Alabama·Protective Service Occupations·SOC 33-1021

Best First-Line Supervisors of Firefighting programs in Alabama, ranked by enrollment

Directly supervise and coordinate activities of workers engaged in firefighting and fire prevention and.

3 schools in Alabama run programs that feed this job, graduating 2,044 people a year. The job pays a median of $73,320 in Alabama across about 1,440 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).

Also calledFire ChiefEngine BossFire CaptainFire Battalion ChiefChiefCaptainCrew BossCrew Chief
Graduates / yr
2,044
in Alabama
Median pay · Alabama
$73,320
BLS OEWS May 2025
Jobs in state
1,440
people employed
Schools
3
with a feeder program
Avg graduation rate
35%
across those schools
Median net price
$25,801
per year, IPEDS

Fields of study in Alabama that lead to this job

Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.

2 programs in Alabama that lead to this job

Ranked by graduates per year in Alabama (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own Alabama page.

Degree programs that lead to this occupation, ranked by graduates per year
#ProgramGraduates / yrShare of pipelineSchoolsGrad earnings (1 yr)Median debt
1
CIP 43.0202In Alabama
1,323
64.7%
2$48,952$12,750
2
CIP 43.0203In Alabama
721
35.3%
2$48,952$12,750

Top 3 schools in Alabama

Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 1 of the 3 schools in this state.

Schools ranked by graduates per year into this occupation
#SchoolGraduates / yrTop feeder programGrad earnings (1 yr)Grad rateNet priceAcceptance
1Columbia Southern University
Orange Beach, AL Private for-profit · 2 feeder programs
2,027Fire Services Administration$75,32633%$15,554
2Chattahoochee Valley Community College
Phenix City, AL Public · 1 feeder programs
10Fire Services Administration36%
3Faulkner University
Montgomery, AL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
7Fire Science/Fire-fighting37%$25,80173%

All 3 schools in Alabama

Every school in Alabama with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.

All schools in Alabama that feed this occupation
SchoolCityControlGraduates / yrFeeder programs
Columbia Southern UniversityOrange BeachPrivate for-profit2,0272
Chattahoochee Valley Community CollegePhenix CityPublic101
Faulkner UniversityMontgomeryPrivate not-for-profit71

What first-line supervisors of firefighting and prevention workers earn in Alabama

What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.

Median annual in Alabama
$73,320
Mean annual
$74,640
Jobs in state
1,440
What the range looks like
10th pct$43,050Median$73,32090th pct$114,220
Versus the national median
-21.6%

U.S. median $93,530. Alabama pays below the national figure.

Job concentration
1.07×

1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.

Metro areas in Alabama

Daphne-Fairhope-Foley, AL
$90,270median
60 jobs
Birmingham, AL
$83,030median
370 jobs
Tuscaloosa, AL
$72,770median
60 jobs
Huntsville, AL
$74,540median
170 jobs
Auburn-Opelika, AL
$62,810median
60 jobs
Mobile, AL
$68,350median
80 jobs
Dothan, AL
$59,060median
60 jobs
Montgomery, AL
$67,670median
130 jobs

Job outlook

Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.

Projected growth 2024–34
+3.4%
About as fast as average
Openings per year
6,500
new jobs plus replacements
Employment change
3,400
97,200 → 100,500
Typical entry education
Postsecondary nondegree award
Plus moderate-term on-the-job training

Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.

How to get in

The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national First-Line Supervisors of Firefighting and Prevention Workers page.

How to become a First-Line Supervisors of Firefighting

Job zone 3 of 5 · SVP 6.0 to < 7.0
Typical entry education
Postsecondary nondegree award
Work experience needed
Less than 5 years
On-the-job training
Moderate-term on-the-job training

Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.

Previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for these occupations. For example, an electrician must have completed three or four years of apprenticeship or several years of vocational training, and often must have passed a licensing exam, in order to perform the job.

Employees in these occupations usually need one or two years of training involving both on-the-job experience and informal training with experienced workers. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with these occupations.

Top skills

Active ListeningCritical ThinkingMonitoringSpeakingReading ComprehensionWriting

The same job in other states

Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.

Related careers in Alabama

Every major mapped to this job

The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.

All 6 majors mapped to First-Line Supervisors of Firefighting and Prevention Workers6 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
  • 03.0208Environmental/Natural Resources Law Enforcement and Protective Services
  • 43.0201Fire Prevention and Safety Technology/Technician
  • 43.0202Fire Services Administration
  • 43.0203Fire Science/Fire-fighting
  • 43.0205Fire/Arson Investigation and Prevention
  • 43.0299Fire Protection, Other

Common questions

Answers for people weighing first-line supervisors of firefighting and prevention workers programs in Alabama.

What degree do you need to become a First-Line Supervisors of Firefighting?+

Postsecondary nondegree award is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Fire Services Administration, which awarded 1,323 degrees in Alabama in 2024-25, 64.7% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.

Which college majors lead to becoming a First-Line Supervisors of Firefighting?+

The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 2 programs to this occupation. The largest are Fire Protection. Together they graduate about 2,044 people a year in Alabama.

How much do first-line supervisors of firefighting and prevention workers earn in Alabama?+

The median is $73,320 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 21.6% below the U.S. median of $93,530. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.

Is demand for first-line supervisors of firefighting and prevention workers growing?+

BLS projects a +3.4% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, about as fast as average, with roughly 6,500 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.

How many schools offer programs for this career in Alabama?+

3 institutions in Alabama reported graduates from at least one of the 2 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.

What other job titles do first-line supervisors of firefighting and prevention workers work under?+

Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Fire Chief, Engine Boss, Fire Captain, Fire Battalion Chief among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 33-1021.

First-Line Supervisors of Firefighting and Prevention Workers in other statesCaliforniaFloridaTexasOhioIllinoisColoradoKentuckyNorth Carolina
Programs in AlabamaFire Services Administration

About the data on this page

Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).

  • BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics

    May 2025

    Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.

  • BLS Employment Projections

    2024–34

    Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.

  • IPEDS Completions

    2024-25 (provisional)

    Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.

  • College Scorecard, Field of Study

    2020-21 cohorts

    Median graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.

  • Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes

    latest available

    Graduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.

  • NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk

    CIP 2020 / SOC 2018

    Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.

  • O*NET Database 30.3

    30.3

    Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.

    Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA

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