How Much Do Incident Commanders 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 incident commanders 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 incident commanders 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 incident commanders are offering as compensation.

Keep reading to learn more about how much incident commanders can expect to make in the United States.

At a Glance: Salary & Jobs for Incident Commanders

According to data from 2023, there were about 85,180 positions for incident commanders in the United States. In terms of salary, the national median salary for incident commanders was reported to be $86,216. Additionally, when examining job demand, employers across the country posted 2,609 job postings related to positions for incident commanders.

How Much Money Do Incident Commanders Make?

Median salary is just one data point. To build a better understanding of how much money incident commanders 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 incident commanders.

Annual Salary for Incident Commanders

According to the BLS, the lowest earners for incident commanders 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 incident commanders in the United States in 2023 was $86,216.

Hourly Salary for Incident Commanders

The BLS also breaks down compensation for incident commanders by hourly salary, and the median average hourly pay for incident commanders in 2023 was $41. Lowest hourly earners took home $24 while the highest reported hourly salaries for incident commanders was $65.

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Degree Options for Incident Commanders

Advertised Compensation for Incident Commanders

Data from the BLS is one way to dig into compensation for incident commanders, 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 incident commanders.

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 Incident Commanders

During a review of 2,266 job postings related to incident commanders, advertised salary was included in 1,304 of them, which was 58%. Based on those postings, the median advertised salary for incident commanders was $94,976 per year.

Hourly Salary from Job Postings for Incident Commanders

A similar analysis of job postings provides insight into advertised hourly salary for incident commanders. Based on 50% of postings with advertised compensation, the median hourly salary for open positions for incident commanders in the United States is about $46.

Salary Trend for Incident Commanders

If you're thinking about pursuing a career in the field, you may want to understand how compensation has changed over time for incident commanders. 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 incident commanders dating back to September 2020, advertised salaries for incident commanders have increased 9%.

What's the Job Growth for Incident Commanders?

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 incident commanders over the next 10 years.

According to the data obtained through Lightcast,™ there were 85,257 jobs for incident commanders 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.

Additional Links

Ready to dig deeper into career information about incident commanders? Visit our other pages focused on salary and education for incident commanders.

What do incident commanders do?
Incident Commanders: How do you become one?

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