How are Maine Firefighter salaries calculated on this page?

Nominal wages come from BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OES) — annual employer surveys, May 2026 reference period. Real-wage figures use BEA Regional Price Parities (2023 vintage) to adjust for state-level cost of living. No self-report or jobs-board data is mixed in.

How many Firefighters does Maine employ?

BLS OES counts 2,390 Firefighters employed in Maine in the most recent release. Employment density relative to population determines whether wage tiers reflect a robust competitive market or a thinner labor pool.

Why is the BEA RPP for Maine different from a single CPI number?

BEA splits regional price parity into three components — goods, services, and rents — reweighted to the BEA's national consumption basket. Maine's overall index of 98.0 reflects rents 80.4, services 148.2, and goods 98.3.

Where does Maine rank for Firefighter pay?

On nominal BLS wages alone, Maine ranks among the 51 states and DC by median pay. After the BEA cost-of-living adjustment the ordering changes — high-cost states fall, low-cost states rise. Both rankings are shown in the data table on this page.

Is Maine a 'real-wage arbitrage' state for Firefighters?

No — Maine's RPP is close to the national 100 baseline, so nominal and real wages move roughly together. Neither an arbitrage nor a penalty state.

What are the limits of these Firefighter salary numbers?

BLS OES is an employer survey of W-2 wages — it excludes contractor pay, bonuses outside the base wage definition, equity compensation, and tip income. Self-employed practitioners and gig workers are not represented. For occupations with significant non-W-2 income, the BLS figure is a floor, not a complete picture.

How does the 24/48 shift schedule distort BLS firefighter pay in Maine?

Most career firefighters in Maine work a 24-hours-on, 48-hours-off rotation totaling roughly 56 hours per week — substantially more than the 40-hour assumption underlying many salary comparisons. BLS OEWS reports annual W-2 wages, which include the structurally elevated base from the longer schedule plus FLSA-mandated overtime above 53 hours/week. The headline number understates intensity: per-shift effective compensation looks high; per-hour-of-life-spent-at-the-station it's closer to a typical municipal worker's rate.

Firefighter Salary in Maine (2026): $47K Median, BEA RPP-Adjusted

TL;DR

Median Firefighter salary in Maine: $47,490 nominal, $48,477 real (BEA RPP basis).
Cost adjustment is small — neither an arbitrage state nor a high-cost penalty.
Quartile range $39,530 (bottom 25%) to $58,690 (top 25%); the P10-P90 envelope is $33,900 to $63,040.
Firefighter ranking: #36 on the BLS table, #41 once cost of living is in.

Wage breakdown — Maine

Percentile	Nominal (BLS)	Real (BEA RPP-adjusted)
P10 (entry tier)	$33,900	$34,605
P25 (lower quartile)	$39,530	$40,352
P50 (median)	$47,490	$48,477
P75 (upper quartile)	$58,690	$59,910
P90 (top tier)	$63,040	$64,350
Mean	$49,210	$50,233
Employment	2,390 Firefighters in Maine

Cost of living — BEA Regional Price Parity

Component	Maine index (US = 100)
All-items RPP	98.0
Goods	98.3
Services	148.2
Rents	80.4

Maine's overall RPP (98.0) is close to the national 100 baseline; nominal and real wage move roughly together.

After-tax take-home — Maine (2024 BLS · 2024 tax year, single filer)

Layer-by-layer take-home math at the BLS median

Layer	Amount	Note
Gross BLS P50 (Firefighter)	$47,490	nominal median
Federal income tax	−$3,561	7.5% effective; std deduction $15,750 applied
State income tax	−$1,973	5.8–7.15% (graduated)
FICA (SS 6.2% + Medicare 1.45%)	−$3,633	SS capped at $183,600 wage base
Take-home (after-tax)	$38,324	80.7% of gross
Real take-home (RPP-adjusted)	$39,120	÷ (98.0 / 100) BEA cost-of-living

What the Maine state-tax burden means for Firefighter take-home

Mid-band state-tax burden at 4.2% effective. Combined with federal and FICA, take-home is $38,324 (80.7% of gross). After the 98.0 RPP, real take-home is $39,120.

Computed from 2026 IRS federal brackets (Rev. Proc. 2025-32), 2026 state DOR brackets, and 2026 FICA rates. Single filer, standard deduction, no other adjustments. See methodology · tax for limitations (married filers, ITM/SALT itemizers, retirement deferrals, HSA, dependent credits, etc.).

National context

Across the United States, BLS reports a national median of $59,530 for Firefighters with mean pay of $63,890 and total employment of 332,240. Maine sits at #36 on nominal pay and #41 on real (cost-adjusted) pay among the 51 states and DC. After cost adjustment, Maine falls 5 positions — the cost premium eats into the headline wage.

Frequently asked questions

How are Maine Firefighter salaries calculated on this page?: Nominal wages come from BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OES) — annual employer surveys, May 2026 reference period. Real-wage figures use BEA Regional Price Parities (2023 vintage) to adjust for state-level cost of living. No self-report or jobs-board data is mixed in.
How many Firefighters does Maine employ?: BLS OES counts 2,390 Firefighters employed in Maine in the most recent release. Employment density relative to population determines whether wage tiers reflect a robust competitive market or a thinner labor pool.
Why is the BEA RPP for Maine different from a single CPI number?: BEA splits regional price parity into three components — goods, services, and rents — reweighted to the BEA's national consumption basket. Maine's overall index of 98.0 reflects rents 80.4, services 148.2, and goods 98.3.
Where does Maine rank for Firefighter pay?: On nominal BLS wages alone, Maine ranks among the 51 states and DC by median pay. After the BEA cost-of-living adjustment the ordering changes — high-cost states fall, low-cost states rise. Both rankings are shown in the data table on this page.
Is Maine a 'real-wage arbitrage' state for Firefighters?: No — Maine's RPP is close to the national 100 baseline, so nominal and real wages move roughly together. Neither an arbitrage nor a penalty state.
What are the limits of these Firefighter salary numbers?: BLS OES is an employer survey of W-2 wages — it excludes contractor pay, bonuses outside the base wage definition, equity compensation, and tip income. Self-employed practitioners and gig workers are not represented. For occupations with significant non-W-2 income, the BLS figure is a floor, not a complete picture.
How does the 24/48 shift schedule distort BLS firefighter pay in Maine?: Most career firefighters in Maine work a 24-hours-on, 48-hours-off rotation totaling roughly 56 hours per week — substantially more than the 40-hour assumption underlying many salary comparisons. BLS OEWS reports annual W-2 wages, which include the structurally elevated base from the longer schedule plus FLSA-mandated overtime above 53 hours/week. The headline number understates intensity: per-shift effective compensation looks high; per-hour-of-life-spent-at-the-station it's closer to a typical municipal worker's rate.

Sources & methodology

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OES), SOC 33-2011, 2024 reference period.
U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis — Regional Price Parities, 2023 vintage (all-items, goods, services, rents).
Real-wage figures = nominal BLS wage ÷ (state RPP / 100).
See the methodology page for full computation details and limitations.

By Marcus Liang · Founder & Editor · Last synced 2026-05-05.

Cross-comparison: see how Maine Firefighter pay ranks against the other 254 state × occupation pages on the Real Wage Atlas → — four-way ranking by real wage, after-tax take-home, state-tax savings, and cost-of-living arbitrage.