How much do firefighters make?

Firefighter salary 2026 · BLS occupation: Firefighters (SOC 33-2011) · Updated October 28, 2026

Answer

Firefighters in the US earned a median of $59,280 a year ($28.50 an hour) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The middle half earned $44,490 to $77,250.

Median annual pay: $59,280; Mean $63,630
Median hourly pay: $28.50; Mean $30.59
Typical range (10th–90th): $34.9K–$101K; $34,910 to $101,040
US jobs: 345,990; +3.7% projected, 2025–35

BLS OEWS, May 2025, released April 30, 2026. Wages include tips, commissions and production bonuses but not overtime premiums, shift differentials, other bonuses or benefits; self-employed workers are not included. Methodology

How to become a firefighter: steps, years and cost · Best-paying state after cost of living: New York

Firefighter pay range

Annual wages, May 2025

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

Half of all firefighters earned more than $59,280 and half earned less. The lowest-paid 10% made under $34,910; the top 10% made over $101,040. The middle 50%, from the 25th to the 75th percentile, ran from $44,490 to $77,250.

These percentiles describe everyone in the occupation at one time. They are not pay steps by years of experience: they mix new and senior workers, different states, employers and hours. Pay generally rises with experience, credentials and specialization, but BLS does not publish pay by experience.

Percentile	Annual	Hourly	Monthly
10th	$34,910	$16.79	$2,909
25th	$44,490	$21.39	$3,708
Median (50th)	$59,280	$28.50	$4,940
75th	$77,250	$37.14	$6,438
90th	$101,040	$48.58	$8,420
Mean (average)	$63,630	$30.59	$5,303

Firefighter salary by state

Median annual pay; cost of living from BEA regional price parities 2024

Median annual pay for firefighters by state. Darker tiles pay more. A dash means BLS did not publish a figure.

Highest-paying states

1. New York $100,960
2. Washington $94,520
3. California $85,120
4. New Jersey $84,130
5. Illinois $78,380

Lowest-paying states

50. Louisiana $33,120
49. Mississippi $35,880
48. Kentucky $37,150
47. West Virginia $37,350
46. North Carolina $37,940

Best after cost of living: New York. Its median of $100,960 is worth about $93,550 at national-average prices.


Alabama	$47,600	35	$53,590	33	$22.89	7,260	3.44
Alaska	$58,830	21	$57,474	25	$28.28	1,040	3.19
Arizona	$59,280	20	$58,881	23	$28.50	7,500	2.32
Arkansas	$39,690	44	$45,654	42	$19.08	2,480	1.91
California	$85,120	3	$76,879	5	$40.92	31,470	1.73
Colorado	$74,170	8	$71,973	8	$35.66	6,510	2.26
Connecticut	$77,630	6	$74,925	7	$37.32	2,970	1.75
Delaware	$46,710	38	$46,800	41	$22.46	560	1.15
District of Columbia	$75,870	7	$69,035	10	$36.48	1,480	2.10
Florida	$58,550	23	$56,617	27	$28.15	24,570	2.48
Georgia	$46,550	39	$48,342	39	$22.38	12,700	2.60
Hawaii	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Idaho	$47,320	36	$49,553	37	$22.75	2,240	2.61
Illinois	$78,380	5	$78,413	3	$37.68	18,400	3.02
Indiana	$62,780	15	$67,267	14	$30.18	8,530	2.67
Iowa	$55,810	26	$63,592	18	$26.83	2,170	1.39
Kansas	$45,900	41	$50,961	34	$22.07	3,360	2.34
Kentucky	$37,150	48	$41,205	47	$17.86	5,150	2.58
Louisiana	$33,120	50	$37,548	50	$15.92	5,230	2.71
Maine	$48,290	33	$49,758	36	$23.22	2,480	3.88
Maryland	$73,810	9	$70,323	9	$35.49	5,340	1.93
Massachusetts	$72,800	11	$68,837	11	$35.00	11,940	3.28
Michigan	$54,640	28	$56,788	26	$26.27	6,610	1.50
Minnesota	$38,110	45	$38,643	49	$18.32	5,810	1.97
Mississippi	$35,880	49	$41,264	46	$17.25	2,920	2.51
Missouri	$49,080	31	$54,043	31	$23.60	6,580	2.24
Montana	$59,310	19	$62,666	20	$28.52	1,010	1.97
Nebraska	$61,040	16	$67,745	13	$29.35	1,070	1.05
Nevada	$66,570	14	$66,584	15	$32.01	2,640	1.70
New Hampshire	$56,620	25	$54,356	30	$27.22	2,700	3.95
New Jersey	$84,130	4	$77,322	4	$40.45	7,500	1.75
New Mexico	$41,590	43	$45,103	44	$19.99	2,420	2.78
New York	$100,960	1	$93,550	1	$48.54	12,950	1.34
North Carolina	$37,940	46	$40,222	48	$18.24	19,410	3.93
North Dakota	$55,080	27	$61,916	22	$26.48	820	1.90
Ohio	$59,370	18	$63,994	17	$28.54	18,100	3.26
Oklahoma	$49,710	29	$56,590	28	$23.90	4,150	2.43
Oregon	$70,900	12	$68,595	12	$34.09	3,790	1.93
Pennsylvania	$73,460	10	$75,288	6	$35.32	5,020	0.83
Rhode Island	$67,380	13	$65,878	16	$32.39	1,620	3.24
South Carolina	$42,570	42	$45,408	43	$20.47	7,780	3.38
South Dakota	$48,160	34	$54,365	29	$23.15	610	1.34
Tennessee	$49,300	30	$53,663	32	$23.70	7,020	2.14
Texas	$60,180	17	$62,005	21	$28.94	28,170	2.00
Utah	$48,310	32	$48,865	38	$23.23	2,870	1.66
Vermont	$46,430	40	$47,398	40	$22.32	—	—
Virginia	$58,670	22	$58,029	24	$28.21	11,160	2.72
Washington	$94,520	2	$88,326	2	$45.44	7,560	2.13
West Virginia	$37,350	47	$41,733	45	$17.96	900	1.28
Wisconsin	$46,850	37	$49,790	35	$22.53	8,120	2.76
Wyoming	$58,090	24	$62,671	19	$27.93	680	2.43

BLS OEWS, May 2025, state estimates. Adjusted pay = median ÷ (state price level ÷ 100), using BEA regional price parities for 2024; it ignores taxes. Figures for states with few workers in the occupation have larger survey errors and can change sharply from one year to the next. “—” means BLS did not publish the figure (Hawaii). State names link to each state’s highest-paying jobs.

Best-paying metro areas for firefighters

346 metro areas with published pay

Highest median pay
Metro area	Median	Adjusted	Jobs
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$152,100	$137,743	1,330
San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$113,700	$98,345	3,450
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$106,420	$94,543	14,960
Bellingham, WA	$101,130	$97,867	320
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$101,090	$90,963	3,760
Fort Collins-Loveland, CO	$99,930	$98,815	300
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$98,050	$86,337	7,200
Vallejo, CA	$95,950	$88,450	330
Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard, WA	$95,910	$90,818	290
Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	$94,080	$88,197	2,590

Most jobs
Metro area	Jobs	Median	Adjusted
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	14,960	$106,420	$94,543
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN	14,560	$82,820	$79,946
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX	8,780	$64,900	$62,955
Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	8,510	$73,990	$68,341
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	7,610	$66,980	$61,515
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	7,200	$98,050	$86,337
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL	6,600	$75,710	$66,322
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA	6,350	$47,300	$47,273
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX	5,780	$59,120	$59,942
Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC	4,700	$38,700	$39,754

BLS OEWS, May 2025, metropolitan statistical areas; adjusted with BEA metro price parities (2024).

What moves firefighter pay: employers and settings

The employer matters most. Local government fire departments employ 302,660 firefighters at a median of $59,850. State government pays a median of $64,980. Federal agencies, which include wildland and military base fire services, pay a median of $63,270. Private employers pay far less, at a median of $38,330. The largest private industry group, other support services, has a median of $37,520.

Location drives the rest. Big-city and high-cost states pay the most: New York's median is $100,960, with Washington at $94,520, California at $85,120, New Jersey at $84,130, and Illinois at $78,380. Rural Southern states sit at the bottom, with Louisiana at $33,120. Departments set pay through civil service scales and, in many cities, union contracts, so moving up a rank (engineer, lieutenant, captain) is the usual way to raise base pay.

Overtime is common because stations must be staffed around the clock, so hours worked also move annual earnings. Nationally, pay runs from a 10th percentile of $34,910, up to a 90th percentile of $101,040, a spread that reflects department, state and rank, not only time on the job.

Where firefighters work
Industry	Share of jobs	Median pay
Local Government, excluding Schools and Hospitals	87.5%	$59,850
Other Support Services	5.4%	$37,520
State Government, excluding Schools and Hospitals	3.8%	$64,980
Federal Executive Branch	2.1%	$63,270
Other Ambulatory Health Care Services	0.2%	$34,850
Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools	0.1%	$58,000

Private employers and government
Employer type	Jobs	Median pay
Private employers	22,430	$38,330
Federal government (incl. Postal Service)	7,430	$63,270
State government (incl. schools and hospitals)	13,470	$64,980
Local government (incl. schools and hospitals)	302,670	$59,850

BLS OEWS, May 2025, national industry-specific and ownership estimates (4-digit NAICS).

Firefighter pay over time

Median annual pay, 2015–2025

$59.3K $46.9K

2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025

Nominal median (dollars of each year)In May 2025 dollars (adjusted with CPI-U)

The median rose from $46,870 in 2015 to $59,280 in 2025, up 26% in nominal dollars. After inflation, the 2015 median is worth $63,359 in May 2025 dollars, so real pay fell 6% over the period.

BLS OEWS, May 2025 and earlier May releases; inflation from the CPI-U, US city average, May of each year.

What firefighters do

A firefighter answers 911 calls for fires, crashes, rescues, hazardous spills and, most often, medical emergencies. BLS notes that most calls to fire departments are medical, so a typical engine crew spends more time treating patients than spraying water. On a fire, the crew hooks hoses to hydrants, runs the pump, raises ladders, forces entry and searches rooms for people while wearing heavy, hot protective gear and breathing air from a tank.

Nearly nine in ten paid firefighters work for city, county or district fire departments; 87.5% of the jobs in our data are in local government. Others work for state forestry agencies, federal land and defense agencies, airports and private industrial fire brigades. Wildland firefighters, sometimes called hotshots or smokejumpers, cut fire lines and run prescribed burns in forests and grasslands.

Career firefighters usually live at the station during long shifts, often 24 hours on followed by 48 or 72 off. Between calls they check apparatus, train, clean, cook and inspect buildings.

A typical day

Check the engine, air packs, hoses and medical kits at the start of each shift
Respond to medical calls, assess patients and give first aid or EMT-level care
Stretch hose lines, run pumps, throw ladders and search smoke-filled buildings on fire calls
Free people trapped in wrecked cars and handle fuel leaks at crash scenes
Train on rescue drills, new equipment and medical skills with the crew
Write incident reports and log every patient contact
Inspect businesses for code problems and teach fire safety at schools and events

Also called: fireman, firefighters, fire fighter, fire engineer, fire equipment operator, fire rescue technician (fire rescue tech), fire technician (fire tech), forest fire suppression specialist.

How to become a firefighter

Full guide

To become a firefighter, you need a high school diploma, usually an EMT certification, and passing scores on a department's written and physical tests (often the CPAT), followed by a fire academy of a few months and a probationary period. Most people take about 1 to 2 years from starting EMT training to being hired.

Typical time: 1-2 years; Fastest: About 1 year
Minimum education: High school diploma or equivalent, plus an EMT course for most departments
License: No state license; certification rules for Firefighter I/II and EMT vary by state and department
Typical training cost: $3.7K–$8.4K; See the guide for what it includes

Read the step-by-step guide to becoming a firefighter: each step with its time and cost, education options, exams, licensing and advancement.

Is it worth it? Training cost against pay

Compare careers

Training time: 1-2 years; Typical path in our guide
Training cost: $3.7K–$8.4K; Tuition and exam fees, before aid
Median pay: $59,280; $8,300 above the all-jobs median ($50,980)
Cost vs. one year's pay: 6–14%; Training cost as a share of a year at the median

Once qualified, the pay difference over the typical US job at the median ($8,300 a year before tax) would repay the training cost in less than a year to 1.0 years after training ends (1-2 years in our guide). This is a rough guide: it ignores taxes, financial aid, interest, earnings given up while training and how pay changes over a career. How we calculate ROI.

Job outlook for firefighters

BLS Employment Projections 2025–35

Projected growth: +3.7%; All occupations +3.5%
Jobs in 2025: 355,300; 368,400 projected for 2035
Openings each year: 26,800; New jobs plus replacements
Self-employed: —; Not in the pay figures above

BLS projects firefighter employment to grow 3.7% from 2025 to 2035, from 355,300 to 368,400 jobs, close to the 3.5% expected for all occupations. About 26,800 openings are expected each year, mostly to replace firefighters who retire or leave for other work.

Better building codes and materials have cut the number of structure fires over the long run, but departments still need crews for fires, medical calls and rescues, and wildland crews are needed to fight and prevent wildfires. Paid openings at well-paying city departments draw many applicants, so expect competitive testing.

Related careers and their pay

EMT$44,470
Paramedic$60,600
Lineman$95,320
First-Line Supervisors of Firefighting and Prevention Workers$93,530
Forest Fire Inspectors and Prevention Specialists$56,870

Related occupations from O*NET 31.0; median annual pay from BLS OEWS, May 2025.

Firefighter salary FAQ

How much do firefighters make an hour?

The median hourly wage for firefighters was $28.50 in May 2025. The lowest-paid 10% earned less than $16.79 an hour and the highest-paid 10% more than $48.58. Hourly figures are BLS estimates for all workers in the occupation, full-time and part-time.

Which state pays firefighters the most?

New York has the highest median pay for firefighters, $100,960 a year, followed by Washington ($94,520) and California ($85,120). After adjusting for each state's price level, New York comes out ahead at about $93,550 in national-average dollars.

Do firefighters make six figures?

Some do: based on the BLS percentiles, between 10% and 25% of firefighters earn more than $100,000 a year. The median is $59,280, and the top 10% earn more than $101,040. Pay generally rises with experience, specialization and location.

Do private firefighters earn less than city firefighters?

Yes, by a wide margin in our data. Private employers pay a median of $38,330. Local government departments pay $59,850. State government pays $64,980. Private fire jobs include industrial fire brigades, contract wildland crews and private fire and rescue services. Since local governments employ 87.5% of firefighters, most of the higher-paid jobs are in public departments.

Are volunteer firefighters counted in these salary figures?

No. BLS pay and employment data cover paid firefighters only. Volunteers do the same kinds of work and, according to BLS, make up the largest share of firefighters in the country, especially in communities under 25,000 people. BLS notes that volunteer experience can help when you later apply to a paid department.

What is a firefighter's work schedule?

Most career firefighters work long shifts and live at the station while on duty. A common pattern is 24 hours on, then 48 or 72 hours off, which adds up to more weekly hours than a standard job but fewer days at work. Overtime is frequent. Wildland firefighters may spend days or weeks in fire camps during a large fire, and many wildland jobs are seasonal.

Sources

Data updated October 28, 2026 · Text checked against its sources October 28, 2026

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 estimates, released April 30, 2026, SOC 33-2011
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025–2035, released September 2026
O*NET 31.0 Database (33-2011.00), U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under CC BY 4.0; tasks rewritten by Careers and Salaries
U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities by state and metro area, 2024
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), US city average, May values
U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard field-of-study and institution data, most recent cohorts, released 2026-10-15
Firefighters: Occupational Outlook Handbook, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · checked October 28, 2026
EMT Candidate Handbook: Certification Process, National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians · checked October 28, 2026
Candidate Physical Ability Test (C.P.A.T.), City of Phoenix Fire Department · checked October 28, 2026
Fire Service Certification, Washington State Patrol, Office of the State Fire Marshal · checked October 28, 2026
National Fire Academy, U.S. Fire Administration (FEMA) · checked October 28, 2026
Wildland Fire Incident Qualifications, National Park Service · checked October 28, 2026
Wildland Fire Fighting (S-130/S-190) (Basic Red Card), Nebraska State Fire Marshal · checked October 28, 2026
License Finder, CareerOneStop (U.S. Department of Labor) · checked October 28, 2026
S-130, Firefighter Training (Blended), National Wildfire Coordinating Group · checked October 28, 2026
NFPA 1010 Standard Development, National Fire Protection Association · checked October 28, 2026

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