Firefighters in Oregon
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$53,055
after federal, FICA and Oregon tax
Tax takes
$17,845
25.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$50,663
Oregon costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Oregon — 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
$70,900
Kept after tax
$53,055
Worth in national money
$50,663
State rank
12
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for firefighters is strong here. Oregon's middle earner gets $70,900, putting the state 12 of 50 — about 19.6% ahead of the national figure.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Firefighters ranks 212 among 489 occupations Oregon publishes pay for.
- Oregon is an expensive state, and the adjusted figure shows it. From $70,900 the take-home is $53,055; in national-average money that behaves like $50,663. The average comes to $71,290, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For firefighters, Oregon sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $70,900, ranking 12 of 50 and running about 19.6% above the national midpoint. Nominal advantage of this size is usually, though not always, large enough to survive the state's own tax and price levels.
- Position 212 of 489 in Oregon 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.
- Take-home for firefighters in Oregon, on $70,900, is $53,055; deflated by the state's price level, $50,663. ⚠️ The deflator is statewide, so it understates the erosion in the state's metropolitan areas and overstates it outside them. At $71,290 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Firefighters
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $38,800 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $70,900 |
| Top tenth earn over | $104,070 |
| This salary | $70,900 |
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 Oregon | $53,055 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $58,708 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$9,752 |
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 | $63,316 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$12,342 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 105 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of firefighters in Oregon earn under $70,900 and half over. The published range runs $38,800 at the tenth percentile to $104,070 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Oregon's $53,055, worked from $70,900. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 212 of 489.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $50,663 uses one figure for the whole of Oregon. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 489 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 212.
- Figures are distribution medians for firefighters in Oregon, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $38,800 to $104,070; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- The Oregon take-home of $53,055, on $70,900 for work ranking 212 of 489 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 212 of 489 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $50,663, worked from $70,900, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular Oregon address, on work sitting at 212 of 489 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $38,800 and the top tenth $104,070 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
A larger wage in a dearer place is not automatically more. Adjusted for local prices, this pay behaves like $50,663 of national purchasing power.
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 Oregon's own levy, $53,055 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 50 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($38,800) and the ninetieth ($104,070) 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.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
Oregon's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $50,663 in national-average terms. ⚠️ RPPs are an all-items index; housing parities vary far more widely than the headline figure.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $53,055 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Oregon 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.