Firefighters
United States. Estimated employment 345,990, with pages for 16 metro areas below.
Data released May 2025
BLS OEWS · SOC 33-2011
Fig. 1 — The wage rule
Where you sit in the distribution
Drag the marker, or type a figure
$59,280 · 50th
$34,91010th
$44,49025th
$59,28050th
$77,25075th
$101,04090th
That is the median — half of firefighters in the US earn more.
Table 1 — By metro area
Where it pays
Every published Firefighters page, by median pay. Employment is the BLS estimate for the metro.
| Metro area | Median | Employment |
|---|---|---|
| New York, NY | $106,420 | 14,960 |
| Rochester, NY | $89,120 | 730 |
| Chicago, IL | $82,820 | 14,560 |
| Binghamton, NY | $81,810 | 120 |
| Rockford, IL | $77,150 | 410 |
| Kiryas Joel, NY | $76,120 | 230 |
| Utica, NY | $75,060 | 150 |
| Buffalo, NY | $74,470 | 820 |
| Peoria, IL | $73,670 | 490 |
| Albany, NY | $70,840 | 480 |
| Bloomington, IL | $69,270 | 170 |
| Springfield, IL | $65,330 | 240 |
| Decatur, IL | $62,430 | 120 |
| Champaign, IL | $62,190 | 340 |
| Watertown, NY | $60,700 | 120 |
| Kankakee, IL | $59,850 | 120 |
Sources
How this page was made
- Wage data
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 release. Public domain.
- Employment
- 345,990 employed in this occupation nationally (BLS estimate; excludes the self-employed).
- Occupation
- SOC 33-2011, Firefighters. Mapped to our taxonomy as firefighters.
Percentiles are reported exactly as released and are never interpolated between published values. We take no payment from employers, recruiters or anyone else for how any figure is presented.