Firefighters
Career firefighters include full-time (career) uniformed firefighters regardless of assignments, e.g., suppression, prevention/inspection, administrative. Career firefighters included here work for a public municipal fire department; they do not include career firefighters who work for private fire brigades.
Volunteer firefighters include any active part-time (call or volunteer) firefighters. Active volunteers are defined as being involved in firefighting.
- Estimated number of firefighters in 2008: 1,148,850 (career: 321,700, volunteer: 827,150)
- Firefighters by age group: 16-19 (4%), 20-29 (25%), 30-39 (26%), 40-49 (24%), 50-59 (15%), 60 and over (6%)
- Seventy-four percent of career firefighters are in communities that protect a population of 25,000 or more.
- Ninety-four percent of the volunteers are in departments that protect a population of less than 25,000 and more than 50% are located in small, rural departments that protect a population of less than 2,500.
The following table shows the numbers of firefighters in the United States from 1999 to 2008.
Year |
Total Firefighters |
Career |
Volunteer |
|---|---|---|---|
1999 |
1,065,150 |
279,900 |
785,250 |
2000 |
1,064,150 |
286,800 |
777,350 |
2001 |
1,078,300 |
293,600 |
784,700 |
2002 |
1,108,250 |
291,650 |
816,600 |
2003 |
1,096,900 |
296,850 |
800,050 |
2004 |
1,100,750 |
305,150 |
795,600 |
2005 |
1,136,650 |
313,300 |
823,350 |
2006 |
1,140,900 |
316,950 |
823,950 |
2007 |
1,148,800 |
323,350 |
825,450 |
2008 |
1,148,850 |
321,700 |
827,150 |
Source: National Fire Protection Association, U.S. Fire Department Profile Through 2008
Related Topics
Related Publications (Download, Adobe Acrobat (PDF) Help)
Fire-Related Firefighter Injuries in 2004 (PDF, 2.5 Mb)- Firefighter Injuries in Structures (PDF, 95 Kb)
- Firefighter Injuries (PDF, 119 Kb)
Links of Interest
Last Reviewed: November 12, 2009
U.S. Fire Administration, 16825 S. Seton Ave., Emmitsburg, MD 21727
(301) 447-1000 Fax: (301) 447-1346 Admissions Fax: (301) 447-1441