Firefighter: what the job is, what it pays, and how to get hired.
The work, the skills that matter, the tools in demand and the pay range, from U.S. government data, plus every TryHired page for the role.
10% of firefighters earn less than this amount.
- Annual
- $34,910
- Hourly
- n/a
- Source
- BLS May 2025
25% of firefighters earn less than this amount.
- Annual
- $44,490
- Hourly
- n/a
- Source
- BLS May 2025
Half of firefighters earn more than this and half earn less.
- Annual
- $59,280
- Hourly
- $28.50
- Source
- BLS May 2025
75% of firefighters earn less than this amount.
- Annual
- $77,250
- Hourly
- n/a
- Source
- BLS May 2025
90% of firefighters earn less than this amount.
- Annual
- $101,040
- Hourly
- n/a
- Source
- BLS May 2025
Firefighters control and extinguish fires or respond to emergency situations where life, property, or the environment is at risk. The median pay is $59,280 a year ($28.50 an hour) (BLS, May 2025).
- Median pay
- $59,280
- BLS May 2025
- Employed in the U.S.
- 345,990
- BLS May 2025
- Preparation
- Job Zone 2 of 5
- some preparation
Every page for Firefighters
Pay by percentile, state and metro, with a negotiation script.
Open →ResumeFirefighter resumeKeywords, bullet formulas and the skills to prove.
Open →Interview questionsFirefighter interview questionsQuestions with what they test, plus practice mode.
Open →Career changeFirefighter career changeWhere these skills transfer, with skill match and pay change.
Open →Free toolCheck your resumeParsed text, evidence per bullet, fixes first.
Open →What firefighters do day to day
Data Core tasks rated most important by workers in the role (O*NET).
- 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.
- Drive and operate fire fighting vehicles and equipment.
- Respond to fire alarms and other calls for assistance, such as automobile and industrial accidents.
- Search to locate fire survivors.
- Operate pumps connected to high-pressure hoses.
Ranked by importance to the job
Data O*NET importance ratings. The first three are core.
Knowledge areas: Public Safety and Security, Transportation, Customer and Personal Service, Medicine and Dentistry, Mechanical, Communications and Media.
Software firefighters use
Data Examples reported for the role; employer demand flags from O*NET.
- Geographic information system GIS softwareGeographic information system
- Plume modeling softwareAnalytical or scientific software
- Microsoft AccessData base user interface and query softwareHot technology
- Microsoft ExcelSpreadsheet softwareHot technology
- Microsoft Office softwareOffice suite softwareHot technology
- Microsoft OutlookElectronic mail softwareHot technology
- Microsoft PowerPointPresentation softwareHot technology
- Microsoft WindowsOperating system softwareHot technology
- Microsoft WordWord processing softwareHot technology
- Affiliated Computer Services ACS FIREHOUSEData base user interface and query software
- Corel WordPerfect Office SuiteOffice suite software
- Email softwareElectronic mail software
Also called: Fire Engineer, Fire Equipment Operator, Fire Rescue Technician (Fire Rescue Tech), Fire Technician (Fire Tech), Fireman, Forest Fire Suppression Specialist.
Similar careers to explore
How this page is built
Tasks, skills, tools, education and related roles come from O*NET 31.0. Pay and employment come from the BLS OEWS May 2025 national estimates. The skill-match score is our calculation: Skill match is the correlation between the two occupations' skill profiles: for each of 35 O*NET skills (10 essential, 25 transferable) we multiply importance by level, subtract the average across all occupations, and correlate the two profiles. 100 means identical shape; 0 or below means unrelated. Only occupations that O*NET itself lists as related are compared.
- How a specific employer defines the job.
- Pay for self-employed workers (OEWS covers employees).
- Your own chances: data describes the occupation, not you.
- 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 Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 estimates (public domain).