How much does a Firefighter make in Rhode Island?

BLS reports a median annual wage of $69,480 for Firefighters in Rhode Island as of the latest OES release. That is the 50th-percentile figure — half earn more, half earn less. The 25th-percentile is $61,260 and the 75th-percentile is $75,310.

What is the real (cost-adjusted) Firefighter salary in Rhode Island?

After BEA RPP adjustment (regional price parity index 102.1 for Rhode Island), the real-wage equivalent is $68,074 — what the $69,480 nominal salary actually buys. Quartiles in real terms: $60,021 to $73,786.

How are Rhode Island 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.

Why is the BEA RPP for Rhode Island 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. Rhode Island's overall index of 102.1 reflects rents 102.7, services 145.1, and goods 98.3.

Should I negotiate based on the BLS median for Rhode Island?

The BLS median is a calibration anchor, not a ceiling. Use it to validate that an offer is in-band — anything well below the P25 in this state is a flag, anything above the P75 typically requires demonstrable specialty depth, niche credentials, or a high-COL metro within Rhode Island.

When does this data update?

BLS OES releases a new May reference set roughly each spring; we re-run the ETL pipeline within two weeks of release. BEA RPP refreshes annually. The last-synced timestamp at the top of this page reflects the most recent build.

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

Most career firefighters in Rhode Island 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 Pay in Rhode Island: $69K Median + Purchasing Power (2026)

TL;DR

$69,480 is the BLS median wage for Firefighters in Rhode Island; $68,074 is the BEA-adjusted purchasing-power equivalent.
State ranks #13 nationally on nominal wage, #14 on real (RPP-adjusted) wage.
Cost of living tracks roughly with the national index, so nominal and real wages stay close.
Bottom quartile $61,260, top quartile $75,310. The P90 ($89,140) is roughly 1.7× the P10 ($52,000).

Wage breakdown — Rhode Island

Percentile	Nominal (BLS)	Real (BEA RPP-adjusted)
P10 (entry tier)	$52,000	$50,948
P25 (lower quartile)	$61,260	$60,021
P50 (median)	$69,480	$68,074
P75 (upper quartile)	$75,310	$73,786
P90 (top tier)	$89,140	$87,337
Mean	$68,840	$67,447
Employment	1,590 Firefighters in Rhode Island

Cost of living — BEA Regional Price Parity

Component	Rhode Island index (US = 100)
All-items RPP	102.1
Goods	98.3
Services	145.1
Rents	102.7

Rhode Island's overall RPP (102.1) is close to the national 100 baseline; nominal and real wage move roughly together.

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

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

Layer	Amount	Note
Gross BLS P50 (Firefighter)	$69,480	nominal median
Federal income tax	−$6,533	9.4% effective; std deduction $15,750 applied
State income tax	−$2,210	3.75–5.99% (graduated)
FICA (SS 6.2% + Medicare 1.45%)	−$5,315	SS capped at $183,600 wage base
Take-home (after-tax)	$55,422	79.8% of gross
Real take-home (RPP-adjusted)	$54,301	÷ (102.1 / 100) BEA cost-of-living

What the Rhode Island state-tax burden means for Firefighter take-home

Mid-band state-tax burden at 3.2% effective. Combined with federal and FICA, take-home is $55,422 (79.8% of gross). After the 102.1 RPP, real take-home is $54,301.

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. Rhode Island sits at #13 on nominal pay and #14 on real (cost-adjusted) pay among the 51 states and DC. After cost adjustment, Rhode Island falls 1 positions — the cost premium eats into the headline wage.

Frequently asked questions

How much does a Firefighter make in Rhode Island?: BLS reports a median annual wage of $69,480 for Firefighters in Rhode Island as of the latest OES release. That is the 50th-percentile figure — half earn more, half earn less. The 25th-percentile is $61,260 and the 75th-percentile is $75,310.
What is the real (cost-adjusted) Firefighter salary in Rhode Island?: After BEA RPP adjustment (regional price parity index 102.1 for Rhode Island), the real-wage equivalent is $68,074 — what the $69,480 nominal salary actually buys. Quartiles in real terms: $60,021 to $73,786.
How are Rhode Island 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.
Why is the BEA RPP for Rhode Island 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. Rhode Island's overall index of 102.1 reflects rents 102.7, services 145.1, and goods 98.3.
Should I negotiate based on the BLS median for Rhode Island?: The BLS median is a calibration anchor, not a ceiling. Use it to validate that an offer is in-band — anything well below the P25 in this state is a flag, anything above the P75 typically requires demonstrable specialty depth, niche credentials, or a high-COL metro within Rhode Island.
When does this data update?: BLS OES releases a new May reference set roughly each spring; we re-run the ETL pipeline within two weeks of release. BEA RPP refreshes annually. The last-synced timestamp at the top of this page reflects the most recent build.
How does the 24/48 shift schedule distort BLS firefighter pay in Rhode Island?: Most career firefighters in Rhode Island 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 Rhode Island 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.