How Much Do Firefighters Make? 2026 Salary by State and City

Right now, fire departments are advertising a median starting salary of $60,569 across 435 current entry level openings on FireJobs (updated Oct 7, 2026). For the full picture, we pair that with the BLS wage survey (May 2025, published 2026), the official average pay for every firefighter.

Firefighters in the United States make $63,630 a year on average (median $59,280), according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics survey (May 2025, published 2026). California pays the most at $95,090, Louisiana the least at $36,610, a spread of $58,480. This report ranks every state and the District of Columbia, and every number links to a full state breakdown.

Federal data: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, occupation 33 to 2011 (Firefighters), May 2025 estimates, published 2026. Updated each year when the new survey is released. Live postings: FireJobs, updated Oct 7, 2026: advertised starting salaries in current FireJobs postings, refreshed weekly. Free to cite and reproduce with a link to this page.

Key Findings

• National: mean $63,630, median $59,280, entry level (10th percentile) $34,910, top earners (90th percentile) $101,040.
• Highest paying states: California ($95,090), Washington ($89,200), New York ($87,150), New Jersey ($85,810), District of Columbia ($79,550).
• Lowest paying states: Louisiana ($36,610), Mississippi ($37,230), West Virginia ($40,100), Kentucky ($42,100), North Carolina ($43,060).
• Largest employers: California (31,470), Texas (28,170), Florida (24,570), North Carolina (19,410), Illinois (18,400). Roughly 343,370 career firefighters are counted across the states in the survey.
• The pay gap is regional and union driven. The top of the table is West Coast, Northeast, and strong collective bargaining states. The bottom is the Southeast and rural Plains, where volunteer coverage dominates and bargaining is limited.
• Base salary understates take home. Overtime, paramedic incentive, and step raises commonly add 10 to 30 percent, and none of that is in the BLS mean.

Firefighter Salary by State, Ranked

#	State	Mean	Median	Entry (10th pct.)	Top (90th pct.)	Employed
1	California	$95,090	$85,120	$52,390	$136,150	31,470
2	Washington	$89,200	$94,520	$47,640	$123,980	7,560
3	New York	$87,150	$100,960	$56,390	$106,440	12,950
4	New Jersey	$85,810	$84,130	$47,920	$123,940	7,500
5	Washington, D.C.	$79,550	$75,870	$61,050	$99,760	1,480
6	Colorado	$78,380	$74,170	$47,000	$114,170	6,510
7	Illinois	$76,530	$78,380	$38,900	$106,060	18,400
8	Connecticut	$73,760	$77,630	$51,320	$85,500	2,970
9	Massachusetts	$73,220	$72,800	$49,730	$98,130	11,940
10	Maryland	$72,550	$73,810	$48,030	$98,770	5,340
11	Pennsylvania	$71,340	$73,460	$48,620	$89,190	5,020
12	Oregon	$71,290	$70,900	$38,800	$104,070	3,790
13	Nevada	$70,510	$66,570	$47,600	$101,450	2,640
14	Rhode Island	$67,480	$67,380	$56,110	$76,620	1,620
15	Indiana	$62,420	$62,780	$38,460	$81,890	8,530
16	Florida	$61,370	$58,550	$37,260	$93,310	24,570
17	Arizona	$60,850	$59,280	$36,700	$88,220	7,500
18	Texas	$60,390	$60,180	$40,020	$77,170	28,170
19	Alaska	$59,190	$58,830	$35,520	$82,360	1,040
20	Nebraska	$59,190	$61,040	$46,660	$69,460	1,070
21	Virginia	$58,240	$58,670	$38,310	$77,310	11,160
22	Ohio	$58,130	$59,370	$34,420	$84,010	18,100
23	North Dakota	$57,980	$55,080	$39,700	$77,530	820
24	Montana	$57,660	$59,310	$32,810	$76,620	1,010
25	Iowa	$57,240	$55,810	$32,240	$87,720	2,170
26	Wyoming	$56,800	$58,090	$39,550	$78,760	680
27	Michigan	$56,250	$54,640	$37,190	$78,550	6,610
28	New Hampshire	$55,730	$56,620	$35,450	$78,570	2,700
29	Missouri	$55,240	$49,080	$31,140	$79,360	6,580
30	Idaho	$54,470	$47,320	$30,280	$81,190	2,240
31	Delaware	$53,420	$46,710	$41,960	$72,160	560
32	Oklahoma	$52,280	$49,710	$31,620	$77,560	4,150
33	Tennessee	$51,590	$49,300	$33,910	$70,460	7,020
34	Utah	$51,270	$48,310	$27,660	$80,320	2,870
35	South Dakota	$51,180	$48,160	$39,240	$61,420	610
36	Wisconsin	$50,710	$46,850	$29,390	$77,050	8,120
37	Maine	$50,230	$48,290	$35,740	$63,740	2,480
38	Alabama	$49,720	$47,600	$29,770	$76,190	7,260
39	Vermont	$49,570	$46,430	$29,790	$77,200	n/a
40	Kansas	$49,110	$45,900	$32,810	$76,110	3,360
41	Georgia	$47,170	$46,550	$33,000	$61,510	12,700
42	Minnesota	$45,170	$38,110	$27,510	$70,380	5,810
43	South Carolina	$43,900	$42,570	$29,130	$62,150	7,780
44	Arkansas	$43,380	$39,690	$28,680	$60,860	2,480
45	New Mexico	$43,180	$41,590	$31,200	$57,780	2,420
46	North Carolina	$43,060	$37,940	$29,360	$61,940	19,410
47	Kentucky	$42,100	$37,150	$27,870	$60,720	5,150
48	West Virginia	$40,100	$37,350	$29,020	$51,390	900
49	Mississippi	$37,230	$35,880	$26,850	$51,310	2,920
50	Louisiana	$36,610	$33,120	$22,510	$56,670	5,230

Federal data: BLS, May 2025 (published 2026)

How Much Do Firefighters Make in Big Cities?

Metro areas pay more than their states because the biggest, best funded departments are there. Firefighter pay in the 20 largest metros we track:

#	Metro area	Mean	Median	Top (90th pct.)
1	Los Angeles, CA	$108,860	$98,050	$150,760
2	Seattle, WA	$100,450	$101,090	$124,000
3	New York City, NY	$92,410	$106,420	$115,380
4	Denver, CO	$88,260	$87,980	$122,750
5	Chicago, IL	$80,110	$82,820	$112,930
6	Miami, FL	$76,350	$75,710	$116,390
7	Boston, MA	$75,400	$73,990	$118,540
8	San Diego, CA	$74,540	$70,900	$99,130
9	Philadelphia, PA	$74,200	$78,050	$89,190
10	Washington, D.C., DC	$70,910	$66,980	$98,770
11	Phoenix, AZ	$67,910	$61,780	$91,590
12	Dallas, TX	$67,220	$64,900	$92,700
13	Las Vegas, NV	$64,850	$59,280	$78,130
14	Detroit, MI	$61,940	$62,730	$84,390
15	San Antonio, TX	$61,670	$63,360	$71,070
16	Houston, TX	$60,280	$59,120	$72,970
17	Kansas City, MO	$59,560	$60,770	$84,220
18	Oklahoma City, OK	$58,460	$61,460	$79,810
19	Atlanta, GA	$50,410	$47,300	$68,680
20	Charlotte, NC	$47,070	$38,700	$79,960

Federal data: BLS, May 2025 (published 2026)

How to Read This

The mean is the average of all firefighter wages in the state and is pulled upward by big city departments. The median is the middle firefighter and usually the better guide to what a midcareer firefighter earns. The 10th percentile approximates entry level pay at smaller departments; the 90th percentile approximates senior firefighters at the largest, best paying departments. BLS does not include volunteers, and it excludes chief officers, who are counted in a separate management occupation. Where a value is missing, BLS suppressed it for that state.

Methodology

All figures are annual mean, median, 10th and 90th percentile wages and total employment for SOC 33 to 2011 from the May 2025 OEWS state estimates, pulled from the BLS public API. Rankings are by mean annual wage. National figures are from the OEWS national table for the same period. We do not adjust for cost of living on this page; each state page discusses local housing and living costs.

Firefighter Salary FAQ

How much do firefighters make a year?

The average firefighter in the United States makes $63,630 a year, and the median is $59,280 (BLS, May 2025). Most earn between $34,910 and $101,040.

How much do firefighters make starting out?

Right now, fire departments are advertising a median starting salary of $60,569 in current job postings on FireJobs (updated Oct 7, 2026). In the federal data, entry level pay is roughly $34,910 a year nationally (the 10th percentile, BLS May 2025), and much higher at big city departments. New hires usually move up a fixed step scale every year.

Which state pays firefighters the most?

California, at an average of $95,090 a year. Washington and New York are next. Louisiana pays the least at $36,610.

Which city pays firefighters the most?

Among the metros we track, Los Angeles pays the most at an average of $108,860, followed by Seattle and New York City.

Do firefighters make more than their base salary?

Usually. Overtime, paramedic incentive pay, and step raises commonly add 10 to 30 percent on top of base pay, and none of that is in the BLS average.

Use This Data

Journalists, unions, recruiters, and academies are welcome to cite this report. Link to this page as the source. For the path to the job, start with How to Become a Firefighter.