California / Forestry and Fire Protection

Agency file

Forestry and Fire Protection

Source file: California — State Employee Compensation (SCO Payroll Data Warehouse, CPRA) / ingested Jul 4, 2026

The Forestry and Fire Protection provides fire protection and emergency response, including prevention, inspection, rescue, and medical aid.

In 2025, this agency had 13,250 employees with median total compensation of $111,787; the highest distinct record was $758,255.

Year: 2025
Total payroll: $1.6B
Employees: 13,250
Median total: $111,787
Highest record: $758,255

What the records show

Compensation analytics

These summaries compare pay within the agency before listing individual records.

Salary distribution

-$17,871$275,989+

Hover a bar for its range; click to filter the list below.

How 2025 total compensation is spread across the 13,250 employees. Each bar is a pay range; taller bars mean more people earn in that range. The amber line marks the median ($111,787) — half earn less, half more. The far-right bar collects the highest earners.

Average pay composition

Base — $67,565 (56%)
Overtime — $29,078 (24%)
Other — $24,792 (20%)
Benefits — $0 (0%)

What an average paycheck here is made of — base salary versus overtime, other pay (bonuses, allowances), and benefits. A large overtime or other-pay share means take-home often exceeds base salary.

Pay percentiles

10th

25th

Median

75th

90th

$44,634

$77,363

$111,787

$162,642

$207,686

The pay ladder for this department. Someone at the 90th percentile earns $207,686 — more than 90% of the department; the 10th percentile earns $44,634. The shaded band is the middle half of employees (25th–75th percentile).

Largest job titles

Fire Fighter I

3,835 · $84,139

Fire Captain

2,312 · $178,347

Fire Apparatus Engineer

1,952 · $129,762

Battalion Chief

549 · $207,553

Fire Fighter II

418 · $114,080

The most common job titles in this department by headcount, with the median total compensation for each. Click a title to see everyone who holds it.

Trend

Year over year

How this department's total payroll, headcount, and median pay changed across the 3 published years.

Year	Total payroll	Employees	Median pay
2023	$1.2B —	12,957 —	$81,412 —
2024	$1.4B ▲ 13.9%	12,674 ▼ 2.2%	$100,761 ▲ 23.8%
2025	$1.6B ▲ 13.6%	13,250 ▲ 4.5%	$111,787 ▲ 10.9%

Compare

Similar departments

Departments elsewhere with the most similar mix of roles — a proxy for the same kind of agency, matched by workforce composition rather than name. Pay is not cost-of-living adjusted.

Fire City of Greensboro80% match
Boston Fire Department City of Boston79% match
Cfd Operations City of Charlotte78% match
Fir Usd Fire Operations Metro Nashville76% match
Fire City of San Jose64% match
Fire Department Los Angeles County62% match

Record list

Employees

Page 12

Peter Paulus

Battalion Chief/Forestry and Fire Protection

2025 total comp

$202,544

Sub-department: Forestry
Base pay: $99,211
Overtime: $64,528
Other pay: $38,805
Benefits: $0
Total compensation: $202,544
Employment type: Full-Time
Union / bargaining unit: R08
Work county: Placer
Middle name: H

Source-specific fields

Base Pay: $8,482
Cs/csu: Cs
Position Number: 5422169723009
Salary Total: $8,674
Total Pay: $202,544

Peter Paulus is a Battalion Chief at Forestry and Fire Protection within Forestry. They work full-time. 2025 total compensation came to $202,544. They are represented by R08.

Steven Delahoya

Fire Captain/Forestry and Fire Protection

2025 total comp

$202,542

Sub-department: Forestry
Base pay: $97,594
Overtime: $66,603
Other pay: $38,345
Benefits: $0
Total compensation: $202,542
Employment type: Full-Time
Union / bargaining unit: R08
Work county: Riverside
Middle name: M

Source-specific fields

Base Pay: $7,694
Cs/csu: Cs
Position Number: 5423121095224
Salary Total: $8,190
Total Pay: $202,542

Steven Delahoya is a Fire Captain at Forestry and Fire Protection within Forestry. They work full-time. 2025 total compensation came to $202,542. They are represented by R08.

Dylan Hall

Fire Captain/Forestry and Fire Protection

2025 total comp

$202,541

Sub-department: Forestry
Base pay: $85,360
Overtime: $80,890
Other pay: $36,290
Benefits: $0
Total compensation: $202,541
Employment type: Full-Time
Union / bargaining unit: R08
Work county: San Diego
Middle name: K

Source-specific fields

Base Pay: $7,367
Cs/csu: Cs
Position Number: 5423141095676
Salary Total: $7,775
Total Pay: $202,541

Dylan Hall holds the role of Fire Captain at Forestry and Fire Protection within Forestry. Their status is full-time. In 2025, their total compensation was $202,541. Their bargaining unit is R08.