City of Buffalo / Fire Captain
Role across City of Buffalo
Fire Captain
Respond to fires and emergencies, perform rescue and medical aid, and carry out prevention and inspection.
50 people hold the Fire Captain role across 34 departments in City of Buffalo, with a median total compensation of $144,755. Among 19 jurisdictions where this role is reported, City of Buffalo ranks #9 by median pay.
- Employees
- 50
- Median pay
- $144,755
- Departments
- 34
- Cross-jurisdiction
- #9 of 19
Compared with the local labor market
Fire Captain pay vs. the Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY area
Across all employers in the Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY area, the median wage for First-Line Supervisors of Firefighting and Prevention Workers — about 300 people — is $99,260. City of Buffalo pays a median base salary of $77,616 for this role, 22% below that figure — below the 10th percentile of local pay for the occupation.
Where City of Buffalo sits in the local pay range
The bar is the range of annual wages for First-Line Supervisors of Firefighting and Prevention Workers across every employer in the Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY area, from the 10th to the 90th percentile, with the middle 50% highlighted. The marker shows City of Buffalo’s median base salary for this role. Both figures are base pay only.
And across the country
Nationwide, the median wage for First-Line Supervisors of Firefighting and Prevention Workers — about 99,140 people — is $93,530. City of Buffalo’s median base salary is 17% below that national figure, about the 31st percentile of pay for the occupation nationally.
Local and national wages differ for reasons beyond how well a job pays — cost of living, the mix of employers, and local demand for the occupation all move the Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY range relative to the national one.
Computed over the 39 of 50 people in this role paid at least $25,000 in base salary. The rest are part-year or part-time records, whose actual pay isn’t comparable to a full-time annual wage.
Median total compensation for this role at City of Buffalo is $144,755, which includes overtime and employer-paid benefits. The benchmark above excludes both, so total compensation is deliberately not compared against it.
Benchmark: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (May 2025). BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) covers all employers in the area — private, non-profit, and government alike — so this is a comparison against the whole local labor market for the occupation, not against private-sector pay. OEWS wages are straight-time pay and exclude overtime, shift differentials, and employer-paid benefits, so the government figure shown here is base pay on the same basis. Total compensation is not comparable to it. Job titles are matched to the closest standard occupation, so the comparison is between similar work rather than an identical job classification.
Compare jurisdictions
Fire Captain pay in other jurisdictions
Where Fire Captains are paid most
Median total compensation for comparable Fire Captain roles in other jurisdictions (highest first). Titles are matched by normalized name across sources, not by identical job classification, and pay is not cost-of-living adjusted. Each bar links to that jurisdiction’s page for this role.
Within City of Buffalo
Departments with this role
Largest City of Buffalo departments for this role
Departments in City of Buffalo employing the most people in this role. Each bar links to that department’s page for the role.