LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Nevada firefighters are the 3rd highest paid in the nation, according to the safety experts at Frontpoint.
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Frontpoint examined government data to compile their report. They focused on career firefighters vs. volunteer firefighters. Nationally, about 33% of active firefighters are career firefighters, 55% are volunteers and 12% are paid per call.
The average salary for a firefighter in Nevada is $76,760 per year. When adjusted for cost of living, they have a purchasing power of $68,473.
That works out to be about 1.273 per 1,000 jobs in the area are firefighters. Their median hourly wage was $37.95 and their average hourly wage was $36.90.
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Since that median number is larger than the average number, that means there's some outliers making more than that.
In 2018, there 1,260 career firefighters serving the Las Vegas valley.
The state with the highest paid firefighters is California. The average there is $71.063. The state with the lowest average is Louisiana.
According to records kept by Transparent Nevada, the Henderson Fire chief made $190,463.52 in regular pay in 2018. Reno's battalion chief made $183,146.52. The fire chief in Sparks made $182,308.
The director for Las Vegas Fire & Rescue made $173,664.23 and the fire chief for Clark County made $165,115.21.
Fire captains for Las Vegas, Henderson, North Las Vegas and Clark County appear to make around $105,000 per year. Fire engineers appear to make around $94,000; fire inspectors make approximately $87,000; and firefighter (second grade) made about $80,000 in 2018.
