How much do firefighters make per hour in Texas?

Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics

Índice Show

33-2011 Firefighters
Are firefighters paid well in Texas?
How much do firefighters get paid per hour?
Where do firefighters get paid the most in Texas?
How much does a full time Firefighter make in Texas?

OEWS HOME
OEWS OVERVIEW
OEWS NEWS RELEASES
OEWS CHARTS
OEWS Videos
OEWS MAPS
OEWS DATABASES
OEWS FAQs
CONTACT OEWS

RESPONDENTS
DOCUMENTATION
SPECIAL NOTICES
RELATED LINKS

33-2011 Firefighters

Control and extinguish fires or respond to emergency situations where life, property, or the environment is at risk. Duties may include fire prevention, emergency medical service, hazardous material response, search and rescue, and disaster assistance.

National estimates for Firefighters
Industry profile for Firefighters
Geographic profile for Firefighters

National estimates for Firefighters:

Employment estimate and mean wage estimates for Firefighters:

Employment (1)	Employment RSE (3)	Mean hourly wage	Mean annual wage (2)	Wage RSE (3)
317,310	1.2 %	$ 26.58	$ 55,290	0.6 %

Percentile wage estimates for Firefighters:

Percentile	10%	25%	50% (Median)	75%	90%
Hourly Wage	$ 13.96	$ 17.86	$ 24.38	$ 31.72	$ 39.25
Annual Wage (2)	$ 29,030	$ 37,140	$ 50,700	$ 65,980	$ 81,640

Industry profile for Firefighters:

Industries with the highest published employment and wages for Firefighters are provided. For a list of all industries with employment in Firefighters, see the Create Customized Tables function.

Industries with the highest levels of employment in Firefighters:

Industry	Employment (1)	Percent of industry employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Local Government, excluding schools and hospitals (OEWS Designation)	279,570	5.20	$ 27.23	$ 56,640
Other Support Services	17,110	6.09	$ 16.89	$ 35,120
State Government, excluding schools and hospitals (OEWS Designation)	10,260	0.47	$ 25.65	$ 53,350
Federal Executive Branch (OEWS Designation)	7,670	0.36	$ 26.75	$ 55,650
Other Ambulatory Health Care Services	660	0.21	$ 19.23	$ 40,000

Industries with the highest concentration of employment in Firefighters:

Industry	Employment (1)	Percent of industry employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Other Support Services	17,110	6.09	$ 16.89	$ 35,120
Local Government, excluding schools and hospitals (OEWS Designation)	279,570	5.20	$ 27.23	$ 56,640
State Government, excluding schools and hospitals (OEWS Designation)	10,260	0.47	$ 25.65	$ 53,350
Federal Executive Branch (OEWS Designation)	7,670	0.36	$ 26.75	$ 55,650
Other Ambulatory Health Care Services	660	0.21	$ 19.23	$ 40,000

Top paying industries for Firefighters:

Industry	Employment (1)	Percent of industry employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Aerospace Product and Parts Manufacturing	280	0.06	$ 31.68	$ 65,890
General Medical and Surgical Hospitals	50	(7)	$ 30.05	$ 62,500
Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools	150	0.01	$ 29.35	$ 61,050
Facilities Support Services	40	0.02	$ 28.11	$ 58,460
Local Government, excluding schools and hospitals (OEWS Designation)	279,570	5.20	$ 27.23	$ 56,640

Geographic profile for Firefighters:

States and areas with the highest published employment, location quotients, and wages for Firefighters are provided. For a list of all areas with employment in Firefighters, see the Create Customized Tables function.

States with the highest employment level in Firefighters:

State	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Texas	29,530	2.41	1.07	$ 25.63	$ 53,310
California	27,730	1.68	0.74	$ 38.94	$ 80,990
Florida	20,420	2.37	1.05	$ 25.71	$ 53,480
Ohio	19,350	3.72	1.65	$ 25.26	$ 52,530
North Carolina	15,410	3.49	1.55	$ 17.76	$ 36,950

States with the highest concentration of jobs and location quotients in Firefighters:

State	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
New Hampshire	2,400	3.78	1.68	$ 25.13	$ 52,260
Ohio	19,350	3.72	1.65	$ 25.26	$ 52,530
Massachusetts	12,060	3.55	1.58	$ 31.56	$ 65,650
Maine	2,070	3.49	1.55	$ 21.60	$ 44,920
North Carolina	15,410	3.49	1.55	$ 17.76	$ 36,950

Top paying states for Firefighters:

State	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
New Jersey	5,960	1.55	0.69	$ 40.83	$ 84,930
California	27,730	1.68	0.74	$ 38.94	$ 80,990
Washington	7,740	2.41	1.07	$ 36.68	$ 76,280
New York	10,640	1.23	0.54	$ 34.94	$ 72,670
Colorado	5,460	2.08	0.93	$ 32.84	$ 68,300

Metropolitan areas with the highest employment level in Firefighters:

Metropolitan area	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA	12,260	1.41	0.63	$ 38.30	$ 79,660
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI	11,920	2.82	1.25	$ 31.73	$ 65,990
Boston-Cambridge-Nashua, MA-NH	8,420	3.26	1.45	$ 32.95	$ 68,540
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX	7,910	2.20	0.98	$ 28.31	$ 58,870
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	6,890	2.35	1.04	$ 30.91	$ 64,280
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	6,760	1.18	0.52	$ 44.07	$ 91,660
Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX	6,440	2.22	0.99	$ 24.48	$ 50,910
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA	5,940	2.30	1.02	$ 21.27	$ 44,240
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL	5,050	2.06	0.91	$ 32.69	$ 68,000
Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ	4,310	2.03	0.90	$ 24.86	$ 51,700

Metropolitan areas with the highest concentration of jobs and location quotients in Firefighters:

Metropolitan area	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Fayetteville, NC	910	7.25	3.22	$ 18.11	$ 37,670
Charlottesville, VA	760	7.15	3.17	(8)	(8)
Leominster-Gardner, MA	330	6.66	2.96	$ 26.32	$ 54,740
Sierra Vista-Douglas, AZ	220	6.40	2.84	$ 19.05	$ 39,630
Barnstable Town, MA	610	6.32	2.81	$ 31.92	$ 66,380
Hinesville, GA	120	6.22	2.76	$ 20.62	$ 42,880
Springfield, OH	270	5.98	2.66	$ 22.41	$ 46,620
Lake Havasu City-Kingman, AZ	310	5.82	2.58	$ 23.86	$ 49,640
San Angelo, TX	270	5.78	2.56	$ 23.19	$ 48,220
Dover-Durham, NH-ME	280	5.77	2.56	$ 24.25	$ 50,440

Top paying metropolitan areas for Firefighters:

Metropolitan area	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	1,210	1.13	0.50	$ 54.91	$ 114,210
San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA	3,820	1.70	0.76	$ 47.19	$ 98,150
Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA	340	1.77	0.79	$ 46.86	$ 97,470
Modesto, CA	250	1.38	0.61	$ 45.96	$ 95,600
Vallejo-Fairfield, CA	250	1.91	0.85	$ 44.31	$ 92,160
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	6,760	1.18	0.52	$ 44.07	$ 91,660
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	3,850	2.01	0.89	$ 42.32	$ 88,020
Atlantic City-Hammonton, NJ	290	2.50	1.11	$ 40.72	$ 84,700
Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	1,420	1.26	0.56	$ 40.60	$ 84,450
Sacramento--Roseville--Arden-Arcade, CA	1,800	1.83	0.81	$ 40.02	$ 83,250

Nonmetropolitan areas with the highest employment in Firefighters:

Nonmetropolitan area	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Southeast Oklahoma nonmetropolitan area	1,100	6.74	2.99	$ 23.09	$ 48,020
Piedmont North Carolina nonmetropolitan area	1,010	4.13	1.83	$ 14.77	$ 30,730
North Northeastern Ohio nonmetropolitan area (noncontiguous)	910	2.88	1.28	$ 19.93	$ 41,460
Southeast Coastal North Carolina nonmetropolitan area	860	3.57	1.58	$ 15.53	$ 32,300
Northeastern Wisconsin nonmetropolitan area	840	4.41	1.96	$ 18.66	$ 38,810

Nonmetropolitan areas with the highest concentration of jobs and location quotients in Firefighters:

Nonmetropolitan area	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Eastern Sierra-Mother Lode Region of California nonmetropolitan area	700	12.27	5.45	$ 24.45	$ 50,860
Arizona nonmetropolitan area	710	7.80	3.46	$ 20.07	$ 41,740
Southeast Oklahoma nonmetropolitan area	1,100	6.74	2.99	$ 23.09	$ 48,020
Massachusetts nonmetropolitan area	380	6.61	2.93	$ 27.11	$ 56,400
Northern New Hampshire nonmetropolitan area	220	6.50	2.89	$ 22.20	$ 46,180

Top paying nonmetropolitan areas for Firefighters:

Nonmetropolitan area	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Alaska nonmetropolitan area	290	3.02	1.34	$ 31.44	$ 65,390
Western Washington nonmetropolitan area	440	3.70	1.64	$ 31.11	$ 64,710
Hawaii / Kauai nonmetropolitan area	490	5.46	2.42	$ 29.81	$ 62,010
Central East New York nonmetropolitan area	140	0.94	0.42	$ 29.34	$ 61,020
Southwest New York nonmetropolitan area	130	0.79	0.35	$ 29.21	$ 60,750

About May 2021 National, State, Metropolitan, and Nonmetropolitan Area Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates

These estimates are calculated with data collected from employers in all industry sectors, all metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas, and all states and the District of Columbia. The top employment and wage figures are provided above. The complete list is available in the downloadable XLS files.

The percentile wage estimate is the value of a wage below which a certain percent of workers fall. The median wage is the 50th percentile wage estimate—50 percent of workers earn less than the median and 50 percent of workers earn more than the median. More about percentile wages.

(1) Estimates for detailed occupations do not sum to the totals because the totals include occupations not shown separately. Estimates do not include self-employed workers.

(2) Annual wages have been calculated by multiplying the hourly mean wage by a "year-round, full-time" hours figure of 2,080 hours; for those occupations where there is not an hourly wage published, the annual wage has been directly calculated from the reported survey data.

(3) The relative standard error (RSE) is a measure of the reliability of a survey statistic. The smaller the relative standard error, the more precise the estimate.

(7) The value is less than .005 percent of industry employment.

(8) Estimate not released.

(9) The location quotient is the ratio of the area concentration of occupational employment to the national average concentration. A location quotient greater than one indicates the occupation has a higher share of employment than average, and a location quotient less than one indicates the occupation is less prevalent in the area than average.

Other OEWS estimates and related information:

May 2021 National Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates

May 2021 State Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates

May 2021 Metropolitan and Nonmetropolitan Area Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates

May 2021 National Industry-Specific Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates

May 2021 Occupation Profiles

Technical Notes

Last Modified Date: March 31, 2022

Are firefighters paid well in Texas?

Avg Salary Firefighters earn an average yearly salary of $52,420. Wages typically start from $36,750 and go up to $75,210.

How much do firefighters get paid per hour?

As of Nov 2, 2022, the average hourly pay for a Firefighter in the United States is $23.21 an hour. While ZipRecruiter is seeing hourly wages as high as $32.69 and as low as $8.89, the majority of Firefighter wages currently range between $16.35 (25th percentile) to $25.00 (75th percentile) across the United States.