Pay by state · 51 areas

Firefighter Salary by State (2026)

Name: Firefighter annual wages by US state, May 2025
Creator: NueCareer
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Firefighters earn the most in New York at $100,960 a year and the least in Louisiana at $33,120 (BLS OEWS, May 2025). The national median is $59,280. The table below covers 49 states, DC and Puerto Rico, with a cost-of-living adjusted column.

Highest median: $100,960New York
National median: $59,280BLS OEWS, May 2025
Lowest median: $33,120Louisiana
Areas reporting: 51of 54 OEWS areas

Top and bottom

Highest- and lowest-paying states for firefighters

Ranked on the state median among the 49 reporting states and DC. Territories are in the full table but not ranked here.

Highest median pay

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

Lowest median pay

1Louisiana$33,120
2Mississippi$35,880
3Kentucky$37,150
4West Virginia$37,350
5North Carolina$37,940

All states

Firefighter salary in every state

Sort by any column. Employment is the number of firefighters OEWS estimates in that state; blank cells are estimates BLS suppressed because the sample was too small.

Annual wages by state, sortable by median, quartiles, employment and cost-of-living adjusted median
#
1	NYNew York	$100,960	$65,420	$106,430	12,950	$93,550
2	WAWashington	$94,520	$72,300	$105,540	7,560	$88,326
3	CACalifornia	$85,120	$65,170	$109,620	31,470	$76,879
4	NJNew Jersey	$84,130	$61,340	$106,330	7,500	$77,322
5	ILIllinois	$78,380	$47,910	$103,530	18,400	$78,413
6	CTConnecticut	$77,630	$64,180	$81,810	2,970	$74,925
7	DCDistrict of Columbia	$75,870	$65,090	$92,110	1,480	$69,035
8	COColorado	$74,170	$60,970	$101,260	6,510	$71,973
9	MDMaryland	$73,810	$57,160	$90,760	5,340	$70,323
10	PAPennsylvania	$73,460	$56,210	$89,190	5,020	$75,288
11	MAMassachusetts	$72,800	$61,800	$80,070	11,940	$68,837
12	OROregon	$70,900	$49,420	$90,980	3,790	$68,595
13	RIRhode Island	$67,380	$60,650	$75,860	1,620	$65,878
14	NVNevada	$66,570	$56,620	$78,130	2,640	$66,584
15	INIndiana	$62,780	$50,300	$75,860	8,530	$67,267
16	NENebraska	$61,040	$51,910	$61,040	1,070	$67,745
17	TXTexas	$60,180	$48,680	$71,980	28,170	$62,005
18	OHOhio	$59,370	$40,710	$74,250	18,100	$63,994
19	MTMontana	$59,310	$47,770	$68,100	1,010	$62,666
20	AZArizona	$59,280	$46,750	$77,690	7,500	$58,881
21	AKAlaska	$58,830	$42,510	$74,650	1,040	$57,474
22	VAVirginia	$58,670	$46,200	$70,530	11,160	$58,029
23	FLFlorida	$58,550	$45,900	$75,840	24,570	$56,617
24	WYWyoming	$58,090	$43,600	$64,940	680	$62,671
25	NHNew Hampshire	$56,620	$45,050	$63,650	2,700	$54,356
26	IAIowa	$55,810	$46,020	$63,280	2,170	$63,592
27	NDNorth Dakota	$55,080	$47,590	$71,930	820	$61,916
28	MIMichigan	$54,640	$43,560	$67,440	6,610	$56,788
29	OKOklahoma	$49,710	$38,220	$62,410	4,150	$56,590
30	TNTennessee	$49,300	$39,360	$61,670	7,020	$53,663
31	MOMissouri	$49,080	$37,340	$64,170	6,580	$54,043
32	UTUtah	$48,310	$37,590	$60,880	2,870	$48,865
33	MEMaine	$48,290	$43,420	$59,290	2,480	$49,758
34	SDSouth Dakota	$48,160	$46,730	$59,800	610	$54,365
35	ALAlabama	$47,600	$37,150	$59,520	7,260	$53,590
36	IDIdaho	$47,320	$35,380	$76,280	2,240	$49,553
37	WIWisconsin	$46,850	$36,490	$62,660	8,120	$49,790
38	DEDelaware	$46,710	$45,300	$60,670	560	$46,800
39	GAGeorgia	$46,550	$37,100	$55,390	12,700	$48,342
40	VTVermont	$46,430	$37,100	$59,600	N/A	$47,398
41	KSKansas	$45,900	$37,440	$57,950	3,360	$50,961
42	SCSouth Carolina	$42,570	$34,510	$49,570	7,780	$45,408
43	NMNew Mexico	$41,590	$36,520	$48,290	2,420	$45,103
44	ARArkansas	$39,690	$33,560	$52,000	2,480	$45,654
45	MNMinnesota	$38,110	$31,110	$59,350	5,810	$38,643
46	NCNorth Carolina	$37,940	$34,010	$47,690	19,410	$40,222
47	WVWest Virginia	$37,350	$32,950	$44,100	900	$41,733
48	KYKentucky	$37,150	$33,390	$48,120	5,150	$41,205
49	PRPuerto Rico	$37,120	$32,000	$42,560	1,780	N/A
50	MSMississippi	$35,880	$29,430	$44,060	2,920	$41,264
51	LALouisiana	$33,120	$27,510	$44,770	5,230	$37,548

Method

How the cost-of-living adjustment works

The adjusted column divides each state median by that state's BEA Regional Price Parity (RPP) and multiplies by 100. RPPs measure how much a fixed basket of goods, services and rents costs in one state relative to the national average, so the result restates local pay in national-average dollars.

For firefighters, the adjustment does not change the leader: New York is first on raw pay and still first once prices are taken into account, at $93,550.

Source: BEA Regional Price Parities by State, 2024 (public domain). The adjustment is NueCareer's calculation, not a BLS or BEA published statistic.

Questions

Firefighter pay by state: FAQ

Which state pays firefighters the most?

New York reports the highest median wage for firefighters at $100,960 a year (BLS OEWS, May 2025), followed by Washington ($94,520) and California ($85,120).

Which state pays firefighters the least?

Among the 49 reporting states and DC, Louisiana reports the lowest median for firefighters at $33,120 a year, $67,840 below the highest-paying state (BLS OEWS, May 2025). Among the territories, Puerto Rico reports $37,120.

In which states do firefighters earn over $100,000?

One of the 49 reporting states and DC has a median of $100,000 or more: New York ($100,960) (BLS OEWS, May 2025).

Is the highest-paying state the best for firefighters after cost of living?

Yes. New York stays first after dividing each state median by its BEA Regional Price Parity, at $93,550 in national-average dollars from a raw $100,960. BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024; the adjustment is NueCareer's calculation.

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