Firefighter Salary in Seattle, WA: Median $84,240 in 2026
Seattle (WA) · COL index 156 · Unemployment 3.4% · Metro pop 4,100,000 · Rank #13 of 283 for Firefighter salary
A Firefighter in Seattle earns an estimated median of $84,240 per year. That figure starts from the Washington state-level BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics median[1]($58,520) and scales it by Seattle's composite cost-of-living index of 156 (US = 100). The 10th percentile comes in around $53,003; the 90th percentile reaches $164,579. After federal, Washington state (no state income tax), and FICA taxes, a single-filer Firefighter takes home approximately $67,815/year — about $5,651/month or $2,608 every other week.
Compared to the national Firefighter median of $60,670, Seattle pays +38.8%. Relative to the Seattle median household income of $102,900, a Firefightersalary runs -18.1%. Local unemployment is 3.4%[3], with an estimated 862 annual Firefighter openings inferred from metro population share and national employment (361,290).
Firefighter Snapshot — Seattle (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 | Seattle | National | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Firefighter median salary | $84,240 | $60,670 | [1] |
| 10th percentile | $53,003 | $42,290 | [1] |
| 90th percentile | $164,579 | $112,440 | [1] |
| Annual take-home (single filer) | $67,815 | — | [8][10] |
| Median home value (ZHVI) | $751,552 | — | [5] |
| Median rent (ZORI) | $2,192/mo | — | [5] |
| HUD Fair Market Rent (2BR) | $2,025/mo | — | [6] |
| Median household income (ACS) | $112,594 | — | [7] |
| Cost-of-living index | 156.0 | 100.0 | [4] |
| Unemployment rate | 3.4% | — | [3] |
How Firefighter Salaries Work in Seattle
City-level wages aren't published directly by BLS for most SOC codes. We build them by anchoring to the Washington state-level OEWS median ($58,520) and scaling by Seattle's composite cost-of-living index (156)[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 no Washington state income tax — a meaningful wedge worth $4,212–$5,897 per year vs average-tax states[10].
Seattle 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 $112,594, which frames what "a good Firefighter salary" means locally: a $$84,240 wage pays about 75% 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.
Firefighter Salary & Cost-of-Living Context — Seattle
Buy vs rent in Seattle
Monthly PITI on the $751,552 median home in Seattle is ~$5,137/mo — vs a $2,192/mo median rent. Rent burden on median household income is 23.4%, which falls within the recommended 30% guideline for housing costs.
Cost of Living Breakdown — Seattle
Estimated annual expense shares on a $67,815 take-home, using BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey baseline shares scaled to Seattle's COL index of 156. Housing uses the actual median rent.
BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey shares[1], scaled by Seattle's COL index of 156[4]. Housing uses actual median rent of $1,800/month.
Salary vs Housing Affordability in Seattle
Renting
Buying
At $5,651/mo take-home, the 30% rent rule caps housing at $1,695/mo. Seattle's typical 1–2BR rent runs $2,192/mo[5] (HUD 2BR FMR: $2,025/mo), making rent affordable on a median Firefighter salary. For homebuyers, the 9.3× price-to-income ratio is stretched — expect DTI friction on FHA / conventional underwriting without a co-borrower.
How Seattle Stacks Up for Firefighters
Against 283 major US cities: Seattle ranks #13 for nominal Firefighter salary, #100 for rent affordability, and #271 for overall purchasing power. High cost of living absorbs much of Seattle'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
Seattle'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 WA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seattle, WA ★ | $84,240 | 156 | $1,800 | — |
| Spokane, WA | $57,030 | 94 | $1,050 | -32.3% |
| Kennewick, WA | $59,457 | 98 | $1,200 | -29.4% |
| Kent, WA | $69,771 | 115 | $1,750 | -17.2% |
| Tacoma, WA | $67,950 | 112 | $1,600 | -19.3% |
| Lakewood, WA | $63,704 | 105 | $1,400 | -24.4% |
Firefighter Job Market in Seattle
Seattle has an estimated 862 annual Firefighteropenings, extrapolated from the metro's share of 361,290 national Firefighters[1]. The 3.4% unemployment rate[3] signals a competitive labor market where skilled professionals can push for top-of-band offers.
Top employers in Seattle
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 Seattle
Early-career Firefighters in Seattle start around $53,003, reach the city median ($84,240) after 4–8 years, and hit 90th-percentile territory ($164,579) at senior / specialized levels.
Related government & military professions in Seattle
Calculators for Firefighters in Seattle
Other professions in Seattle
Frequently Asked Questions — Firefighter in Seattle
How much does a Firefighter make in Seattle, WA?
The estimated median salary for a Firefighter in Seattle is $84,240/year, scaled from the BLS OEWS Washington state median ($58,520) by Seattle's composite cost-of-living index of 156 (US = 100). After federal, Washington state, and FICA taxes, take-home is approximately $67,815/year or $5,651/month.
Can a Firefighter afford to live in Seattle?
On $5,651/month take-home, the 30% rent rule affords $1,695/month. Seattle's Zillow ZORI median rent is $2,192/mo, HUD's 2BR Fair Market Rent is $2,025/mo. The rent-to-income ratio works out to 25.6%, making housing affordable for a Firefighter at the local median. Home-buyers face 9.3× price-to-income, needing roughly 9.3 years to save a 20% down payment at a 20% savings rate.
How much tax does a Firefighter pay in Seattle?
On $84,240 gross, a Firefighter in Seattle pays approximately $9,981 in federal income tax (11.8% effective), $0 in state income tax (Washington has no state individual income tax), and $6,444 in FICA (Social Security + Medicare). Total effective rate: 19.5%. Some Washington cities levy local income taxes in addition; check your municipal DoR before filing.
How does Seattle rank for Firefighter salaries vs other cities?
Seattle ranks #13 out of 283 tracked metros for nominal Firefighter salary, #100 for rent affordability (rent-to-income), and #271 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 Seattle?
On $67,815 take-home, a reasonable baseline budget for Seattle looks like: housing $21,600/yr (31.9%); food $10,872/yr; transportation $8,301/yr; healthcare $5,545/yr; utilities $4,340/yr; savings + discretionary $17,157/yr. Numbers use BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey shares scaled to Seattle's COL index of 156 and the city's actual median rent.
What's the Firefighter job market like in Seattle?
Seattle's unemployment rate is 3.4% across the metro of 4,100,000. Estimated annual Firefighter openings: ~862 (extrapolated from 361,290 nationally employed and the metro's population share). The tight labor market favors candidates in salary negotiations.
Do Seattle employers pay above or below the Washington median for Firefighters?
Yes — Seattle's estimated Firefighter median of $84,240 is 38.8% above the national median. Higher nominal pay in this city partially offsets the higher cost of living; the real picture depends on housing costs and state taxes.
Methodology — How we compute this page
Wage estimate. The Seattle median is derived from the Washington state-level BLS OEWS median ($58,520), scaled by Seattle's composite cost-of-living index of 156. 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 Washington'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 156index 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 = 108.4(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 2026-06-14.
- BLS Employment Projections — 2024–34 occupational growth rates — www.bls.gov/emp. Retrieved 2026-06-14.
- BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics — metro-level unemployment rate — www.bls.gov/lau. Retrieved 2026-06-14.
- Bureau of Economic Analysis — Regional Price Parities (state + metro) — www.bea.gov/data/prices-inflation/regional-price-parities-state-and-metro-area. Retrieved 2026-06-14.
- Zillow Research — ZHVI (home value index) + ZORI (observed rent index) — www.zillow.com/research/data. Retrieved 2026-06-14.
- HUD Fair Market Rents — 50th-percentile 2-bedroom FY — www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/fmr.html. Retrieved 2026-06-14.
- U.S. Census Bureau — American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year estimates, metro level — www.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs. Retrieved 2026-06-14.
- Internal Revenue Service — Federal individual income tax brackets and standard deductions — www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-publication-17. Retrieved 2026-06-14.
- Social Security Administration — OASDI / Medicare contribution and wage-base rules — www.ssa.gov. Retrieved 2026-06-14.
- Washington Department of Revenue — 2026 individual income tax brackets (accessed via Tax Foundation mirror) — taxfoundation.org/data/all/state/state-income-tax-rates. Retrieved 2026-06-14.
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