Fire Fighters - Employment & Outlook

The table below provides information about the number of workers in this career in various regions. It also provides information about the expected growth rate and future job openings.

Employment

Major employers:

Local, state, and federal government-sponsored fire departments

Outlook

Growth in this career is expected to be about as fast as average. Firefighters will continue to be needed to respond to fires and medical emergencies. However, turnover is low and layoffs are uncommon.

People who are physically fit, have fire fighting education, or paramedic training will have the best job prospects.

Firefighters (CIS 100318)

Location	Employment	&	Growth		>>>>	Annual openings
			This occupation	All occupations
Illinois	17,102 Very large	&	3.6%	2.7%	>>>>	1,350 High
Champaign Area	381 Large	&	5.8%	1.9%	>>>>	31 Few
Charleston-Effingham-Centralia Area	316 Large	&	0.0%	-1.2%	>>>>	23 Few
Cook County	7,845 Very large	&	3.5%	3.0%	>>>>	618 High
DeKalb-Elgin-Aurora Area	855 Large	&	6.8%	4.0%	>>>>	71 Moderate
Du Page County	1,208 Large	&	3.9%	3.7%	>>>>	96 Moderate
Edwardsville Area	336 Large	&	5.7%	4.4%	>>>>	28 Few
Kankakee-Morris-Pontiac Area	204 Medium	&	2.5%	-0.1%	>>>>	15 Very few
Lake County	839 Large	&	3.5%	2.6%	>>>>	66 Few
McHenry County	348 Large	&	9.2%	6.1%	>>>>	31 Few
Mt Vernon-Marion-Carbondale Area	283 Large	&	1.4%	0.2%	>>>>	21 Few
Northwest Illinois Area	432 Large	&	9.3%	5.1%	>>>>	38 Few
Peoria-Bloomington Area	767 Large	&	3.5%	1.3%	>>>>	60 Few
Quincy-Macomb-Galesburg Area	316 Large	&	-1.9%	-1.6%	>>>>	22 Few
Rock Island-Moline Area	413 Large	&	4.4%	1.8%	>>>>	33 Few
Rockford Area	493 Large	&	4.1%	2.4%	>>>>	39 Few
Shawnee National Forest Area	210 Large	&	-0.5%	-0.3%	>>>>	16 Few
Springfield Area	373 Large	&	1.1%	-0.8%	>>>>	28 Few
St Louis-Belleville Area	411 Large	&	-0.2%	0.2%	>>>>	31 Few
Will County	665 Large	&	6.9%	5.4%	>>>>	56 Few
United States	344,900 Large	&	3.4%	3.1%	>>>>	27,100 Moderate