Firefighter Salary in South East

What most firefighters actually earn

Half of firefighters across the UK earn between £30,655 and £49,455. Earning above £49,455 puts you in the top quarter of the profession.

This range is UK-wide — ONS publishes no regional breakdown of the spread for this occupation.

How South East ranks for firefighter pay

London tops the table on £49,992 and Yorkshire and The Humber sits at the bottom on £37,007. South East is £10,239 short of the top.

Ranking compares published regional medians for the same occupation. It says nothing about cost of living — a higher median doesn't survive contact with rent. The cost of living calculator is the honest next step.

Where this figure comes from

ONS occupation group

Fire service officers (watch manager and below)

SOC 2020 code

3313

Measure

Gross annual pay, all employees

Edition

ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, 2025 provisional

ONS doesn't measure “firefighter” as its own category. These figures are for the wider group “Fire service officers (watch manager and below)”, which includes this role alongside others.

Source: Office for National Statistics, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Figures are estimates from a survey of PAYE jobs and are not financial advice.