How Much Do Fire Captains Make?
Having a clear understanding of earnings potential is important, especially if you are researching career paths or considering changing jobs. If you're one of those people, and you're curious what kind of salary fire captains make, you've come to the right place.
Using data from Lightcast,™ the Best Adult Colleges and Careers Guide has compiled rich information about salary for fire captains and related jobs, including details about average compensation, salary trends and job growth. We've also gathered advertised salaries from actual job postings to provide insight into what employers of fire captains are offering as compensation.
Keep reading to learn more about how much fire captains can expect to make in the United States.
At a Glance: Salary & Jobs for Fire Captains
According to data from 2023, there were about 85,180 positions for fire captains in the United States. In terms of salary, the national median salary for fire captains was reported to be $86,216. Additionally, when examining job demand, employers across the country posted 2,609 job postings related to positions for fire captains.
How Much Money Do Fire Captains Make?
Median salary is just one data point. To build a better understanding of how much money fire captains and related positions can expect to make in the United States, it can be helpful to look at the full range of compensation for those jobs.
Let's look more deeply at data that was reported to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) for detail into the lowest and highest salary earnings for fire captains.
Annual Salary for Fire Captains
According to the BLS, the lowest earners for fire captains and related professions earned about $49,920 per year in 2023. Meanwhile, at the other end of the spectrum, the highest earners made about $135,054 annually.
As mentioned previously, the median salary for fire captains in the United States in 2023 was $86,216.
Annual Salary Range For Fire Captains In 2023
Hourly Salary for Fire Captains
The BLS also breaks down compensation for fire captains by hourly salary, and the median average hourly pay for fire captains in 2023 was $41. Lowest hourly earners took home $24 while the highest reported hourly salaries for fire captains was $65.
Hourly Salary Range For Fire Captains In 2023
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Advertised Compensation for Fire Captains
Data from the BLS is one way to dig into compensation for fire captains, but another way to build a more real-time understanding of salary is to look at actual job postings and see what compensation organizations are currently providing to fill open positions for fire captains.
Keep in mind that salary data is not included in every job posting, so the information compiled here is reflective of the data available through Lightcast.™
Annual Salary from Job Postings for Fire Captains
Advertised Annual Salary
During a review of 2,266 job postings related to fire captains, advertised salary was included in 1,304 of them, which was 58%. Based on those postings, the median advertised salary for fire captains was $94,976 per year.
Hourly Salary from Job Postings for Fire Captains
Advertised Hourly Salary
A similar analysis of job postings provides insight into advertised hourly salary for fire captains. Based on 50% of postings with advertised compensation, the median hourly salary for open positions for fire captains in the United States is about $46.
Salary Trend for Fire Captains
If you're thinking about pursuing a career in the field, you may want to understand how compensation has changed over time for fire captains. The chart below provides a snapshot of advertised salaries over the past three years.
Based on compensation data that was included in job postings for fire captains dating back to September 2020, advertised salaries for fire captains have increased 9%.
Advertised Wage Trend For Fire Captains
What's the Job Growth for Fire Captains?
Another data point that someone thinking about a career path should consider is whether or not jobs are expected to see growth in the future. The chart below looks at projected employment for fire captains over the next 10 years.
According to the data obtained through Lightcast,™ there were 85,257 jobs for fire captains in the United States in 2023. By 2033, it is expected that about 6,481 jobs will be added. That's a 7.6% increase over the next 10-year period.
Employment Projections For Fire Captains
Additional Links
Ready to dig deeper into career information about fire captains? Visit our other pages focused on salary and education for fire captains.
What do fire captains do?
Fire Captains: How do you become one?
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