Best Cities for Firefighterss

Cities ranked by purchasing power — where firefighterss get the most value from their salary after accounting for cost of living. A score above 1.00 means better than national average.

How we calculate this: City Score = (Local Salary ÷ National Median) ÷ (Local Cost ÷ National Avg Cost). A score of 1.20 means 20% better purchasing power than average.

#	Location	Score	Raw Salary	Adjusted Salary	Rent/Income
1	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CAMetro	2.13	$152,100	$126,539	25%
2	New YorkState	1.51	$100,960	$89,742	22%
3	WashingtonState	1.49	$94,520	$88,089	24%
4	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WAMetro	1.49	$101,090	$88,443	26%
5	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CAMetro	1.42	$98,050	$84,163	28%
6	IllinoisState	1.36	$78,380	$80,472	20%
7	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WAMetro	1.33	$85,170	$79,007	25%
8	Pittsburgh, PAMetro	1.32	$72,230	$78,086	20%
9	CaliforniaState	1.30	$85,120	$76,893	32%
10	New JerseyState	1.30	$84,130	$77,325	26%
11	PennsylvaniaState	1.28	$73,460	$75,732	21%
12	Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MDMetro	1.27	$78,050	$75,411	25%
13	ConnecticutState	1.22	$77,630	$72,147	24%
14	ColoradoState	1.19	$74,170	$70,370	30%
15	Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MDMetro	1.18	$73,810	$69,764	27%
16	Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FLMetro	1.18	$75,710	$69,779	32%
17	IndianaState	1.17	$62,780	$69,370	20%
18	OregonState	1.16	$70,900	$68,835	27%
19	Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MIMetro	1.16	$62,730	$68,783	23%
20	San Antonio-New Braunfels, TXMetro	1.16	$63,360	$68,870	25%
21	MarylandState	1.14	$73,810	$67,592	27%
22	MassachusettsState	1.13	$72,800	$67,097	37%
23	NebraskaState	1.13	$61,040	$66,710	21%
24	Rhode IslandState	1.13	$67,380	$67,045	27%
25	Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TXMetro	1.13	$64,900	$66,770	29%
26	District of ColumbiaState	1.12	$75,870	$66,378	33%
27	NevadaState	1.12	$66,570	$66,437	26%
28	OhioState	1.11	$59,370	$65,675	21%
29	Columbus, OHMetro	1.11	$61,780	$66,075	25%
30	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NHMetro	1.10	$73,990	$65,189	41%
31	Kansas City, MO-KSMetro	1.10	$60,770	$65,485	25%
32	IowaState	1.06	$55,810	$62,567	20%
33	TexasState	1.06	$60,180	$62,950	28%
34	WyomingState	1.05	$58,090	$62,462	20%
35	MontanaState	1.04	$59,310	$61,525	23%
36	Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FLMetro	1.02	$59,660	$60,569	35%
37	MichiganState	1.00	$54,640	$59,198	25%
38	North DakotaState	1.00	$55,080	$59,482	21%
39	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WVMetro	1.00	$66,980	$59,379	36%
40	ArizonaState	0.99	$59,280	$58,751	30%
41	FloridaState	0.97	$58,550	$57,685	35%
42	VirginiaState	0.96	$58,670	$56,686	32%
43	AlaskaState	0.95	$58,830	$56,405	28%
44	OklahomaState	0.95	$49,710	$56,169	23%
45	MissouriState	0.93	$49,080	$55,395	25%
46	AlabamaState	0.92	$47,600	$54,650	24%
47	TennesseeState	0.91	$49,300	$53,880	31%
48	New HampshireState	0.90	$56,620	$53,415	34%
49	South DakotaState	0.89	$48,160	$53,040	24%
50	KansasState	0.86	$45,900	$51,000	27%
51	WisconsinState	0.86	$46,850	$50,758	28%
52	Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TNMetro	0.86	$49,300	$51,247	38%
53	GeorgiaState	0.84	$46,550	$49,839	36%
54	IdahoState	0.83	$47,320	$49,036	30%
55	MaineState	0.82	$48,290	$48,387	32%
56	Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GAMetro	0.82	$47,300	$48,864	41%
57	UtahState	0.81	$48,310	$48,214	37%
58	ArkansasState	0.78	$39,690	$45,991	27%
59	DelawareState	0.78	$46,710	$46,248	35%
60	South CarolinaState	0.78	$42,570	$46,272	35%
61	New MexicoState	0.76	$41,590	$45,207	30%
62	VermontState	0.76	$46,430	$45,298	37%
63	West VirginiaState	0.75	$37,350	$44,359	27%
64	KentuckyState	0.71	$37,150	$41,977	31%
65	MississippiState	0.71	$35,880	$42,311	30%
66	North CarolinaState	0.68	$37,940	$40,191	41%
67	Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SCMetro	0.68	$38,700	$40,397	47%
68	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WIMetro	0.67	$39,350	$39,548	45%
69	MinnesotaState	0.66	$38,110	$38,888	40%
70	LouisianaState	0.62	$33,120	$36,759	38%

Data Sources: Salary: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (OEWS). Cost of Living: BEA Regional Price Parities (2024). Rent: HUD Fair Market Rents (FY2025).