---
title: "Fire Inspector and Investigator"
description: "Inspect buildings to detect fire hazards and enforce local ordinances and state laws, or investigate and gather facts to determine cause of fires and…"
canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/fire-inspector-and-investigator"
last-updated: "2026-10-09T10:57:55.138Z"
---

# Fire Inspector and Investigator

**Category:** Protective Service · **SOC code:** 33-2021 · **O\*NET-SOC code:** 33-2021.00

Inspect buildings to detect fire hazards and enforce local ordinances and state laws, or investigate and gather facts to determine cause of fires and explosions.

Also advertised as: Arson Investigator; Fire Code Inspector; Fire Inspector; Fire Investigator; Fire Official; Fire Prevention Inspector; Fire Prevention Specialist; Fire Protection Specialist.

## At a glance

- **Median annual wage:** $75,920 (BLS OEWS, May 2025)
- **Median hourly wage:** $36.50/hr
- **Wage range (10th–90th percentile):** $46,530 to $118,750, with the middle half between $58,690 and $95,120
- **Total US employment:** 13,800
- **Typical entry education:** Certificate
- **Preparation required:** Some preparation — O\*NET rates this "Job Zone Three: Medium Preparation Needed"
- **Projected growth:** +4.2% over 2025–2035 (BLS EP, 2025–2035)
- **Annual job openings:** 1,600 openings a year
- **AI-resilience score:** 52/100 — a NueCareer heuristic over O\*NET work activities and context, not a BLS or O\*NET figure

## Pay

National wage distribution, BLS OEWS, May 2025, across 13,800 US jobs.

| Percentile | Annual wage |
| --- | --- |
| 10th | $46,530 |
| 25th | $58,690 |
| 50th (median) | $75,920 |
| 75th | $95,120 |
| 90th | $118,750 |
| Mean (average) | $78,670 |

### Pay by state

The 15 highest-paying states, by median annual wage. The cost-of-living-adjusted column divides the state median by that state's BEA Regional Price Parity, so the columns answer different questions: the first is what the job pays there, the second is what that pay buys there.

| State | Median annual wage | Cost-of-living adjusted | Employment |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| WA | $122,900 | $114,846 | 380 |
| OR | $115,080 | $111,338 | Not published by BLS |
| CA | $99,230 | $89,622 | 1,350 |
| MD | $98,730 | $94,065 | 270 |
| NV | $93,450 | $93,470 | 190 |
| CO | $85,750 | $83,210 | Not published by BLS |
| MN | $84,410 | $85,590 | 230 |
| TX | $82,390 | $84,888 | 1,030 |
| IA | $81,860 | $93,275 | 30 |
| MA | $81,140 | $76,723 | 200 |
| CT | $80,490 | $77,686 | 420 |
| ND | $80,320 | $90,289 | 40 |
| AL | $78,110 | $87,939 | 40 |
| RI | $78,100 | $76,359 | 50 |
| MI | $77,460 | $80,506 | 250 |

28 more states with published wage data are omitted here. The full table for all 43 states is at https://nuecareer.com/careers/fire-inspector-and-investigator/salary-by-state, or as JSON at https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/fire-inspector-and-investigator.

## Outlook

BLS projects employment to move from 14,700 in the 2025–2035 base year to 15,300 by the end of the cycle — a gain of 600 jobs, or +4.2%. About as fast as average: 4.2% against 3.5% projected for all occupations over the same cycle. About 1,600 openings a year are expected on average, counting openings from growth as well as from workers leaving the occupation permanently. Source: BLS EP, 2025–2035.

## How to get in

- **Typical entry education:** Postsecondary nondegree award (BLS Employment Projections).
- **Preparation level:** Some preparation — O\*NET's preparation band for this occupation is "Job Zone Three: Medium Preparation Needed".
- **Related work experience typically required:** 5 years or more.
- **Typical on-the-job training:** Moderate-term on-the-job training.

### Education people in this job actually hold

O\*NET surveys incumbents, so this distribution describes who is in the job today and can differ from the BLS entry requirement above.

| Education level | Share of workers |
| --- | --- |
| Post-Secondary Certificate | 27.5% |
| Some College Courses | 26.0% |
| High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED) | 22.6% |
| Associate's Degree or other 2-year degree | 12.8% |
| Less than a High School Diploma | 6.8% |
| Master's Degree | 2.0% |

## What the work involves

- Analyze evidence and other information to determine probable cause of fire or explosion.
- Photograph damage and evidence related to causes of fires or explosions to document investigation findings.
- Inspect buildings to locate hazardous conditions and fire code violations, such as accumulations of combustible material, electrical wiring problems, and inadequate or non-functional fire exits.
- Coordinate efforts with other organizations, such as law enforcement agencies.
- Attend training classes to maintain current knowledge of fire prevention, safety, and firefighting procedures.
- Examine fire sites and collect evidence such as glass, metal fragments, charred wood, and accelerant residue for use in determining the cause of a fire.
- Conduct fire code compliance follow-ups to ensure that corrective actions have been taken in cases where violations were found.
- Instruct children about the dangers of fire.

## Skills and knowledge

### Essential skills

- Active Listening — importance 3.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Writing — importance 3.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Speaking — importance 3.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Critical Thinking — importance 3.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Reading Comprehension — importance 3.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Monitoring — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Learning — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Learning Strategies — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Transferable skills

These are the skills that carry into other occupations, and they drive the related-occupation and career-change rankings on this site.

- Social Perceptiveness — importance 3.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Persuasion — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Instructing — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Service Orientation — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Complex Problem Solving — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Judgment and Decision Making — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Coordination — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Systems Evaluation — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Knowledge areas

- Public Safety and Security — importance 4.7 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Customer and Personal Service — importance 4.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Building and Construction — importance 4.2 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Law and Government — importance 4.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Education and Training — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- English Language — importance 3.7 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Abilities

- Problem Sensitivity — importance 4.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Oral Comprehension — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Written Comprehension — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Written Expression — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Oral Expression — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Deductive Reasoning — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

## Who it suits

O\*NET rates every occupation on the six Holland (RIASEC) interest areas, on a 1–7 scale. This occupation's strongest areas are Realistic (R), Conventional (C), Investigative (I).

| Interest area | Score (1–7) |
| --- | --- |
| R — Realistic | 5.49 |
| C — Conventional | 5.18 |
| I — Investigative | 4.33 |
| E — Enterprising | 3.32 |
| S — Social | 2.59 |
| A — Artistic | 1.02 |

### Personality fit

These scores are **derived by NueCareer**, not published by any government agency: they are cosine similarities between a personality type's trait profile and this occupation's O\*NET interest and work-style ratings, expressed 0–100. Treat them as a starting point for exploration, not as evidence that a type belongs in a job.

| Type | Fit score (0–100) |
| --- | --- |
| ISTJ | 94.6 |
| ESTJ | 81.8 |
| ISFJ | 75.7 |
| ISTP | 74.8 |
| INTJ | 68.4 |

Best-fitting types: ISTJ.

## Related occupations

O\*NET's primary related occupations, in its own ranked order.

- [Fire-Prevention and Protection Engineer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/fire-prevention-and-protection-engineer) — median $115,160
- [Firefighter](https://nuecareer.com/careers/firefighter) — median $59,280
- [Forest Fire Inspector and Prevention Specialist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/forest-fire-inspector-and-prevention-specialist) — median $56,870
- [First-Line Supervisor of Firefighting and Prevention Workers](https://nuecareer.com/careers/first-line-supervisor-of-firefighting-and-prevention-workers) — median $93,530
- [Construction and Building Inspector](https://nuecareer.com/careers/construction-and-building-inspector) — median $74,690
- [Occupational Health and Safety Specialist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/occupational-health-and-safety-specialist) — median $90,150
- [Health and Safety Engineer, Except Mining Safety Engineers and Inspectors](https://nuecareer.com/careers/health-and-safety-engineer) — median $115,160
- [Government Property Inspector and Investigator](https://nuecareer.com/careers/government-property-inspector-and-investigator) — median $80,730
- [Aviation Inspector](https://nuecareer.com/careers/aviation-inspector) — median $92,100
- [Environmental Compliance Inspector](https://nuecareer.com/careers/environmental-compliance-inspector) — median $80,730

## Sources

- **O\*NET** — O\*NET 31.0 Database, August 2026. https://www.onetcenter.org/database.html
- **BLS OEWS** — BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. https://www.bls.gov/oes/
- **BLS EP** — BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2, 2025–2035. https://www.bls.gov/emp/
- **BLS OOH** — BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2025–2035 edition. https://www.bls.gov/ooh/
- **BEA RPP** — BEA Regional Price Parities by State, 2024. https://www.bea.gov/data/prices-inflation/regional-price-parities-state-and-metro-area

---

This bank includes information from the O\*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). O\*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. NueCareer has transformed the data by joining it to BLS wage and projection data and deriving facet, personality-fit and AI-resilience scores. BLS and BEA data are public domain (17 U.S.C. §105).

O\*NET content is used under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). How these figures are sourced and derived: https://nuecareer.com/careers/methodology

JSON representation of this page: https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/fire-inspector-and-investigator