City of Philadelphia / Philadelphia Fire Department / Commissioner
Job-title file
Lead staff and operations — set priorities, allocate resources, and oversee program delivery.
1 employee holds this title in Philadelphia Fire Department. Median total compensation for the role is $59,794, above the department median of $33,557.
Compared with the local labor market
Across all employers in the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD area, the median wage for Chief Executives — about 4,120 people — is $292,770. Philadelphia Fire Department pays a median base salary of $59,794 for this role, 80% below that figure — below the 10th percentile of local pay for the occupation.
The bar is the range of annual wages for Chief Executives across every employer in the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD area, from the 10th to the 90th percentile, with the middle 50% highlighted. The marker shows Philadelphia Fire Department’s median base salary for this role. Both figures are base pay only.
And across the country
Nationwide, the median wage for Chief Executives — about 204,350 people — is $213,990. Philadelphia Fire Department’s median base salary is 72% below that national figure, below the 10th 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 Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD range relative to the national one.
Median total compensation for this role at Philadelphia Fire Department is $59,794, 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 departments
Commissioner is held in 7 City of Philadelphia departments. In Philadelphia Fire Department, the median of $59,794 ranks #2 of 7.
Median total compensation for the Commissioner role in other City of Philadelphiadepartments (highest first). Each bar links to that department’s page for this role.
Compare jurisdictions
This role is reported in 11 jurisdictions. In City of Philadelphia, the median of $56,081 ranks #9 of 11. See Commissioner across all of City of Philadelphia →
Median total compensation for comparable Commissioner roles in other jurisdictions. Titles are matched by normalized name across sources, not identical job classification, and pay is not cost-of-living adjusted. Each bar links to that jurisdiction’s page for the role.
Same department
Record list
Page 1
Commissioner/Philadelphia Fire Department
Source-specific fields
At Philadelphia Fire Department, Jeffery Thompson serves as a Commissioner. They work salaried. Their 2026 pay totaled $59,794.