Firefighters in Ohio
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$48,967
after federal, FICA and Ohio tax
Tax takes
$10,403
17.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$53,335
Ohio costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Ohio — roughly, since only five points along the band are published.
One filer, standard deduction, no dependants and nothing paid in before tax — the same household the rest of this page uses, so the comparison holds. City and school-district income taxes are not included.
Median here
$59,370
Kept after tax
$48,967
Worth in national money
$53,335
State rank
18
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Ohio sits in the middle of the pack for firefighters. The median is $59,370, ranking 18 of 50 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Firefighters ranks 242 among 494 occupations Ohio publishes pay for.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $59,370 you keep $48,967 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $53,335 at national prices. Here the average runs under the middle, at $58,130.
- Ohio occupies the middle band for firefighters: a median of $59,370, ranking 18 of 50. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Position 242 of 494 in Ohio places firefighters in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- Retained pay in Ohio is $48,967 after the full tax stack, from $59,370. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $53,335 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $58,130 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Firefighters
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $34,420 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $59,370 |
| Top tenth earn over | $84,010 |
| This salary | $59,370 |
Positions between the published tenth, quarter, half, three-quarter and ninetieth points are estimated by straight line.
The same pay, somewhere else
The state median for this job
| Take-home in Ohio | $48,967 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $49,884 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,001 |
The raise and the real gain point in opposite directions here.
State income tax and state price levels only. No city income tax, and no housing market.
What you would need there
The state median for this job
| To match take-home only | $58,230 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,419 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 92 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $59,370 as a midpoint for Ohio, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $34,420 and the ninetieth is $84,010 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Ohio the take-home figure of $48,967, from $59,370, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 242 of 494 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $53,335, the adjusted value of that $59,370 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Ohio. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 242 of 494 locally.
- The Ohio median of $59,370 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $34,420 to $84,010. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for Ohio is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $48,967 from $59,370. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 242 of 494 locally.
- This $53,335 adjusted figure, worked from $59,370, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 242 of 494 in the state. The occupation ranks 242 of 494 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $34,420 at the bottom tenth to $84,010 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Ohio sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $53,335 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and Ohio's own levy, $48,967 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 50 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($34,420) and the ninetieth ($84,010) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Ohio's regional price parity is at or below the national average, so nominal wages understate purchasing power. Take-home deflated by the state price level is $53,335 in national-average terms. The adjustment uses an all-items index and does not isolate housing.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $48,967 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Ohio income tax for a single filer with no adjustments. The state layer is levied in addition to the federal one; only its rate and base differ between states.
Why does this occupation lack published estimates in every state?
BLS suppresses estimates failing disclosure or reliability criteria. This occupation has published state-level estimates in 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.