Firefighter pay in the United Kingdom is set nationally through the NJC grey book. Enter your salary below to see your monthly and annual take-home pay after Income Tax, National Insurance, Firefighters' Pension Scheme contributions and any student loan for the 2026/27 tax year.
Salary · pension · 2026/27
| Role | Pay point | Annual salary | Hourly rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Firefighter | Development | £31,539 | £14.40 |
| Firefighter | Competent | £40,358 | £18.43 |
| Crew Manager | Development | £42,892 | £19.59 |
| Crew Manager | Competent | £44,742 | £20.43 |
| Watch Manager | Development | £45,711 | £20.87 |
| Watch Manager | Competent A | £46,980 | £21.45 |
| Watch Manager | Competent B | £50,034 | £22.85 |
| Station Manager | Development | £52,040 | £23.76 |
| Station Manager | Competent A | £53,604 | £24.48 |
| Station Manager | Competent B | £57,402 | £26.21 |
| Group Manager | Development | £59,937 | £27.37 |
| Group Manager | Competent A | £61,736 | £28.19 |
| Group Manager | Competent B | £66,445 | £30.34 |
| Area Manager | Development | £70,368 | £32.13 |
| Area Manager | Competent A | £72,476 | £33.09 |
| Area Manager | Competent B | £77,186 | £35.24 |
Source: Fire Brigades Union — Pay Settlement 2026 (1 July 2026). Pay scales change; check the source before relying on a figure.
Firefighter salaries in England, Scotland and Wales are negotiated through the National Joint Council (NJC) for Local Authority Fire and Rescue Services, commonly called the grey book. The NJC sets a single national pay spine that every fire and rescue service follows for operational roles from firefighter through to area manager. Pay awards are usually effective from 1 July each year.
From 1 July 2026 the NJC agreed a 3.8 per cent increase to all basic pay points and Continual Professional Development (CPD) payments. The previous 2025 award was 3.2 per cent. Trainee rates were removed from the pay spine in July 2025, so new entrants now begin at the development rate.
Each rank has two or three pay points. A new firefighter starts on the development rate and moves to competent after completing relevant modules and assessments, typically within two to three years. Crew managers, watch managers and higher ranks follow the same development-to-competent progression. Competent B at watch manager level and above is reached after a further period of satisfactory performance.
A wholetime development firefighter earns £31,539 a year from July 2026. Once assessed as operationally competent, this rises to £40,358 — a jump of almost £9,000. Promotion to crew manager brings £42,892 at development level and £44,742 at competent. A watch manager earns between £45,711 and £50,034 depending on pay point.
Senior officers sit on higher bands. A station manager earns £52,040 to £57,402, a group manager £59,937 to £66,445, and an area manager £70,368 to £77,186. These figures are for basic pay before any additional allowances, CPD or overtime.
Progression between ranks requires passing selection processes, development programmes and, for senior roles, strategic command qualifications. Time at each rank varies by service but most firefighters spend several years at competent level before a crew manager opportunity arises.
Firefighter pay is subject to Income Tax and Class 1 National Insurance in the same way as any other employment. For 2026/27 the personal allowance remains at £12,570, the basic rate is 20 per cent on income up to £50,270, and the higher rate is 40 per cent above that. National Insurance is 8 per cent on earnings between £12,570 and £50,270, then 2 per cent above.
The biggest deduction unique to firefighters is the Firefighters' Pension Scheme (FPS) 2015. It is a career-average revalued earnings (CARE) scheme with a normal pension age equal to state pension age (currently 67, rising to 68). Employee contribution rates for 2025/26 are tiered by pensionable pay:
A competent firefighter on £40,358 therefore pays 12.9 per cent, or about £5,206 a year, in pension contributions. These are taken before tax, giving immediate tax relief. After pension, Income Tax and NI, a competent firefighter takes home roughly £2,520 a month. Use the calculator above with your exact salary for a precise figure.
Source for contribution bands: FPS Regulations — Contribution Rates 2025-26.
London Fire Brigade (LFB) historically paid a separate London weighting allowance, but since October 2019 it has been consolidated into basic pay. As a result LFB firefighters earn higher basic salaries than the national NJC rates — a competent LFB firefighter receives roughly £5,500 to £6,000 more than the national figure. Other metropolitan services such as Greater Manchester, West Midlands and Tyne and Wear follow the national grey book rates without a regional supplement.
Scottish fire and rescue services also follow the NJC grey book, while Northern Ireland firefighters are covered by a separate but closely aligned arrangement. In practice, pay rates across UK services outside London are virtually identical because of the national bargaining framework.
Continual Professional Development (CPD) payments are agreed as part of the annual NJC settlement and increased by 3.8 per cent from 1 July 2026 alongside basic pay. The standard NJC CPD figure for wholetime staff has been around £425 to £440 per year, though individual fire and rescue authorities may agree local CPD schemes that differ — some services pay up to £1,346 per year.
Officers at station manager level and above who are on flexi-duty working arrangements (meaning they provide strategic cover outside normal hours) receive basic pay as shown in the table rather than a separate allowance. Their hourly and overtime structures differ from those of watch-based staff.
Overtime for watch-based wholetime staff below station manager is paid at time and a half. For a competent firefighter that means £27.65 per overtime hour from July 2026. Pre-arranged overtime for large incidents or events is a meaningful income supplement for many firefighters.
Around two-thirds of fire stations in England are crewed wholly or partly by on-call (retained) firefighters. Retained staff receive a retaining fee plus turnout payments rather than a full-time salary. The NJC retained duty system (RDS) pay structure mirrors the wholetime ranks but at a fraction of the rate.
From July 2026 a competent retained firefighter earns roughly £6,054 per year in retaining fees for full availability, plus an hourly rate for each call-out and a per-attendance fee of £5.31 for each incident. Actual annual earnings depend heavily on the number of call-outs and the availability pattern contracted with the service, but many retained firefighters earn between £5,000 and £12,000 per year alongside a primary employment.
Retained staff are eligible for the FPS 2015 pension scheme on the same contribution bands as wholetime colleagues, based on their actual pensionable pay. Because their annual earnings are lower, most fall into the 11.0 per cent contribution tier.
A competent wholetime firefighter earns £40,358 a year from 1 July 2026 under the NJC grey book pay scales. This is basic pay before overtime, CPD or any local supplements.
Under the Firefighters' Pension Scheme 2015, a competent firefighter on £40,358 pays 12.9 per cent of pensionable pay, roughly £5,206 a year. Contributions are taken before tax, providing immediate Income Tax relief.
Yes. London Fire Brigade consolidated a London weighting into basic pay in 2019, so LFB firefighters earn approximately £5,500 to £6,000 more per year than the national NJC rate for the same rank.
A retained competent firefighter receives around £6,054 per year in retaining fees at full availability, plus hourly and per-attendance payments for each call-out. Total annual earnings typically range from £5,000 to £12,000 depending on activity.
NJC grey book pay awards take effect from 1 July each year. The 2026 award of 3.8 per cent applies from 1 July 2026, following a 3.2 per cent rise in July 2025.
