Firefighters

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Minimal Risk
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Occupation snapshot

What does this snowflake show?
The Snowflake is a visual summary of the five badges: Automation Risk (calculated), Risk (polled), Growth, Wages and Volume. It gives you an instant snapshot of an occupations profile. The colour of the Snowflake relates to its size. The better the occupation scores in relation to others, the larger and greener the Snowflake becomes.
JOB SCORE
7.3/10
What's this?
Job Score (higher is better):

We rate jobs using four factors. These are:

- Chance of being automated
- Job growth
- Wages
- Volume of available positions

These are some key things to think about when job hunting.

Risk & user votes

Calculated automation risk

10% (Minimal Risk)

Minimal Risk (0-20%): This occupation appears difficult to replace end-to-end with current or near-future automation, including AI software and robotics. Roles in this range usually depend on human judgement, creativity, care, leadership, specialist expertise, or adapting to messy real-world situations. AI and machines may still change parts of the work, but the occupation is likely to remain a distinct human role.

More information on what this score is, and how it is calculated is available here.

Human strengths important in this job

These are human abilities and work contexts that are important in this occupation. They may help explain why parts of the role are harder to replace end-to-end, but they are not the only inputs into the automation score.

Assisting and caring for others

Very important
Why this matters
Provide hands-on help, emotional support, or personal care to people—work that depends on empathy, trust, and responding to individual needs in the moment.
Jobs that also use this strength

Working directly with the public

Very important
Why this matters
The job involves face-to-face interaction with customers, clients, or guests—answering questions, handling requests, and managing service situations in real time. Roles with frequent public interaction are harder to replace end-to-end because they rely on trust, communication, and adapting to unpredictable human needs.
Jobs that also use this strength

Decision-making and problem solving

Very important
Why this matters
Analyze information, weigh tradeoffs, and choose the best solution—especially when situations are ambiguous, high-stakes, or have real-world consequences.
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Education and training expertise

Very important
Why this matters
Designing and delivering instruction—adapting lessons to different learners and measuring whether training actually works.
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Social perceptiveness

Quite important
Why this matters
Noticing others’ emotions and reactions in the moment and adjusting what you say or do based on why they’re responding that way.
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Show 4 more strengths

Thinking creatively

Quite important
Why this matters
Coming up with original ideas and designs—creating new concepts, products, systems, or artistic work. This kind of open-ended invention and taste-based judgment is harder to automate end-to-end than routine, rule-based tasks.
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Coordinating others’ work

Quite important
Why this matters
Bringing people together, assigning tasks, and keeping a group aligned so work gets done.
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Developing objectives and strategies

Quite important
Why this matters
Sets long-term goals and chooses strategies and actions to reach them, weighing tradeoffs and adapting plans as conditions change.
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Active learning

Quite important
Why this matters
Keeps learning from new information and applying it to make better decisions now and in the future, especially when situations change.
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What users think

Based on 558 votes

13.5% chance of full automation within the next two decades

Our visitors have voted there's a minimal chance this occupation will be automated. This assessment is further supported by the calculated automation risk level, which estimates 10% chance of automation.

What do you think the risk of automation is?

What is the likelihood that Firefighters will be replaced by robots or artificial intelligence within the next 20 years?

Sentiment

Based on user votes over time

View sentiment trend

How opinions have changed over time

Pay & outlook

Wages

Moderately paid relative to other professions

In 2024, the median annual wage for Firefighters was $59,530 ($29 per hour).

The median annual wage for Firefighters was 20.3% higher than the national median annual wage, which stood at $49,500.

View wage trend

Wages over time

* Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics

Growth

Moderate growth relative to other professions

The number of 'Firefighters' job openings is expected to rise 3.4% by 2034

View employment trend

Total employment, and estimated job openings

* Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics for the period between 2023 and 2033
Updated projections are due 09-2025.

Volume

Significantly greater range of job opportunities compared to other professions

As of 2024 there were 332,240 people employed as 'Firefighters' within the United States.

This represents around 0.22% of the employed workforce across the country

Put another way, around 1 in 464 people are employed as 'Firefighters'.

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What people are saying (31)

Leave a comment
Molnár- Varga Szabina (Low)
14 Mar 2026 15:10
Requires manual dexterity
Adam B (Low)
16 Nov 2025 15:00
It is very unlikely but with the afvancing technology they can strap alarms and Water on an automatic vehicles and probably in 20 years make a robot that isnt inflammable.
John (Low)
13 Sep 2025 00:28
Size up decisions made in an instant are crucial to firefighters.
Drones will be handy for wildfires.
Also for recon, but one day there will be a firefighter controlled robots for firefighting, that is a long way away.
Besides we have a saying in the fire service, "200 years of tradition unimpeded by progress. " 😆 LOL
Larry Lassere (No chance)
07 Jul 2025 00:00
30 years of Fire Service experience. Retired as Assistant Fire Chief. Experience working in front line fire suppression, Driver/Pump Operator, Inspections, Investigations, Training and Supervision.
Olof
09 Oct 2024 05:37
Technically robots already do firefighting but only as carriers and sometimes moving rubble and stuff
Zar (Low)
10 Sep 2024 00:10
This is an on-site job and AI cannot replace it because fire is a live thing.
Idk (No chance)
01 May 2023 18:00
I think that is impossible the robots become firefighetrs, they combat fires, that can burn robots systems
Will (No chance)
13 Apr 2023 17:14
As a first responder who has responded to some absolutely weird and unexpected calls I can’t imagine making a robot capable of adapting to the unknown in the same ways a human can. Not in 20 years anyway; no chance.
Daniel (No chance)
01 Nov 2022 06:10
Too much adaptation to very diverse environments.
Lee Edwards Wright (Highly likely)
30 Sep 2022 12:26
One of the main points of using robots is to do something that isn't safe, robots fighting fire would be highly likely because it's a dangerous job as we all know. Robots would be fearless... quite literally and might have more strength.
Enzo (No chance)
20 Apr 2022 14:09
I believe that although automated fire prevention systems will help to reduce the need significantly, the environment in a fire is too hostile and changes too quickly for a robot to be able to completely replace humans.
V (No chance)
13 Oct 2021 00:40
In the next 20 years, there is no chance of technology advancing enough to completely replace firefighters maybe supplement like some departments are using UAVs now but in the next 20 years expect a robot to perform the complex tasks required by firefighting in changing environments that are structurally degraded and in which visibility will be significantly degraded isn't realistic in any way. In 50-100 years... maybe but predicting that far ahead is essentially useless. Who knows what crazy technology we'll have by then.
Alvin (Uncertain)
11 Oct 2021 07:11
As someone who works in the field of machine learning, I can tell you that firefighters absolutely can be replaced. Now whether or not the general population will be ok with their hero’s going away, that’s another question itself. But if people can come off their pedestal and realize the lives automating this progression would save, then yes, it’ll be automated.
Will
13 Apr 2023 17:11
As a firefighter, I wonder if you’re basing your response on the extinguishment of fires only. Fighting fires is only about 10percent of a firefighters job. The bulk is Medical and Rescue. Creating a robot capable of adapting to the unknown in the same way a first responder is tasked to do is, I would imagine, not something we will be capable of in the near future.
Rh (Low)
30 Sep 2021 04:20
Replace firefighters altogether? Most likely not. However, we will definitely see technology and robots as more of an assistant to firefighters. At most, I think the robot would be good for the really hazardous tasks that would require you to be very close to said fire almost to the point of being burned. Everything else is best done by a human.
Josef (Moderate)
09 Apr 2021 10:50
Couldn't we make machines to hose down fires automatically? It doesn't seem that unlikely
Will
13 Apr 2023 17:15
Remember: Fighting fire is a very small part of firefighting.
Oscar
08 Mar 2021 11:21
a firefighter not only fight the fire ... try to learn a robot traffic rescue. More robots helping the firefighters? ... yes, but no way to replace.
Drake (No chance)
03 Dec 2020 23:05
It's 2020 and if we haven't been automated yet what makes you think we ever will?
Kyle (Highly likely)
26 Mar 2020 19:50
Improvements in automatic sprinklers and fire suppression systems will replace the need for the fire fighting aspect of the job.
yeah
30 Oct 2020 00:14
yeah so lets get rid of firefighters altogether, nothing can go wrong can it?
☆ (No chance)
11 Jul 2024 18:51
firefighters mostly operate as first responders and the majority of their work consists of first aid and rescue. this requires a lot of thinking on the spot, common sense, and fast decision making as well as the physical dexterity and capabilities needed. robots could be fire extinguishers, but not firefighters.
Firefighter manager
09 Mar 2020 18:44
Wake up and smell the coffee technology is already impacting on the job ever heard of Boston Robotics https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=boston+robotics+youtube&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en-gb&client=safari
Jack
08 Mar 2020 10:26
I image humans being fire fighters forever, because the robots may be on fire...
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Job description

Control and extinguish fires or respond to emergency situations where life, property, or the environment is at risk. Duties may include fire prevention, emergency medical service, hazardous material response, search and rescue, and disaster assistance.

O*NET-SOC code: 33-2011.00