Here's How Much Firefighters Make In Wisconsin Annually

MILWAUKEE, WI — Firefighters in Wisconsin put their lives on the line to keep our communities safe, but are they paid accordingly?

Frontpoint, a home security website, recently released a study comparing career firefighters' salaries across the nation.

The average annual career firefighter salary in the United States for 2018 was $53,240.

The report focused exclusively on career firefighters, which is a group that accounts for only 33 percent of active firefighters.

Wisconsin career firefighters rank 35th overall in average annual salary, and 36th overall in adjusted annual salary.

Annual Average Salary: $40,310
Annual Average Adjusted Salary: $43,626

It should be noted that starting salaries vary widely from city-to-city in Wisconsin. According to a recent job posting in the City of Madison, the starting annual salary for a firefighter is $53,014.

Contrast that with a recent opening for a firefighter in Milwaukee. In Milwaukee, the current annual salary range starts at $33,368 and goes up to $74,045, with new hires earning the beginning of the range. After academy training is complete the salary increases to $44,490 annually "with excellent benefits."

The rankings were based on an analysis of data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and then filtered through information from the 2017 Bureau of Economic Analysis to find the adjusted salary for each individual state.

California took home the award for highest annual average salary for firefighters at $81,580, with Mississippi coming in very last at $30,370.

The Golden State also has the most employed firefighters in the United States at 32,910.
Here are the 10 states with the highest annual average salary for firefighters:

1. California: $81,580
2. New Jersey: $76,530
3. Washington: $73,850
4. New York: $73,710
5. Nevada: $66,830
6. Oregon: $66,330
7. Connecticut: $63,630
8. Hawaii: $62,670
9. Maryland: $61,780
10. Colorado: $61,160