What is a typical salary for a fire chief?

The typical salary for a fire chief is about $70,000 a year, as of 2015. The salaries of fire chiefs depends on their locations; fire chiefs in populated urban areas make more than those from rural areas.

The fire chiefs in the top percentile can earn over $100,000, while those in the lowest percentile can earn $41,000. Fire chiefs in California, New York, Florida, Massachusetts and Texas have the highest mean salaries in the United States. Most of the highest paying municipal areas for fire chiefs are in California. Fire chiefs in the Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine, California, area have a mean hourly wage of $73 and make over $150,000 a year.