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

The short answer. There is no single Virginia firefighter salary. Across the eleven departments read September 8 and 9, 2026, the printed certified starts run from Richmond's $51,913 after the academy (a 2022-2023 bulletin, the last the city posted) and Newport News's $55,960 base to Virginia Beach's $57,803 on graduation, Chesapeake's $59,000, Norfolk's $60,000 (Firefighter EMT-A), Chesterfield's $60,147.00 (2024 bulletin), Prince William's $62,187.36, Henrico's $64,038, Loudoun's $65,138 (step 1), Fairfax's $70,878 and Arlington's $71,510. Four print recruit-school pay: Richmond $49,900, Virginia Beach $55,057, Chesapeake $55,266 and Norfolk $57,142. The printed firefighter tops are Virginia Beach's Master Firefighter $70,262, Henrico's Career Firefighter $77,248 at eight years and Loudoun's step 19 $115,242. One window is dated: Virginia Beach takes recruit applications September 1 through October 30, 2026. The registry counts 558 Virginia fire departments, 7.3 percent of them career and 5.6 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. Virginia's career fire departments are county systems and independent cities that recruit in dated windows, usually once a year, and most of them print a recruit or starting salary on a recruiting site of their own. This page carries the figure each department's own page, bulletin or pay document prints, with the document and the read date, and nothing else. A recruiting post on social media and a news story about a raise are not sources here. Where a locality's own pages print only an old bulletin, the row carries it and is marked partial for age rather than filled from somewhere else.

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, 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. Four rows do: Virginia Beach $55,057 (recruit, six-month academy), Chesapeake $55,266 (Firefighter/EMT Trainee), Norfolk $57,142 (Firefighter Recruit, the minimum of the $57,142 to $58,856.26 range on bulletin 13879), Richmond $49,900 (recruit, bulletin 42RECRUIT43, 2022-2023).
• Starting (certified) is the first annual figure the document names for a firefighter past the academy or for a certified hire: Virginia Beach $57,803 (on graduation and for certified hires), Fairfax $70,878 (Firefighter/EMT), Norfolk $60,000 (Firefighter EMT-A under the Career Progression plan), Arlington $71,510, Chesterfield $60,147.00 (bulletin 25-00432, 2024), Chesapeake $59,000 (after the academy), Newport News $55,960 (base), Richmond $51,913 (after the academy, 2022-2023 bulletin), Prince William $62,187.36, Loudoun $65,138 (step 1), Henrico $64,038.
• Top firefighter step is the highest printed firefighter-rank annual before promotion: Virginia Beach's Master Firefighter $70,262, Henrico's Career Firefighter $77,248 (minimum eight years), Loudoun's step 19 $115,242 (about one step a year, labeled an estimate on the page). Arlington's FY2027 Pay Schedule C prints the F1 Firefighter/EMT grade hourly, $34.38 at step 1 to $51.71 at step 14 with a $55.29 longevity step, and hourly steps are not multiplied into an annual here, so that cell stays empty.
• 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. Paramedic and Advanced EMT pay sits outside the columns: Fairfax prints $78,143 for a Firefighter/Paramedic and a $10,000 paramedic bonus; Norfolk $64,000 for EMT-I and $70,000 for EMT-P; Chesapeake $58,064 for a Firefighter/Paramedic Trainee; Newport News $4,000 for EMT-Intermediate and $10,000 for paramedic on top of the base; Loudoun $15,759 a year for paramedics and $7,354 for Advanced EMTs plus a one-time $10,000 or $5,000 after recruit school; Virginia Beach a $7,000 paramedic and $1,200 Advanced EMT stipend. Arlington's lateral bonuses run up to $15,000 and are for certified hires, not recruits.

Why isn't there a statewide starting salary?

Because Virginia does not set one. Each county board or city council adopts its own pay plan, and in the largest systems (Fairfax, Prince William, Loudoun, Arlington, Henrico, Chesterfield) the firefighter grade sits inside a public safety pay schedule that the recruiting site summarizes as a single starting figure. The independent cities of Hampton Roads (Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Chesapeake, Newport News) print recruit and post-academy figures on their own recruiting pages and run application periods on a calendar: Virginia Beach September 1 through October 30, 2026; Chesapeake March 1 through 31, 2026; Norfolk February 26 through March 12, 2026; Henrico May 6 through July 1, 2026. Richmond's employment page prints the process without a salary, and Chesterfield's recruitment page said recruitment was closed with its salary section collapsed, so both rows carry the last bulletin each locality posted and are marked partial. The Texas, Missouri, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Michigan, Tennessee, 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 558 registered fire departments in Virginia, 7.3 percent of them Career and 5.6 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 Fairfax County's and Prince William County's public safety pay schedules for the recruit-school rate and the top step, Henrico's PH pay plan grade for firefighter (the county's FY2026-2027 plan prints grades PH.23 through PH.55 by step without naming the class), Hanover, Stafford and Spotsylvania counties, Roanoke, Lynchburg, Alexandria, Hampton and Portsmouth.

Rows to read carefully

Virginia Beach. The department's careers page prints $55,057 for a recruit during the six-month academy, $57,803 on graduation and for certified hires, $60,694 for Firefighter II after three years and $70,262 for Master Firefighter, with a $7,000 paramedic and $1,200 Advanced EMT stipend. The Career Opportunities page prints the 2026 application period, September 1 through October 30, 2026; it is the one dated window on this page.

Fairfax County. The department's recruiting site prints $70,878 for a Firefighter/EMT and $78,143 for a Firefighter/Paramedic, with a $10,000 paramedic bonus. It prints no recruit-school rate and no top step; the county pay schedule was not read for this row.

Norfolk. Two documents. Bulletin 13879 (February 26 through March 12, 2026) prints a Firefighter Recruit range of $57,142 to $58,856.26. The department's Career Progression page prints the compensation plan for July 1, 2025 through June 30, 2026: Firefighter EMT-A $60,000, EMT-I $64,000, EMT-P $70,000, Lieutenant $95,901. The plan year printed on the page had ended and the page had not been replaced on the read date; the row names the date rather than guessing at a new plan.

Arlington County. The Fire Employment page prints a starting salary of $71,510, up to $91,208 with experience, and a 28-week recruit school. The FY2027 Pay Schedule C for the fire bargaining unit prints the F1 grade hourly, $34.38 to $51.71 across fourteen steps with a $55.29 longevity step; the hourly schedule is named and not annualized. The recruit process was closed on the read date; the lateral process was open with bonuses up to $15,000.

Chesterfield County. Bulletin 25-00432 (November 11 through December 8, 2024) prints $60,147.00 for the Career Firefighter/EMT recruit class. The county's recruitment page said recruitment was closed on the read date, so the 2024 figure is carried and marked partial.

Chesapeake. The Employment page prints $55,266 for a Firefighter/EMT Trainee, $59,000 after the academy and $58,064 for a Firefighter/Paramedic Trainee. The 2026 window ran March 1 through 31, 2026 and was closed on the read date.

Newport News. The Firefighter/Medic Recruitment page prints a base of $55,960 with $4,000 added for EMT-Intermediate and $10,000 for paramedic certification. The recruit period was closed and the pre-certified period open on the read date.

Richmond. The city's Fire Employment page prints the process and no salary. Bulletin 42RECRUIT43 (July 2022 through April 2023), the last the city posted, printed $49,900 for a recruit and $51,913 after the academy; carried and marked partial for age.

Prince William County. The system's recruitment page prints a starting salary of $62,187.36 and says no EMS certification is required to apply; the county bulletin was 4965743. No recruit-school rate and no top step are printed.

Loudoun County. The Why LCFR page (modified April 3, 2026) prints a nineteen-step firefighter/EMT chart from $65,138 at step 1 to $115,242 at step 19, one step a year subject to the Board of Supervisors' budget, and labels it an estimate. Paramedics add $15,759 a year and Advanced EMTs $7,354, plus a one-time $10,000 or $5,000 after recruit school.

Henrico County. The division's recruiting site prints a starting salary of $64,038 and a scale by title: Firefighter III $67,112 (less than four years), Senior Firefighter $70,334 (four), Master Firefighter $73,710 (six), Career Firefighter $77,248 (eight), then Lieutenant $88,915 and Captain $97,657 by promotion. Recruits are paid through a 36-week academy; a six-week accelerated academy takes applicants with a year of professional experience and current certifications. The 2026 period ran May 6 through July 1 and the site says the next opens in May.

Which application doors are open today?

• Virginia Beach takes recruit applications September 1 through October 30, 2026.
• Arlington County (lateral, bonuses up to $15,000) and Newport News (pre-certified) were taking certified applicants on the read date; their recruit processes were closed.
• Henrico (May 6 through July 1, 2026), Chesapeake (March 1 through 31, 2026), Norfolk (February 26 through March 12, 2026) and Chesterfield (November 11 through December 8, 2024) had closed; Henrico's site says the next period opens in May. Fairfax, Prince William and Loudoun recruit through their own sites and the county job boards; Richmond posts on the city's GovernmentJobs site.