Firefighter Salary 2026/27: Take-Home + Pension
Firefighter pay is negotiated in the National Joint Council and published in the Grey Book, not set by a review body. Rates from 1 July 2026, after the agreed 3.8% rise: Development £31,539, Competent £40,358, Crew Manager £42,892-£44,742, Watch Manager £45,711-£50,034. Control room roles are paid 95% of the equivalent firefighting role, and on-call firefighters get a retainer set at 15% of the wholetime salary.
Typical pay & take-home
- Median gross
- £40,358
- Typical range
- £31,539–£50,034
- Take-home at median
- £32,577 England, no pension applied — use the salary calculator for your scheme.
At the median for this profession, you earn about 3% above the UK full-time median (£39,039), placing you in the top 48% of UK earners.
What influences firefighter pay
Basic pay stays in the 20% band well past the point you would expect: the pension contribution comes off before Income Tax, so a watch manager on £50,034 is taxed on about £42,984 despite a gross only £236 below the £50,270 higher-rate threshold. Overtime, CPD payments and any locally agreed London or area allowance are what push earnings into the 40% band.
Firefighters Pension Scheme 2015 employee contributions were restructured on 1 April 2026 into five bands running 11.09% to 17.09%, and are now assessed on actual pensionable pay rather than the whole-time equivalent - a real cut for part-time and on-call firefighters. The CARE scheme accrues 1/59.7th of pensionable pay with normal pension age 60, and the employer pays 37.6% on top.
Retained Duty System firefighters are paid an annual retainer of 15% of the equivalent wholetime salary (5% on the day crewing system), so £4,731 at development and £6,054 at competent, plus the wholetime hourly rate for activity and £5.31 per call-out.
Career progression
- Development Firefighter: £31,539 from 1 July 2026.
- Competent Firefighter: £40,358.
- Crew Manager: £42,892 development, £44,742 competent.
- Watch Manager: £45,711 to £50,034.
- Station Manager: £52,040 to £57,402.
- Group Manager: £59,937 to £66,445.
Frequently asked questions
- What is take-home for a Competent Firefighter?
- On the £40,358 competent rate, after Income Tax, National Insurance and a 12.59% FPS 2015 contribution, take-home is about £28,513 a year or £2,376 a month. A development firefighter on £31,539 takes home about £23,430 a year. Both are basic pay only, before overtime, CPD payments or any locally agreed allowance.
- Why is the FPS pension contribution so high?
- The scheme is unusually generous: 1/59.7th annual accrual, a normal pension age of 60 against 67 for the State Pension, CPI-linked increases and survivor benefits. Members pay 11.09% to 17.09% depending on actual pensionable pay, and the employer contributes 37.6% under the 2020 valuation. Contributions come out before Income Tax but not before National Insurance, so the real cost is higher than a salary sacrifice pension of the same size.
- How does Retained Duty System pay work tax-wise?
- On-call firefighters are employees on a part-time contract, so the retainer, drill and incident pay all go through PAYE alongside a main job. Income Tax stacks across both employments and pushes a combined total over £50,270 into the higher rate, while National Insurance is worked out separately on each employment. On-call earnings are pensionable in the FPS 2015.