Pay · 33-2021

Fire Inspectors and Investigators earn $75,920 a year at the midpoint

The middle of the pay scale for fire inspectors and investigators is $75,920. A typical start is nearer $58,690; the top tenth earn about $118,750.

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$75,920median a year · United States

$36.50an hour $78,670average 13,800people

Nine in ten people in this work earn between the two ends. The shaded part is the middle half — where most people are.

$58,69025th $75,920median $95,12075th

$46,53010th percentile $118,75090th percentile

$58,690a year at the 25th percentile, nearer a first job

$122,900best-paying state · Washington

$37,320lowest-paying state · Oklahoma

+62%top state against the national median

Read the spread, not the middle. The median is the midpoint across everyone in the occupation, most of them years into the work. A beginner starts nearer the 10th to 25th percentile, which is why the spread is published alongside it.
What the figure counts. The figure counts base pay plus tips, commissions and production bonuses. It leaves out the self-employed, unpaid family workers, private household workers, and the value of benefits or profit sharing.
Where you live moves it more than your resume does. National figures. A state or metro area can sit far from the national number, and that gap is usually larger than any difference a resume makes.
Not in these numbers. Growth and annual openings are not in this dataset. They come from the separate Employment Projections tables, where an opening is a modelled ten year average and not a posted vacancy.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, 2025. Retrieved through the BLS Public Data API on 2026-08-13. bls.gov/oes “BLS.gov cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from BLS.gov.”

State matters a lotThe same job pays $122,900 in Washington and $37,320 in Oklahoma — a gap of $85,580 a year.

Fire inspector earnings, from starting pay to the highest 10%

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Fire inspector pay rate, hourly to yearly

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Per hour Hours a week Weeks a year

$75,920a year

A resume for fire inspectors and investigators

Name the job in the builder and the duties, skills and credentials it is screened on are written in for you.

Microsoft OutlookMicrosoft WordMicrosoft Office softwareMicrosoft ExcelMicrosoft PowerPointMicrosoft AccessWeb browser softwareEmail software

Prepared and maintained reports of investigation results, and records of convicted arsonists and arson suspects.
Testified in court cases involving fires, suspected arson, and false alarms.
Packaged collected pieces of evidence in securely closed containers, such as bags, crates, or boxes, to protect them.

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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. The owner of tiersi.com has modified all or some of this information. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.

Fire inspector wages across the states

The 35 states where the most people do this work, of 43 with a published figure: their medians range by 3.29 times. Figures are the 2025 survey.

State	Median a year	Where most start	10th to 90th	Employed
Washington	$122,900	$77,810	$77,810 — $145,760	380
California	$99,230	$60,080	$60,080 — $150,590	1,350
Maryland	$98,730	$55,980	$55,980 — $116,780	270
Nevada	$93,450	$65,370	$65,370 — $111,980	190
Minnesota	$84,410	$51,180	$51,180 — $101,210	230
Texas	$82,390	$55,620	$55,620 — $102,150	1,030
Massachusetts	$81,140	$56,320	$56,320 — $125,460	200
Connecticut	$80,490	$50,830	$50,830 — $112,340	420
Rhode Island	$78,100	$55,320	$55,320 — $94,540	50
Michigan	$77,460	$45,010	$45,010 — $100,050	250
Missouri	$77,240	$44,020	$44,020 — $91,830	110
Nebraska	$76,770	$48,840	$48,840 — $113,190	60
Florida	$75,660	$51,990	$51,990 — $105,540	1,060
New Hampshire	$75,230	$64,010	$64,010 — $90,890	50
Arizona	$74,780	$52,860	$52,860 — $94,940	240
New York	$73,920	$52,190	$52,190 — $122,230	1,200
Indiana	$73,340	$50,040	$50,040 — $92,520	200
Utah	$72,760	$52,000	$52,000 — $89,440	60
Virginia	$70,460	$52,510	$52,510 — $90,070	100
North Carolina	$66,820	$39,260	$39,260 — $90,890	870
Wisconsin	$66,600	$36,980	$36,980 — $132,370	160
Louisiana	$64,820	$40,660	$40,660 — $131,980	80
New Mexico	$64,680	$54,870	$54,870 — $78,530	160
Georgia	$64,550	$42,350	$42,350 — $93,010	300
Kansas	$64,290	$44,440	$44,440 — $98,140	90
Tennessee	$63,400	$47,150	$47,150 — $87,560	390
Illinois	$62,400	$35,070	$35,070 — $125,530	440
South Carolina	$61,890	$43,610	$43,610 — $78,270	110
New Jersey	$60,100	$43,880	$43,880 — $104,670	1,290
Ohio	$59,280	$42,580	$42,580 — $130,530	520
Pennsylvania	$59,080	$35,780	$35,780 — $95,890	280
Kentucky	$55,970	$44,050	$44,050 — $71,290	100
Mississippi	$55,260	$42,170	$42,170 — $69,410	140
West Virginia	$52,490	$42,310	$42,310 — $66,490	70
Oklahoma	$37,320	$31,450	$31,450 — $98,180	160

No. 250 of 788 by median pay

Better paid than 68% of the occupations in the survey.

248 Terrazzo Workers and Finishers $76,170
249 Human resources specialists $75,940
250 Fire Inspectors and Investigators $75,920
251 Family and Consumer Sciences Teachers, Postsecondary $75,870
252 Arbitrators, Mediators, and Conciliators $75,530

What people often ask

What is a fire inspector’s yearly income?

A fire inspector makes a median of $75,920 a year (2025 survey). The middle half earn between $58,690 and $95,120.

What is a fire inspector’s hourly pay rate?

The median pay rate is $36.50 an hour; the average is $78,670 a year.

What is the starting pay for a fire inspector?

Starting pay is usually near the 25th percentile, $58,690 a year, and sometimes as low as the 10th, $46,530.

Which state pays fire inspectors and investigators the most?

Washington, with a median of $122,900 a year.

How many people work as fire inspectors and investigators?

About 13,800 in the United States — number 250 of 788 occupations by median pay.

Jobs that pay about the same

Median pay within $290 of what fire inspectors and investigators earn — $75,920 a year — but not always the same spread.

See all 788 occupations