Fire Inspectors and Investigators · SOC 33-2021

Highest-Paying Metro Areas for Fire Inspectors and Investigatorss

Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025U.S. metropolitan areas

Metro areas ranked by published median annual wage for fire inspectors and investigators. Areas where BLS suppressed the median are not ranked (3 such areas are excluded here). Higher medians often track higher living costs — this is a pay comparison, not a ranking of where the job is “best”.

Top 25 of 83 metro areas

Fire Inspectors and Investigators: metro areas with the highest published median annual wages, May 2025
#	Metro area	Median annual	Employment	Per 1,000 jobs
1	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$159,220	40	0.0
2	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$129,410	270	0.1
3	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$127,920	210	0.1
4	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$119,780	Not published	Not published
5	Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	$107,690	100	0.1
6	Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT	$99,860	70	0.2
7	Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA	$99,660	30	0.2
8	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	$99,580	270	0.2
9	Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD	$98,730	220	0.2
10	Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA	$98,150	50	0.2
11	Fresno, CA	$98,090	30	0.1
12	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$97,250	80	0.1
13	Reno, NV	$94,750	40	0.1
14	Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX	$94,690	290	0.1
15	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$94,140	Not published	Not published
16	Las Vegas-Henderson-North Las Vegas, NV	$93,450	130	0.1
17	New Haven, CT	$93,430	60	0.2
18	Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO	$88,540	Not published	Not published
19	Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL	$88,260	350	0.1
20	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	$87,630	110	0.0
21	Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA	$86,830	80	0.4
22	Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI	$86,630	110	0.1
23	Dayton-Kettering-Beavercreek, OH	$86,290	40	0.1
24	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	$84,410	200	0.1
25	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$83,410	130	0.0

Full state and metro tables, the national distribution, and the pay map are on the Fire Inspectors and Investigators overview.

About this data. Estimates are from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program, May 2025 release, retrieved from bls.gov/oes/tables.htm on July 24, 2026. OEWS estimates describe metropolitan/nonmetropolitan areas and states — not city limits — and are not designed for year-over-year comparisons. See BLS methodology, our plain-English methodology, and sources. CitySalaryData is independent and not affiliated with BLS.