
12	Rochester, NY	$89,120	97.0	730	0.66×
13	Trenton-Princeton, NJ	$88,090	103.2	340	0.64×
14	Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO	$87,980	105.8	3,010	0.84×
15	Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA	$87,400	107.8	310	0.68×
16	Ames, IA	$86,010	88.8	60	0.48×
17	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$85,170	105.4	1,730	0.64×
18	Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA	$83,310	100.3	750	1.31×
19	Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN	$82,820	103.6	14,560	1.45×
20	Corvallis, OR	$82,700	104.0	60	0.67×
21	Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA	$82,250	108.8	410	0.91×
22	Binghamton, NY	$81,810	92.9	120	0.57×
23	Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT	$81,680	106.9	840	0.93×
24	Reno, NV	$81,360	101.0	780	1.26×
25	Mount Vernon-Anacortes, WA	$81,100	102.4	180	1.50×
26	Salinas, CA	$81,070	109.0	760	1.82×
27	Atlantic City-Hammonton, NJ	$80,560	98.9	400	1.06×
28	Yuba City, CA	$80,360	104.2	110	0.96×
29	Erie, PA	$80,280	91.0	140	0.52×
30	Napa, CA	$80,260	112.6	—	—
31	Kennewick-Richland, WA	$80,090	100.1	360	1.26×
32	Sheboygan, WI	$79,620	94.0	80	0.60×
33	Stockton-Lodi, CA	$79,540	105.1	320	0.49×
34	Boulder, CO	$79,390	105.2	360	0.85×
35	New Haven, CT	$79,380	104.6	570	0.91×
36	Carson City, NV	$79,170	98.1	80	1.10×
37	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	$79,160	106.4	3,390	0.89×
38	Fresno, CA	$79,160	102.2	770	0.72×
39	Longview-Kelso, WA	$78,940	97.5	—	—
40	Abilene, TX	$78,380	90.4	210	1.25×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. Metro areas where firefighters wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

Other jobs in the same field, with what each pays nationally.

Fire Inspectors and Investigators$75,920
Forest Fire Inspectors and Prevention Specialists$56,870