Best Firefighter programs in Texas, ranked by enrollment
Control and extinguish fires or respond to emergency situations where life, property, or the environment is at risk.
30 schools in Texas run programs that feed this job, graduating 1,756 people a year. The job pays a median of $60,180 in Texas across about 28,170 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
Fields of study in Texas that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
3 programs in Texas that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in Texas (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 Texas page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 43.0203In Texas → | 1,434 | 81.7% | 25 | $48,952 | $12,750 |
| 2 | CIP 43.0201In Texas → | 314 | 17.9% | 12 | $48,952 | $12,750 |
| 3 | CIP 03.0208In Texas → | 8 | 0.5% | 1 | $37,946 | $24,125 |
Top 25 schools in Texas
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 5 of the 30 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Austin Community College District Austin, TX Public · 2 feeder programs | 212 | Fire Science/Fire-fighting | $47,024 | 20% | — | — |
| 2 | Lone Star College System The Woodlands, TX Public · 1 feeder programs | 200 | Fire Science/Fire-fighting | — | 21% | — | — |
| 3 | Tarrant County College District Fort Worth, TX Public · 2 feeder programs | 185 | Fire Science/Fire-fighting | — | 34% | — | — |
| 4 | San Antonio College San Antonio, TX Public · 1 feeder programs | 140 | Fire Prevention and Safety Technology/Technician | — | 26% | — | — |
| 5 | Houston City College Houston, TX Public · 1 feeder programs | 123 | Fire Science/Fire-fighting | $39,283 | 17% | — | — |
| 6 | Tyler Junior College Tyler, TX Public · 2 feeder programs | 115 | Fire Science/Fire-fighting | — | 27% | — | — |
| 7 | North Central Texas College Gainesville, TX Public · 1 feeder programs | 102 | Fire Science/Fire-fighting | — | 35% | — | — |
| 8 | San Jacinto Community College Pasadena, TX Public · 1 feeder programs | 94 | Fire Science/Fire-fighting | — | 30% | — | — |
| 9 | College of the Mainland Texas City, TX Public · 2 feeder programs | 73 | Fire Science/Fire-fighting | — | 31% | — | — |
| 10 | Del Mar College Corpus Christi, TX Public · 1 feeder programs | 71 | Fire Science/Fire-fighting | — | 11% | — | — |
| 11 | South Texas College McAllen, TX Public · 1 feeder programs | 54 | Fire Science/Fire-fighting | — | 27% | — | — |
| 12 | McLennan Community College Waco, TX Public · 1 feeder programs | 49 | Fire Science/Fire-fighting | $47,467 | 39% | — | — |
| 13 | Hill College Hillsboro, TX Public · 1 feeder programs | 42 | Fire Science/Fire-fighting | $33,190 | 32% | — | — |
| 14 | El Paso Community College El Paso, TX Public · 1 feeder programs | 34 | Fire Science/Fire-fighting | — | 24% | — | — |
| 15 | Lamar Institute of Technology Beaumont, TX Public · 1 feeder programs | 34 | Fire Science/Fire-fighting | $55,778 | 31% | — | — |
| 16 | Navarro College Corsicana, TX Public · 2 feeder programs | 28 | Fire Science/Fire-fighting | — | 23% | — | — |
| 17 | Midland College Midland, TX Public · 1 feeder programs | 27 | Fire Science/Fire-fighting | — | 23% | — | — |
| 18 | South Plains College Levelland, TX Public · 2 feeder programs | 25 | Fire Science/Fire-fighting | — | 29% | — | — |
| 19 | Blinn College District Brenham, TX Public · 1 feeder programs | 24 | Fire Science/Fire-fighting | — | 11% | — | — |
| 20 | Cisco College Cisco, TX Public · 2 feeder programs | 21 | Fire Prevention and Safety Technology/Technician | — | 30% | — | — |
| 21 | Amarillo College Amarillo, TX Public · 1 feeder programs | 20 | Fire Science/Fire-fighting | — | 32% | — | — |
| 22 | Collin County Community College District McKinney, TX Public · 1 feeder programs | 17 | Fire Prevention and Safety Technology/Technician | — | 20% | — | — |
| 23 | Dallas College Dallas, TX Public · 1 feeder programs | 16 | Fire Prevention and Safety Technology/Technician | — | 32% | — | — |
| 24 | Weatherford College Weatherford, TX Public · 2 feeder programs | 16 | Fire Prevention and Safety Technology/Technician | — | 35% | — | — |
| 25 | Kilgore College Kilgore, TX Public · 1 feeder programs | 10 | Fire Science/Fire-fighting | — | 39% | — | — |
All 30 schools in Texas
Every school in Texas 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.
| School | City | Control | Graduates / yr | Feeder programs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Austin Community College District | Austin | Public | 212 | 2 |
| Lone Star College System | The Woodlands | Public | 200 | 1 |
| Tarrant County College District | Fort Worth | Public | 185 | 2 |
| San Antonio College | San Antonio | Public | 140 | 1 |
| Houston City College | Houston | Public | 123 | 1 |
| Tyler Junior College | Tyler | Public | 115 | 2 |
| North Central Texas College | Gainesville | Public | 102 | 1 |
| San Jacinto Community College | Pasadena | Public | 94 | 1 |
| College of the Mainland | Texas City | Public | 73 | 2 |
| Del Mar College | Corpus Christi | Public | 71 | 1 |
| South Texas College | McAllen | Public | 54 | 1 |
| McLennan Community College | Waco | Public | 49 | 1 |
| Hill College | Hillsboro | Public | 42 | 1 |
| El Paso Community College | El Paso | Public | 34 | 1 |
| Lamar Institute of Technology | Beaumont | Public | 34 | 1 |
What firefighters earn in Texas
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $59,280. Texas pays above the national figure.
1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.
Metro areas in Texas
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
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 Firefighters page.
How to become a Firefighter
Job zone 3 of 5 · SVP 6.0 to < 7.0- Typical entry education
- Postsecondary nondegree award
- On-the-job training
- Long-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
The same job in other states
Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.
Related careers in Texas
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 5 majors mapped to Firefighters5 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
- 43.0203Fire Science/Fire-fighting
- 43.0206Wildland/Forest Firefighting and Investigation
- 43.0299Fire Protection, Other
Common questions
Answers for people weighing firefighters programs in Texas.
What degree do you need to become a Firefighter?+
Postsecondary nondegree award is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Fire Science/Fire-fighting, which awarded 1,434 degrees in Texas in 2024-25, 81.7% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Firefighter?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 3 programs to this occupation. The largest are Fire Protection, Environmental/Natural Resources Management and Policy. Together they graduate about 1,756 people a year in Texas.
How much do firefighters earn in Texas?+
The median is $60,180 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 1.5% above the U.S. median of $59,280. 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 firefighters growing?+
BLS projects a +3.4% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, about as fast as average, with roughly 27,100 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in Texas?+
30 institutions in Texas reported graduates from at least one of the 3 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 firefighters work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Firefighter, Fire Engineer, Wildland Firefighter, Fire Equipment Operator among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 33-2011.
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 2025Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.
BLS Employment Projections
2024–34Projected 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 cohortsMedian graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.
Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes
latest availableGraduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.
NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk
CIP 2020 / SOC 2018Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.
O*NET Database 30.3
30.3Tasks, 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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