EMT vs Firefighter: pay, outlook, education and work, side by side.
Every row comes from one named source and says which career leads on that one dimension. There is no overall score.
EMT vs Firefighter: BLS classifies them as different occupations (SOC 29-2042 and 33-2011). The national median annual wage is $44,470 for EMTs and $59,280 for firefighters (BLS, May 2025). BLS projects national employment to change +5.8% for EMTs and +3.7% for firefighters from 2025 to 2035. Typical entry-level education: Postsecondary nondegree award vs Postsecondary nondegree award. Which fits better depends on what you value; the table shows who leads on each dimension, with no overall winner.
Side by side
Data Differences smaller than a stated threshold read “About the same” (pay 5%, growth 2 points, openings 10%, one education level, ORS 10 points, O*NET 0.2).
Pick what matters to you; the matching rows are highlighted. Nothing is combined into a score.
| Dimension · source | EMTSOC 29-2042 | FirefighterSOC 33-2011 | Leads on this dimension |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median annual wageBLS OEWS, May 2025 (national) | $44,470 | $59,280 | Firefighter |
| EmploymentBLS OEWS, May 2025 | 180,510 | 345,990 | Not ranked |
| Projected employment change, 2025–35BLS Employment Projections (national) | +5.8% | +3.7% | EMT |
| Projected numeric change in jobs, 2025–35BLS Employment Projections (national) · A count, not a rate: it scales with the size of the occupation. | +10,600 jobs | +13,100 jobs | Not ranked |
| Projected openings (annual average)BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35 | 13,800 a year | 26,800 a year | Firefighter |
| Typical entry-level educationBLS Employment Projections · typical, not a legal requirement | Postsecondary nondegree award | Postsecondary nondegree award | About the same |
| Typical work experience in a related occupationBLS Employment Projections | None | None | About the same |
| Typical on-the-job trainingBLS Employment Projections | None | Long-term on-the-job training | Not ranked |
Choose based on what matters to you
Data Each line restates a measured difference from the table; nothing here predicts how you will feel about a job.
- faster projected national growth matters (+5.8% vs +3.7%)
- higher median pay matters most ($59,280 vs $44,470)
Largest employing industries
Data Share of all jobs in each occupation, BLS Employment Matrix 2025.
EMT
- Ambulatory healthcare services (50.6% of all jobs in this occupation)
- Government, excluding state and local education and hospitals (24.1% of all jobs in this occupation)
- Hospitals; state, local, and private (19.9% of all jobs in this occupation)
Firefighter
- Government, excluding state and local education and hospitals (93.4% of all jobs in this occupation)
- Administrative and support services (5.5% of all jobs in this occupation)
- Educational services; state, local, and private (0.2% of all jobs in this occupation)
Go deeper
EMT salary · Firefighter career hub · Firefighter salary · Firefighter how to become · Firefighter career change
Common questions
Which pays more, EMT or Firefighter?
Which is growing faster?
Which is better?
How this page is built
BLS classifies them as different occupations (SOC 29-2042 and 33-2011). Pay: BLS OEWS May 2025 national median for each occupation's SOC code. Outlook: BLS Employment Projections 2025–35 (growth, numeric change and annual openings are separate metrics). Requirements rows: 2025 preliminary BLS Occupational Requirements Survey, shown only when both roles have detailed-occupation estimates. Work environment: O*NET 31.0 work context. This page 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. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. TryHired has modified all or some of this information. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. Searches this page answers include “emt vs firefighter”, “emt vs firefighter salary” (Ahrefs, U.S.).
- Any one employer's pay, schedule or culture.
- Job security, ease of hiring or work-life balance: these are not measured here.
- Which career you will prefer: the rows describe the occupations, not you.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 estimates (public domain).
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections program, 2025–35 national projections (growth, openings, typical entry-level education and experience).
- O*NET 31.0 Database, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. TryHired selected, ranked and combined the data; O*NET is not responsible for these pages.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Requirements Survey, 2025 estimates (preliminary: two of the third wave's samples, collected August 2023 to July 2025; released January 16, 2026), public domain.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections program, 2025–35 National Employment Matrix (all jobs, including self-employed).