Fire Inspectors and Investigators · SOC 33-2021

Fire Inspectors and Investigators Salary in the Seattle Metro Area

Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA metro area

Figures describe the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA metropolitan statistical area as defined by BLS/OMB — the whole multi-county metro region, not Seattle city limits.

Median annual wage$127,920
Median hourly wage$61.50

Fire Inspectors and Investigators in the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA metro area earned a median of $127,920 per year ($61.50 per hour) as of the May 2025 BLS OEWS estimates. Pay ranged from $79,180 at the 10th percentile to $151,140 at the 90th. BLS estimates 210 people work in this occupation in the area.

Pay distribution

Half of Fire Inspectors and Investigators in the Seattle metro area earn more than $127,920 per year, half earn less; the middle half earn between $96,550 and $130,740.

Wage percentiles (BLS OEWS)
Wage10th25thMedian75th90th
Annual$79,180$96,550$127,920$130,740$151,140
Hourly$38.07$46.42$61.50$62.85$72.66

A percentile is a cut point: 25% of workers in this occupation and area earn less than the 25th-percentile wage. The median is the 50th percentile — half earn less, half earn more.

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How this area compares

  • Seattle metro areathis metro area
    $127,920 median for Seattle metro area; middle half earns $96,550 to $130,740
  • Washingtonstate (WA)
    $122,900 median for Washington; middle half earns $95,640 to $130,740
  • $75,920 median for United States; middle half earns $58,690 to $95,120

Bars span the 25th–75th percentile (the middle half of workers); the tick marks the median.

The median here is +4% vs Washington overall and +68% vs the U.S. median for this occupation.

Compare with other areas

Where this metro sits nationally

$35,790$76,933$118,077$159,220Pittsburgh, PA — $35,790Oklahoma City, OK — $37,320Wichita, KS — $44,440Wilmington, NC — $45,100Portland-South Portland, ME — $45,230Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ — $48,060Charleston, WV — $49,100Akron, OH — $54,350Atlantic City-Hammonton, NJ — $55,930Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach, FL — $56,270Jackson, MS — $56,370Cleveland, OH — $57,590Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN — $57,710Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, FL — $58,720Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD — $59,080Gulfport-Biloxi, MS — $61,660Charleston-North Charleston, SC — $62,180Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN — $62,400Albuquerque, NM — $62,800Columbus, OH — $63,460Winston-Salem, NC — $63,950Jacksonville, FL — $64,090Rochester, NY — $64,990Lincoln, NE — $65,620New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ — $65,710Toledo, OH — $66,540Santa Fe, NM — $68,140San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX — $68,650Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA — $71,070Trenton-Princeton, NJ — $72,290Salt Lake City-Murray, UT — $72,760Waterbury-Shelton, CT — $72,990Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL — $73,140Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN — $73,440Greensboro-High Point, NC — $73,540Syracuse, NY — $74,740Durham-Chapel Hill, NC — $75,470Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ — $75,580Tucson, AZ — $76,350North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota, FL — $76,370Springfield, MA — $76,460Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT — $76,550Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC — $76,740Raleigh-Cary, NC — $77,120Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN — $77,160Naples-Marco Island, FL — $77,230Providence-Warwick, RI-MA — $77,730Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL — $78,100Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY — $78,150Kansas City, MO-KS — $78,470Baton Rouge, LA — $78,530Norwich-New London-Willimantic, CT — $78,760Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL — $79,700St. Louis, MO-IL — $80,340Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX — $80,510Memphis, TN-MS-AR — $82,280Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX — $82,390Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY — $82,640Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH — $83,410Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI — $84,410Dayton-Kettering-Beavercreek, OH — $86,290Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI — $86,630Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA — $86,830Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV — $87,630Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL — $88,260Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO — $88,540New Haven, CT — $93,430Las Vegas-Henderson-North Las Vegas, NV — $93,450Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA — $94,140Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX — $94,690Reno, NV — $94,750San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA — $97,250Fresno, CA — $98,090Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA — $98,150Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD — $98,730Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA — $99,580Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA — $99,660Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT — $99,860Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA — $107,690Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA — $119,780Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA — $127,920San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA — $129,410San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA — $159,220

Each dot is one metro area with a published median — hover any dot for the name and figure. Metros without published estimates are not drawn.

The Seattle metro area has the 3rd-highest published median for this occupation among the 83 metro areas where BLS publishes it. Higher medians often track higher living costs — this is a pay comparison, not a ranking of where the job is “best”.

Keep exploring

Other occupations in the same SOC group with published medians here, largest employment first:

Highest-paying metro areas for fire inspectors and investigatorss · Highest-paying occupations in Seattle Metro

About this estimate

These figures are survey estimates from the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program — modeled from employer reports collected over three years and benchmarked to May 2025. They describe what employers in this area currently pay across all industries, not what any individual worker will be offered.

Employment counts wage-and-salary jobs in the occupation (self-employed workers are excluded). Estimates carry sampling error; percentile wages are rounded by BLS. Some values are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality or quality — suppressed values appear here as “not published”, never as zero. Read the full methodology.

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.