New Jersey Firefighter Salary 2026 by Department: Eleven Departments, Their Own Documents

The short answer. There is no single New Jersey firefighter salary, and in New Jersey the gap is silence: six of the eleven departments read on September 9, 2026 print the state civil service route and no pay. Where a city's own ordinance or agreement prints a figure, the certified starts run from Clifton's $44,486 (2026 ordinance minimum) and Summit's $45,000 (step 1, 2026 ordinance) to Westfield's $51,752 (Grade 1, 2026 schedule with EMT in base), Atlantic City's $54,968 (Step 1, 2025 column of an agreement that ended December 31, 2025) and Camden's $55,284 (Step 1, January 2024 column of an agreement that ended December 31, 2024). Three print an academy or probation rate: Camden $34,674, Atlantic City $44,668 and Westfield $45,025. The printed firefighter tops run from Camden's $89,791 at Step 5 to Atlantic City's $128,000 at Step 22, Clifton's $125,302, Westfield's $127,362 and Summit's $123,568. No window was open on the read date: the state's 2026 Fire Fighter announcement closed August 31, 2026, with the written exam expected in the fall or winter. The registry counts 712 New Jersey fire departments, 8.3 percent of them career and 4.8 percent mostly career.

Last verified: 2026-09-09.

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. New Jersey's civil service cities hire entry-level firefighters from one statewide examination run by the Civil Service Commission every two years, and the pay sits somewhere else: in the municipal salary ordinance, or in the FMBA or IAFF agreement the city signs. Most city recruiting pages print the exam route, the residency rule and the age limit and never the salary. This page carries a figure only when the city's own ordinance or agreement prints it, with the document and the read date, and nothing more. A union's social post, a news story about a contract and a salary aggregator are not sources here. Where an agreement's term has ended and no successor is posted, the row carries it and says so.

The Texas comparison, built the same way at a larger N, is Texas firefighter salary 2026 by department. Missouri, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Michigan, Tennessee, Virginia, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Georgia, Washington, Arizona, Illinois, 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, 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. Three rows do: Camden $34,674 (Firefighter Starting, paid through the working test period), Atlantic City $44,668 (Academy, 2025 column), Westfield $45,025 (Firefighter (Probation), January 1, 2026 schedule with EMT in base).
• Starting (certified) is the first annual figure the document names for a firefighter past the academy or in the first step of the rank: Camden $55,284 (Step 1, January 1, 2024), Clifton $44,486 (2026 minimum of the ordinance range), Westfield $51,752 (Grade 1, 2026), Summit $45,000 (step 1, 2026; all hires start at the minimum step), Atlantic City $54,968 (Step 1, 2025).
• Top firefighter step is the highest printed firefighter-rank annual before promotion: Camden $89,791 (Step 5; a Step 6 of $96,778 carries an asterisk the schedule does not explain), Clifton $125,302 (2026 maximum, a range), Westfield $127,362 (Firefighter (Maximum), EMT in base; $123,496 without), Summit $123,568 (step 10), Atlantic City $128,000 (Step 22, 2025, inclusive of holiday pay).
• 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 as the document prints it, with two cautions the documents themselves raise: Atlantic City's table is printed inclusive of holiday pay, and Summit's ordinance folds holiday pay into firefighter base salary. Longevity, clothing allowances (Clifton $1,000, Atlantic City $575 in years two through six) and HAZMAT pay sit outside the columns.

Why isn't there a statewide starting salary?

Because New Jersey separates the hiring from the pay. The Civil Service Commission runs one Fire Fighter examination for every civil service jurisdiction: the 2026 announcement (symbol M9999H) was issued July 1, 2026 and closed August 31, 2026 at 4:00 p.m., with a $35 application fee, a written exam projected for the fall or winter of 2026-2027, a pass/fail physical performance test at certification from the summer of 2027, and eligible lists that last two to four years, grouped by veteran status, volunteer points and residency. Applicants must be New Jersey residents, 18 to 35, with a diploma or equivalent. The announcement prints a salary of $0.00 because each jurisdiction sets its own, by ordinance and agreement. Five of the eleven cities read post that document where the public can read it: Clifton, Westfield and Summit in their salary ordinances, Camden and Atlantic City in the agreements their cities post. Jersey City, Newark, Paterson, Trenton, Hoboken and New Brunswick print the route and no figure, so those rows stay null. The state Public Employment Relations Commission keeps a public-sector contract archive, but on the read date it rejected every request from this desk's tools, so agreements not posted by a city are not carried. The Texas, Missouri, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Michigan, Tennessee, Virginia, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Georgia, Washington, Arizona, Illinois, Ohio, Florida, Colorado and California clones use the same rule: null is a value, conflicts are named, and hourly and monthly rates 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 712 registered fire departments in New Jersey, 8.3 percent of them Career and 4.8 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. Eleven departments against it is a kickoff, not a census; the next documents to open are Elizabeth's FMBA Local 9 agreement, the salary ordinances of Jersey City, Newark, Paterson, Trenton, Hoboken, New Brunswick, Bayonne, Passaic and East Orange, Union Township's FMBA Local 46 agreement, Cherry Hill's fire agreement, and the adopted copy of Westfield's ordinance.

Rows to read carefully

Camden. The IAFF Local 788 agreement for January 1, 2021 through December 31, 2024 prints a starting wage of $34,674 through the working test period and a January 1, 2024 column of Step 1 $55,284, Step 2 $63,260, Step 3 $71,236, Step 4 $79,211, Step 5 $89,791 and an asterisked Step 6 of $96,778. The agreement stays in effect until a successor takes effect; carried and marked partial for age.

Clifton. Section 37-19 of the city code, amended November 17, 2025, prints the firefighter range by year: $44,486 to $123,450 for 2025, $44,486 to $125,302 for 2026, $45,821 to $127,182 for 2027 and $46,508 to $129,089 for 2028, with steps left to the agreement. The code prints the figures with a period as the thousands separator; they are dollars. A $1,000 clothing allowance and $1,000 HAZMAT Technician pay are printed beside them.

Westfield. General Ordinance 2026-02, introduced January 13, 2026 for a January 27 hearing, prints the FMBA Local 30 schedule for 2026 through 2030. With EMT in base, 2026 runs from Firefighter (Probation) $45,025 and Grade 1 $51,752 through Grade 9 $112,000 to a Firefighter (Maximum) of $127,362; without EMT in base the maximum is $123,496. The copy read is the introduced ordinance, so the row is marked partial until the adopted copy is read.

Summit. Ordinance 26-3387, passed June 16, 2026 and effective January 1, 2026, prints Schedule D: Firefighter $45,000, $51,576, $58,152, $64,728, $71,304, $77,880, $84,456, $91,032, $97,608 and $123,568 across ten steps, then Lieutenant from $129,746. Hires start at the minimum step unless outside experience is credited; holiday pay is folded into base.

Atlantic City. The IAFF Local 198 agreement for July 1, 2022 through December 31, 2025, posted by the city, prints a table it says is inclusive of holiday pay. The 2025 column runs Academy $44,668, Step 1 $54,968, Step 5 $73,538, Step 10 $98,414, Step 15 $115,132 and Step 22 $128,000; steps move one per anniversary. The term has ended and no successor is posted; carried and marked partial.

Jersey City, Newark, Paterson, Trenton, Hoboken, New Brunswick. Null. Each city's own page prints the state civil service route and no salary: Jersey City's recruitment page (city residency, 18 to 35 with exceptions); Newark's interest questionnaire, which says it is not an application; Paterson's July 1 through August 31 recruiting flyer; Trenton's recruitment page, whose latest text describes the 2018 announcement and the March 2019 lists; Hoboken's July 9, 2026 release; New Brunswick's July 23, 2026 release with the exam calendar. Newark's posted budget books print a Firefighter title range, but the newest fire budget in the city's document center is from 2015 and is not carried.

Which application doors are open today?

• None. The statewide Fire Fighter announcement closed August 31, 2026. Candidates who applied sit the written exam in the fall or winter of 2026-2027; lists follow, and the physical performance test comes at certification from the summer of 2027. The next announcement, on the two-year cycle, would be expected in 2028.
• Jersey City and Trenton apply residency preference to their lists; Hoboken and New Brunswick told residents to apply by the August 31 deadline; Paterson recruited July 1 through August 31; Newark takes an interest questionnaire between announcements.