Paramedic 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.
Paramedic vs Firefighter: BLS classifies them as different occupations (SOC 29-2043 and 33-2011). The national median annual wage is $60,600 for paramedics and $59,280 for firefighters (BLS, May 2025). BLS projects national employment to change +5.7% for paramedics 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 | ParamedicSOC 29-2043 | FirefighterSOC 33-2011 | Leads on this dimension |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median annual wageBLS OEWS, May 2025 (national) | $60,600 | $59,280 | About the same |
| EmploymentBLS OEWS, May 2025 | 100,610 | 345,990 | Not ranked |
| Projected employment change, 2025–35BLS Employment Projections (national) | +5.7% | +3.7% | Paramedic |
| Projected numeric change in jobs, 2025–35BLS Employment Projections (national) · A count, not a rate: it scales with the size of the occupation. | +5,800 jobs | +13,100 jobs | Not ranked |
| Projected openings (annual average)BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35 | 4,300 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 | Less than 5 years | None | Firefighter |
| Typical on-the-job trainingBLS Employment Projections | None | Long-term on-the-job training | Not ranked |
| Pressure level (O*NET, 1–5; lower = less)O*NET® 31.0 work context | 3.85 | 3.27 | Firefighter |
| Social-contact level (O*NET, 1–5)O*NET® 31.0 work context · not ranked: neither direction is better | 4.56 | 4.19 | Not ranked |
| Freedom to make decisions (O*NET, 1–5)O*NET® 31.0 work context | 4.58 | 4.12 | Paramedic |
| Work styles O*NET rates most importantO*NET® 31.0 work styles (occupation ratings, not a personality test) | Self-Control, Stress Tolerance, Dependability | Self-Control, Stress Tolerance, Dependability | 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 (+5.7% vs +3.7%)
- more decision-making freedom matters (4.58 vs 4.12)
- starting without related work experience matters (None vs Less than 5 years)
- a lower-pressure work environment matters (3.27 vs 3.85)
Which skills each one leans on
Data O*NET 31.0 skill ratings: level (0–7) and importance.
Skill-profile match: 28% (similarity of the two O*NET skill profiles, importance × level; 100% = identical).
- Service Orientation (+0.6 on O*NET's 0–7 skill-level scale)
- Management of Personnel Resources (+0.5 on O*NET's 0–7 skill-level scale)
- Reading Comprehension (+0.5 on O*NET's 0–7 skill-level scale)
- Active Learning (+0.5 on O*NET's 0–7 skill-level scale)
- Equipment Maintenance (+2.9 on O*NET's 0–7 skill-level scale)
- Science (+2.1 on O*NET's 0–7 skill-level scale)
- Repairing (+2.0 on O*NET's 0–7 skill-level scale)
- Equipment Selection (+1.9 on O*NET's 0–7 skill-level scale)
What each career involves
Data Core tasks from O*NET 31.0.
Paramedic
- Perform emergency cardiac care, such as cardioversion and manual defibrillation.
- Perform emergency invasive intervention before delivering patient to an acute care facility.
- Coordinate work with other emergency medical team members or police or fire department personnel.
- Assess nature and extent of illness or injury to establish and prioritize medical procedures.
Firefighter
- Rescue survivors from burning buildings, accident sites, and water hazards.
- Administer first aid and cardiopulmonary resuscitation to injured persons or provide emergency medical care such as basic or advanced life support.
- Dress with equipment such as fire-resistant clothing and breathing apparatus.
- Move toward the source of a fire, using knowledge of types of fires, construction design, building materials, and physical layout of properties.
Largest employing industries
Data Share of all jobs in each occupation, BLS Employment Matrix 2025.
Paramedic
- Ambulatory healthcare services (41.0% of all jobs in this occupation)
- Government, excluding state and local education and hospitals (38.3% of all jobs in this occupation)
- Hospitals; state, local, and private (17.7% 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)
Moving between these careers
Data The comparison shows which; the career-change guides show how.
- Paramedic → Firefighter: skills to build: Equipment Maintenance, Science, Repairing.
- Firefighter → Paramedic: skills to build: Service Orientation, Management of Personnel Resources, Reading Comprehension. Careers after Firefighter
Go deeper
Paramedic career hub · Paramedic salary · Firefighter career hub · Firefighter salary · Firefighter career change
Common questions
Which pays more, Paramedic or Firefighter?
Which is growing faster?
Which is better?
How this page is built
BLS classifies them as different occupations (SOC 29-2043 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 “paramedic vs firefighter”, “paramedic vs firefighter salary”, “firefighter vs paramedic 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).