How Much Do Fire Fighter Dispatchers Get Paid?
- According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the mean annual salary for police, fire and ambulance dispatchers in the United States was $36,470 as of May 2009, or a mean hourly wage of $17.53. This job includes providing orders to send fire fighters to areas where there has been report of a fire or emergency, as well as relaying vital information to appropriate officials.
- Fire-fighter dispatchers can be employed in several different industries, each of which has a different average salary. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the local government is by far the largest employer for this position, offering a mean annual wage of $36,750. The highest paying industry for fire-fighter dispatchers is that of medical and diagnostic laboratories with a salary of $41,120, followed by the state government with a salary of $39,680. Colleges, universities and professional schools pay their fire-fighter dispatchers an average of $34,260, while general medical and surgical hospitals pay less at $32,750.
- Because any organization must consider cost of living when offering a salary, fire-fighter dispatchers get paid different salaries depending on the state in which they live. The Bureau of Labor Statistcis names California as the highest paying state for this position at an average salary of $52,830, followed by Nevada at $51,360. Washington, Oregon and Illinois follow with salaries ranging from $44,790 to $46,090.
- The more experience and skills a fire-fighter dispatcher has, the more he will get paid. According to PayScale, a new fire-fighter dispatcher earns an average range of between $25,205 and $38,355, while one with more than five years of experience earns between $28,293 and $44,183. With more than 10 years of experience a dispatcher can earn up to $48,183, and 20 years or more of experience that peak increases significantly to $63,307.