Firefighter Salary in Fort Collins, CO: Median $59,120 in 2026
Fort Collins (CO) · COL index 111 · Unemployment 2.8% · Metro pop 365,000 · Rank #76 of 283 for Firefighter salary
A Firefighter in Fort Collins earns an estimated median of $59,120 per year. That figure starts from the Colorado state-level BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics median[1]($54,250) and scales it by Fort Collins's composite cost-of-living index of 111 (US = 100). The 10th percentile comes in around $36,932; the 90th percentile reaches $114,535. After federal, Colorado state, and FICA taxes, a single-filer Firefighter takes home approximately $47,691/year — about $3,974/month or $1,834 every other week.
Compared to the national Firefighter median of $60,670, Fort Collins pays -2.6%. Relative to the Fort Collins median household income of $78,600, a Firefightersalary runs -24.8%. Local unemployment is 2.8%[3], with an estimated 59 annual Firefighter openings inferred from metro population share and national employment (361,290).
Firefighter Snapshot — Fort Collins (2026)
Every row cites a primary public dataset. Rent + home values use Zillow where the metro is in the ZHVI/ZORI coverage set; otherwise ACS + census tract fallbacks.
| Metric | Fort Collins | National | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Firefighter median salary | $59,120 | $60,670 | [1] |
| 10th percentile | $36,932 | $42,290 | [1] |
| 90th percentile | $114,535 | $112,440 | [1] |
| Annual take-home (single filer) | $47,691 | — | [8][10] |
| Median home value (ZHVI) | $552,908 | — | [5] |
| Median rent (ZORI) | $1,971/mo | — | [5] |
| HUD Fair Market Rent (2BR) | $1,825/mo | — | [6] |
| Median household income (ACS) | $91,364 | — | [7] |
| Cost-of-living index | 111.0 | 100.0 | [4] |
| Unemployment rate | 2.8% | — | [3] |
How Firefighter Salaries Work in Fort Collins
City-level wages aren't published directly by BLS for most SOC codes. We build them by anchoring to the Colorado state-level OEWS median ($54,250) and scaling by Fort Collins's composite cost-of-living index (111)[1][4]. That index combines Census ACS rent, Zillow ZHVI, BLS CPI, and AdvisorSmith / ApartmentAdvisor inputs to produce one number per metro. When BLS publishes a separate metro-level wage (MSA-level OEWS), that takes priority — a handful of large metros including New York, LA, Chicago, and DC have this coverage.
On top of the gross wage, the standard US payroll stack applies: federal income tax using 2025 IRS brackets and the $15,000 single standard deduction[8], FICA (Social Security 6.2% up to $176,100 wage base + Medicare 1.45%)[9], and Colorado state income tax at a 3.3% effective rate ($1,941/yr on the $59,120 median)[10].
Fort Collins also sits inside a larger metro labor market where commute patterns, remote-work policies, and adjacent-metro wages compete. A tight labor market (unemployment below 4%) gives candidates pricing power in negotiations. Median household income in the metro is $91,364, which frames what "a good Firefighter salary" means locally: a $$59,120 wage pays about 65% of the median household income on a single earner.
The deterministic identity: take_home = gross − federal − state − FICA − pre_tax. All math runs client-side; nothing is sent to our servers.
Cost of Living Breakdown — Fort Collins
Estimated annual expense shares on a $47,691 take-home, using BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey baseline shares scaled to Fort Collins's COL index of 111. Housing uses the actual median rent.
BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey shares[1], scaled by Fort Collins's COL index of 111[4]. Housing uses actual median rent of $1,500/month.
Salary vs Housing Affordability in Fort Collins
Renting
Buying
At $3,974/mo take-home, the 30% rent rule caps housing at $1,192/mo. Fort Collins's typical 1–2BR rent runs $1,971/mo[5] (HUD 2BR FMR: $1,825/mo), making rent tight but manageable on a median Firefighter salary. For homebuyers, the 8.5× price-to-income ratio is stretched — expect DTI friction on FHA / conventional underwriting without a co-borrower.
How Fort Collins Stacks Up for Firefighters
Against 283 major US cities: Fort Collins ranks #76 for nominal Firefighter salary, #171 for rent affordability, and #206 for overall purchasing power. High cost of living absorbs much of Fort Collins's nominal wage premium. Firefighters here often trade pay for lifestyle, proximity to employers, or family roots — consider nearby metros on a salary-to-COL basis.
Nearby Cities — Firefighter Salary Comparison
Fort Collins's closest metros, scaled by each city's cost-of-living index. Useful for relocation decisions where commute or remote-work policies allow a neighboring metro trade-off.
| City | Est. salary | COL | Rent | vs CO |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fort Collins, CO ★ | $59,120 | 111 | $1,500 | — |
| Denver, CO | $73,411 | 121 | $1,395 | +24.2% |
| Colorado Springs, CO | $62,490 | 103 | $995 | +5.7% |
| Boulder, CO | $80,084 | 132 | $2,100 | +35.5% |
| Aurora, CO | $64,917 | 107 | $1,650 | +9.8% |
| Thornton, CO | $65,524 | 108 | $1,700 | +10.8% |
Firefighter Job Market in Fort Collins
Fort Collins has an estimated 59 annual Firefighteropenings, extrapolated from the metro's share of 361,290 national Firefighters[1]. The 2.8% unemployment rate[3] signals a competitive labor market where skilled professionals can push for top-of-band offers.
About the profession: Firefighters respond to fires, medical emergencies, and other hazardous situations. Like police, they typically receive strong pension benefits and overtime pay. Typical entry requirement: postsecondary non-degree award. Projected growth through 2034: 4%[2].
Career Progression & Related Professions in Fort Collins
Early-career Firefighters in Fort Collins start around $36,932, reach the city median ($59,120) after 4–8 years, and hit 90th-percentile territory ($114,535) at senior / specialized levels.
Related government & military professions in Fort Collins
Calculators for Firefighters in Fort Collins
Other professions in Fort Collins
Frequently Asked Questions — Firefighter in Fort Collins
How much does a Firefighter make in Fort Collins, CO?
The estimated median salary for a Firefighter in Fort Collins is $59,120/year, scaled from the BLS OEWS Colorado state median ($54,250) by Fort Collins's composite cost-of-living index of 111 (US = 100). After federal, Colorado state, and FICA taxes, take-home is approximately $47,691/year or $3,974/month.
Can a Firefighter afford to live in Fort Collins?
On $3,974/month take-home, the 30% rent rule affords $1,192/month. Fort Collins's Zillow ZORI median rent is $1,971/mo, HUD's 2BR Fair Market Rent is $1,825/mo. The rent-to-income ratio works out to 30.4%, making housing tight but manageable for a Firefighter at the local median. Home-buyers face 8.5× price-to-income, needing roughly 8.5 years to save a 20% down payment at a 20% savings rate.
How much tax does a Firefighter pay in Fort Collins?
On $59,120 gross, a Firefighter in Fort Collins pays approximately $4,966 in federal income tax (8.4% effective), $1,941 in Colorado state income tax (3.3% effective), and $4,522 in FICA (Social Security + Medicare). Total effective rate: 19.3%. Some Colorado cities levy local income taxes in addition; check your municipal DoR before filing.
How does Fort Collins rank for Firefighter salaries vs other cities?
Fort Collins ranks #76 out of 283 tracked metros for nominal Firefighter salary, #171 for rent affordability (rent-to-income), and #206 for purchasing power (salary ÷ COL). The high-purchasing-power cities tend to be mid-size metros with strong local employers and moderate housing costs; the low-ranked cities trade high nominal pay for steep rents.
What is the cost-of-living breakdown for a Firefighter in Fort Collins?
On $47,691 take-home, a reasonable baseline budget for Fort Collins looks like: housing $18,000/yr (37.7%); food $6,101/yr; transportation $4,979/yr; healthcare $3,449/yr; utilities $2,516/yr; savings + discretionary $12,646/yr. Numbers use BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey shares scaled to Fort Collins's COL index of 111 and the city's actual median rent.
What's the Firefighter job market like in Fort Collins?
Fort Collins's unemployment rate is 2.8% across the metro of 365,000. Estimated annual Firefighter openings: ~59 (extrapolated from 361,290 nationally employed and the metro's population share). The tight labor market favors candidates in salary negotiations.
Do Fort Collins employers pay above or below the Colorado median for Firefighters?
Not consistently — Fort Collins's estimated Firefighter median of $59,120 is 2.6% below the national median. The trade-off is usually lower rents and (in some cases) lower state taxes, which can leave real purchasing power competitive.
Methodology — How we compute this page
Wage estimate. The Fort Collins median is derived from the Colorado state-level BLS OEWS median ($54,250), scaled by Fort Collins's composite cost-of-living index of 111. When BLS publishes a direct MSA-level wage for the occupation, that takes priority over the scaled state median. Percentile bands inherit the same scale factor.
Housing + rent. Median home value uses Zillow ZHVI; median rent prefers Zillow ZORI and falls back to Census ACS median gross rent. HUD Fair Market Rents (50th-percentile 2BR) are shown where HUD publishes the metro. Price-to-income and rent-to-income ratios use the estimated Firefightermedian (not the city's overall median household income) — to reflect the specific role-vs-city affordability picture.
Tax math. Federal tax uses 2025 IRS brackets and the $15,000 single standard deduction. FICA is Social Security 6.2% up to the $176,100 wage base + Medicare 1.45% (+ 0.9% Additional Medicare above $200,000). State tax uses Colorado's 2026 brackets from the state DoR (mirrored via Tax Foundation where the DoR's publication is paywalled or split). Local income taxes (e.g. NYC, Portland-OR supplemental, OH municipal) are NOT included — check your municipal authority for specifics.
Cost of living. The 111index is the composite used by CalcFi's /data/cities.ts, which merges Census ACS, BLS CPI shelter, Zillow ZORI, and commercial COL estimators. The COL-adjusted salary on this page assumes the statewide RPP = 101.9(BEA) approximates the state's purchasing power; cities are then scaled relative to that.
Refresh cadence. BLS OEWS releases annually (typically March); BEA RPP releases annually in December; IRS brackets adjust in October; Zillow ZHVI/ZORI updates monthly; HUD FMR publishes annually in August for the upcoming fiscal year. The dateModified shown above auto-bumps to the most recent retrievedAt on any sourced value the page consumes.
Known limits. Metro-level OEWS coverage is partial — only ~50 large MSAs have separately published occupation wages; the rest inherit state-level estimates scaled by COL. Rent and home data may trail the real-time market by 1–3 months (Zillow) or 8–12 months (ACS). Rankings are capped to the city set in our dataset (283 metros), not every incorporated US city.
Sources
Every number on this page cites a primary public dataset. Last reviewed (auto-bumped on the next ISR refresh after an ETL run).
- BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) — state-level occupational wages — www.bls.gov/oes. Retrieved 2026-06-15.
- BLS Employment Projections — 2024–34 occupational growth rates — www.bls.gov/emp. Retrieved 2026-06-15.
- BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics — metro-level unemployment rate — www.bls.gov/lau. Retrieved 2026-06-15.
- Bureau of Economic Analysis — Regional Price Parities (state + metro) — www.bea.gov/data/prices-inflation/regional-price-parities-state-and-metro-area. Retrieved 2026-06-15.
- Zillow Research — ZHVI (home value index) + ZORI (observed rent index) — www.zillow.com/research/data. Retrieved 2026-06-15.
- HUD Fair Market Rents — 50th-percentile 2-bedroom FY — www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/fmr.html. Retrieved 2026-06-15.
- U.S. Census Bureau — American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year estimates, metro level — www.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs. Retrieved 2026-06-15.
- Internal Revenue Service — Federal individual income tax brackets and standard deductions — www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-publication-17. Retrieved 2026-06-15.
- Social Security Administration — OASDI / Medicare contribution and wage-base rules — www.ssa.gov. Retrieved 2026-06-15.
- Colorado Department of Revenue — 2026 individual income tax brackets (accessed via Tax Foundation mirror) — taxfoundation.org/data/all/state/state-income-tax-rates. Retrieved 2026-06-15.
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