Role across Metro Nashville

Fire Engineer

Design, analyze, and oversee technical systems or infrastructure, ensuring they meet specifications and codes.

673 people hold the Fire Engineer role across 9 departments in Metro Nashville, with a median total compensation of $83,677. Among 5 jurisdictions where this role is reported, Metro Nashville ranks #4 by median pay.

Employees: 673
Median pay: $83,677
Departments: 9
Cross-jurisdiction: #4 of 5

Compared with the local labor market

Fire Engineer pay vs. the Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN area

Across all employers in the Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN area, the median wage for Firefighters — about 2,170 people — is $49,300. Metro Nashville pays a median base salary of $82,536 for this role, 67% above that figure — above the 90th percentile of local pay for the occupation.

Where Metro Nashville sits in the local pay range

10th

25th

Median

75th

90th

$37,060

$45,820

$49,300

$59,630

$71,910

Metro Nashville median · $82,536

The bar is the range of annual wages for Firefighters across every employer in the Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN area, from the 10th to the 90th percentile, with the middle 50% highlighted. The marker shows Metro Nashville’s median base salary for this role. Both figures are base pay only.

And across the country

Nationwide, the median wage for Firefighters — about 345,990 people — is $59,280. Metro Nashville’s median base salary is 39% above that national figure, about the 78th percentile of pay for the occupation nationally.

10th

25th

Median

75th

90th

$34,910

$44,490

$59,280

$77,250

$101,040

Metro Nashville median · $82,536

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 Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN range relative to the national one.

Computed over the 567 of 673 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 Metro Nashville is $83,677, 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 Engineer pay in other jurisdictions

Where Fire Engineers are paid most

$287,816 · 215

$211,803 · 287

$137,568 · 31

$75,344 · 114

Median total compensation for comparable Fire Engineer 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 Metro Nashville