Public Safety Telecommunicators salary

SOC 43-5031 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$53,040

per year, nationally

Middle half

$45,210–$64,260

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

102,500

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

+3.5%

10,700 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.

$37,320$79,830

10th: $37,320
25th: $45,210
Median: $53,040
75th: $64,260
90th: $79,830

Getting in

Typical education to enter: High school diploma or equivalent
Related work experience: None
On-the-job training: Moderate-term on-the-job training

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

Where public safety telecommunicators 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	California	$80,120	110.7	8,520	0.71×
2	Washington	$78,850	107.0	1,980	0.84×
3	Oregon	$71,980	103.4	1,110	0.85×
4	Alaska	$66,660	102.4	390	1.82×
5	Minnesota	$66,550	98.6	1,460	0.75×
6	Colorado	$63,520	103.1	1,800	0.95×
7	Connecticut	$62,410	103.6	1,820	1.63×
8	Massachusetts	$61,720	105.8	2,790	1.17×
9	New York	$61,450	107.9	5,470	0.86×
10	Illinois	$61,260	100.0	4,350	1.08×
11	Nevada	$60,040	100.0	1,010	0.99×
12	Wisconsin	$60,000	94.1	1,820	0.94×
13	North Dakota	$59,940	89.0	270	0.97×
14	Vermont	$59,470	98.0	280	1.41×
15	New Jersey	$59,240	108.8	4,010	1.42×
16	District of Columbia	$59,080	109.9	60	0.14×
17	Maryland	$58,910	105.0	1,610	0.89×
18	Rhode Island	$58,310	102.3	370	1.12×
19	New Hampshire	$58,240	104.2	560	1.23×
20	Ohio	$58,100	92.8	4,550	1.24×
21	Maine	$57,250	97.0	730	1.72×
22	Hawaii	$57,020	110.0	170	0.42×
23	Iowa	$56,770	87.8	980	0.95×
24	Arizona	$56,600	100.7	1,790	0.84×
25	Utah	$54,120	98.9	880	0.77×
26	Michigan	$53,310	96.2	2,100	0.72×
27	Delaware	$53,140	99.8	260	0.80×
28	Idaho	$51,780	95.5	580	1.02×
29	Wyoming	$50,600	92.7	350	1.89×
30	Virginia	$50,490	101.1	3,050	1.13×
31	Nebraska	$50,270	90.1	750	1.11×
32	Florida	$50,170	103.4	6,090	0.93×
33	Texas	$50,040	97.1	7,730	0.83×
34	Pennsylvania	$49,890	97.6	3,620	0.91×
35	New Mexico	$49,060	92.2	640	1.11×
36	Indiana	$49,050	93.3	2,150	1.02×
37	South Dakota	$47,900	88.6	420	1.39×
38	Montana	$47,640	94.6	560	1.67×
39	Missouri	$46,990	90.8	2,750	1.42×
40	North Carolina	$46,550	94.3	3,730	1.15×
41	Tennessee	$46,390	91.9	1,840	0.85×
42	Kentucky	$45,670	90.2	1,350	1.02×
43	Kansas	$45,110	90.1	1,370	1.45×
44	South Carolina	$43,540	93.7	1,490	0.98×
45	Georgia	$42,790	96.3	3,480	1.08×
46	West Virginia	$40,490	89.5	880	1.90×
47	Oklahoma	$39,890	87.8	1,930	1.71×
48	Alabama	$38,960	88.8	2,230	1.60×
49	Louisiana	$38,550	88.2	1,470	1.16×
50	Arkansas	$38,240	86.9	1,460	1.70×
51	Mississippi	$34,510	87.0	1,430	1.87×

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 public safety telecommunicators wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for public safety telecommunicators

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	$113,800	110.4	400	0.53×
2	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$104,910	115.6	1,110	0.71×
3	San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA	$90,930	108.6	80	0.97×
4	Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, WA	$89,090	103.7	90	1.04×
5	Vallejo, CA	$87,250	108.5	200	2.11×
6	Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA	$85,950	109.9	90	1.42×
7	Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA	$84,410	108.8	90	0.71×
8	Anchorage, AK	$83,870	105.4	140	1.23×
9	Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA	$83,840	110.5	150	0.72×
10	Napa, CA	$82,830	112.6	80	1.47×
11	Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA	$81,990	107.8	100	0.71×
12	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$81,160	105.4	470	0.60×
13	Stockton-Lodi, CA	$80,690	105.1	170	0.88×
14	Medford, OR	$80,620	101.4	90	1.56×
15	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$80,370	113.6	2,140	0.52×
16	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$80,180	111.1	1,040	0.76×
17	Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	$79,610	106.7	680	0.95×
18	Salem, OR	$78,950	103.6	180	1.47×
19	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$78,950	111.9	710	0.70×
20	Racine-Mount Pleasant, WI	$78,050	96.0	40	0.80×
21	Kennewick-Richland, WA	$78,030	100.1	50	0.57×
22	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	$77,260	106.4	920	0.82×
23	Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA	$76,640	100.3	290	1.72×
24	Bellingham, WA	$76,340	103.3	50	0.81×
25	Eugene-Springfield, OR	$75,740	101.6	90	0.87×
26	Redding, CA	$74,570	100.7	70	1.57×
27	Fort Collins-Loveland, CO	$72,880	101.1	70	0.63×
28	Boulder, CO	$70,240	105.2	80	0.63×
29	Mankato, MN	$70,190	91.0	30	0.92×
30	Rochester, MN	$70,140	90.8	70	0.81×
31	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	$69,220	104.8	900	0.70×
32	Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO	$68,620	105.8	750	0.70×
33	Albany, OR	$68,280	102.1	50	1.45×
34	Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN	$66,980	103.6	2,730	0.92×
35	Yuba City, CA	$66,420	104.2	40	1.13×
36	Ithaca, NY	$66,250	103.3	30	1.05×
37	Bend, OR	$66,040	103.6	60	0.89×
38	Barnstable Town, MA	$65,300	98.4	130	2.10×
39	Omaha, NE-IA	$64,940	91.9	220	0.68×
40	Merced, CA	$64,570	98.3	120	2.21×

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 public safety telecommunicators wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

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

Shipping, Receiving, and Inventory Clerks$45,260
Production, Planning, and Expediting Clerks$59,650
Postal Service Mail Carriers$60,550
Dispatchers, Except Police, Fire, and Ambulance$50,340
Postal Service Mail Sorters, Processors, and Processing Machine Operators$58,470
Cargo and Freight Agents$52,260
Postal Service Clerks$62,130
Couriers and Messengers$39,200