Emergency Management Salaries

Emergency management salaries are published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics under one occupation, emergency management directors, code 11-9161. Each page below gives the full percentile spread by state rather than a headline median, May 2025 release.

Emergency responders in high-visibility gear working in floodwater on a residential street

What Emergency Management Pays Nationally

National wage percentiles for emergency management directors
Percentile	Annual wage	What it describes
10th	$54,210	Entry, and the figure a first post sits nearest
25th	$67,910	Established in a smaller jurisdiction
Median	$93,330	The midpoint of 13,500 jobs nationally
75th	$126,490	A larger jurisdiction, or a state or federal post
90th	$166,430	The senior end of the occupation

Two salary pages, one occupation code. BLS publishes a spread for 11-9161 rather than a figure per job title, so the director and specialist pages read the same distribution from opposite ends rather than claiming separate surveys.

Where You Work Moves Pay More Than The Title Does

District of Columbia publishes a $184,350 median and Mississippi $48,650, a $135,700 spread inside a single occupation across the 47 states BLS reports. That is a wider gap than the one between the entry end and the midpoint nationally.

It is also why the delivery format of a degree bears on the pay question at all. Most of the programs on this site can be completed online, so the state you study in and the state you work in need not be the same, and the second of those is the one that moves the number. The online ranking covers that side.

Emergency Management Salary By Role

Emergency Management Director Salary

A $93,330 median across 13,500 jobs, with the bottom 10% at $54,210 and the top 10% at $166,430. Every state BLS publishes.

Emergency Management Specialist Salary

The same federal occupation read from the entry end: $54,210 at the 10th percentile, $67,910 at the 25th, and which states let the job climb furthest from there.

Common Questions About Emergency Management Salaries

What is the median salary in emergency management?

The Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the median for emergency management directors, occupation code 11-9161, at $93,330 a year in its May 2025 release. The middle half of the occupation earns between $67,910 and $126,490.

How high can an emergency management salary go?

The 90th percentile nationally is $166,430, and the ceiling moves with the state: District of Columbia publishes a $184,350 median against $48,650 in Mississippi, a $135,700 spread inside one occupation. The senior end of this field is federal, state and large-jurisdiction work, alongside continuity roles in hospital systems and large private employers.

Do emergency management salaries depend on the state?

Heavily, and more than the job title does. Both salary pages here list all 47 states BLS publishes for the occupation, with the 10th, 25th, 75th and 90th percentiles beside the median, because a single national figure hides most of what a job actually pays.

Where do these figures come from?

The Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program at the Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025 release, occupation 11-9161. They are wages only and exclude overtime, and they describe the occupation as a whole rather than any one job title within it.

Sources For Emergency Management Salary Data

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025: Emergency Management Directors (11-9161).
Wages exclude overtime and bonuses, and describe the occupation rather than a single job title. How we handle the data.

Pay is one half of the decision. The other is what a program costs and whether it finishes: the bachelor's ranking scores programs on tuition and graduation rate, and the careers hub covers what these roles do day to day.