Illinois Firefighter Salary 2026 by Department: Seven Departments, Their Own Documents

The short answer. There is no single Illinois firefighter salary. This page opens seven departments' own documents, read September 8, 2026, and prints what each one says: Chicago's 2026 Classification and Pay Plan (Schedule F, January 1, 2026), Aurora's own 2025 salary page, Rockford's Local 413 agreement (2024 schedule, the last one printed), Naperville's Local 4302 agreement (January 1, 2026 column), Springfield's Local 37 contract (March 1, 2026 column), Peoria's Local 50 agreement (January 1, 2026 schedule), and Joliet's posted agreement, which could not be opened. Six print an annual starting figure, from Rockford's $61,787.58 to Chicago's $96,354 after the recruit year. The registry counts 1,100 Illinois fire departments, 14.5 percent of them career and 6.2 percent mostly career.

Last verified: 2026-09-08.

The national picture, with the Bureau of Labor Statistics medians beside these department figures, is on the firefighter salary guide 2026.

This is not a statewide table and it is not an apply-now board. No dated posting was opened for any of the seven rows; Naperville's page anticipates a fall 2026 academy without dates. Every row records what the department's or city's document prints and nothing more. A 2024 schedule and a 2026 schedule are not averaged into one "Illinois start."

The Texas comparison, built the same way at a larger N, is Texas firefighter salary 2026 by department. Missouri, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Michigan, Tennessee, Virginia, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Georgia, Ohio, Florida, Colorado and California, built the same way, are here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here.

What do these documents actually show?

Three column definitions, because most published comparisons blur roles, and the blur is where the misleading numbers come from.

• Recruit / academy is a printed pre-certification annual when the employer prints one. Chicago does: the Firefighter-EMT (Recruit) title sits at grade 1, whose entrance rate for the first 12 months is $74,526 on the January 1, 2026 schedule. The other six hire certified firefighters or print no recruit rate.
• Starting (certified) is the first annual firefighter figure the document names: Chicago's Firefighter-EMT grade 1B rate after 12 months ($96,354), Aurora's Starting row ($72,699.12, 2025 schedule), Rockford's Step A ($61,787.58, 2024 schedule), Naperville's Firefighter Step 1 ($82,896.07, January 1, 2026), Springfield's Fire Fighter First Year in Division I ($67,614.29, March 1, 2026), and Peoria's Step 1 ($65,265.15, January 1, 2026).
• Top firefighter step is the highest printed firefighter-rank annual before promotion: Chicago's grade 1B maximum at 25 years ($136,686), Aurora at five years ($118,783.32), Rockford's Step H at 84 months ($92,761.68), Naperville's Firefighter Step 8 ($120,246.67), Springfield at thirty years ($103,224.48), Peoria's Step 8 ($91,906.16).
• Source is the document title, the link, the effective date or fiscal year where the document prints one, and the date we read it.
• Every annual figure is base pay. Paramedic money sits outside the columns: Chicago's Firefighter/Paramedic title is its own grade ($93,804 entrance to $141,780); Naperville prints a Firefighter Paramedic scale from $85,257.71; Rockford pays 5 percent of the top-step firefighter wage for ambulance assignment.

Why isn't there a statewide starting salary?

Because Illinois does not publish one, and averaging six starts drawn from a 2026 pay plan, a 2025 page, a 2024 schedule and three 2026 agreement columns would be our arithmetic, not a city's. The Texas, Missouri, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Michigan, Tennessee, Virginia, Ohio, Florida, Colorado and California clones use the same rule: null is a value, conflicts are named, and rates the employer prints by the hour or by the month are not converted.

The universe is measured but not yet counted. The U.S. Fire Administration's National Fire Department Registry (state totals read September 8, 2026; registry last updated June 11, 2026) lists 1,100 registered fire departments in Illinois, 14.5 percent of them Career and 6.2 percent Mostly career. The registry prints those shares as percentages, not as a count, so this page does not turn them into a number of career departments. Seven departments against a universe where roughly one in five is career or mostly career is a kickoff, not a census; Joliet's agreement, Elgin's pay plan, and the Cook County suburbs, Champaign, Evanston and Waukegan among them, are the next documents to open.

Rows to read carefully

Chicago. The city's pay plan prints sworn fire pay by class grade, and its title series assigns Firefighter-EMT (Recruit) and Firefighter to grade 1, Firefighter-EMT to grade 1B and Firefighter/Paramedic to grade 2. A recruit's first 12 months are grade 1's entrance rate, $74,526; the first Firefighter-EMT figure after that is grade 1B's rate after 12 months, $96,354, and grade 1B runs to $136,686 at 25 years. The department's May 2024 FAQ printed the same structure at the 2022 scale, $62,466 to start and $80,448 after 12 months. The requirements page prints the current starting salaries as images, so this page reads the pay plan.

Aurora. The city's page is a 2025 schedule with a six-month jump: $72,699.12 to start, $98,640.90 at six months, $118,783.32 at five years. No 2026 schedule was posted on the read date, so the row is 2025's.

Rockford. The posted Local 413 agreement prints salary schedules for 2022, 2023 and 2024 and wage increases for those three years only; either party could give notice by August 1, 2024. The 2024 schedule is the last printed, so the row carries it and says so: $61,787.58 for the first six months to $92,761.68 at 84 months, on a 51-hour week.

Naperville. Appendix A of the 2025 to 2027 agreement prints two shift scales for 2026: Firefighter from $82,896.07 and Firefighter Paramedic from $85,257.71, each to a Step 8 above $120,000. The city's recruitment page quotes the paramedic figure as the starting pay as of January 1, 2026 and adds that a five-year firefighter/paramedic with the Advanced Technician certification moves to step 6 after probation.

Springfield. The Local 37 contract prints Division I (Operations) annual rates by contract year; the March 1, 2026 column starts a Fire Fighter at $67,614.29, 75 percent of the fourth-year rate of $90,152.38, and runs to $103,224.48 at thirty years. The table's "(75%) (70%)" label records that the first-year share was lower, seventy hundredths of the fourth-year rate, in the 2024 column. Divisions II and III carry a 4 percent differential on a 40-hour week and are not the entry point.

Peoria. Salary Schedule 701 prints eight firefighter steps for each of 2026, 2027 and 2028: $65,265.15 to $91,906.16 this year, with 4 percent next year and 3 percent the year after.

Joliet. The city posts the Local 44 agreement, but the file could not be opened for this page; the row is null until it is read.

Which application doors are open today?

• None of the seven had a dated posting opened for this page.
• Naperville anticipates a fall 2026 Fire Academy and lists its requirements: age 19 through 34 at the exam with the statutory exceptions, 21 at a conditional offer, a CPAT and ladder climb within a year of the background screen.
• Chicago hires from a Firefighter/EMT eligibility list built from a prior application period; the city states it hires approximately 200 new firefighters a year and not all applicants on the list will be hired.
• Aurora, Rockford, Springfield, Peoria and Joliet: pay documents only; no posting was opened for these rows.