Fire departments registered
There are 27,184 fire departments listed with the National Fire Department Registry. This is 91% of all U.S. fire departments. Registration for the list is voluntary.
Estimated
91%
of fire departments are listed in the registry
Fire departments by region
The majority of the registered departments are located in the Southern and Midwestern states. The map shows the percentage distribution of fire departments by U.S. Census Bureau Region. Less than 1% of the registered fire departments are located in U.S. territories.
| South | 36% |
|---|---|
| Midwest | 31% |
| Northeast | 21% |
| West | 12% |
Number of registered fire departments by state and territories
There are 13 registered fire departments in U.S. territories.
Total number of registered fire departments by state and territories: 27,184
Stations
- 68% of the departments have 1 station.
- 17% have 2 stations.
- 15% have 3 or more stations.
Registered fire departments represent approximately 51,984 fire stations across the country. 2
Organization type
- 96% of the registered departments are local fire departments which include career, combination and volunteer fire departments and fire districts.
- 4% of the registered departments are state and federal government fire departments, contract fire departments, private or industrial fire brigades, and transportation authority or airport fire departments.
Personnel
- Registered fire departments are staffed by approximately 1,215,300 personnel. 3 This includes career, volunteer and paid per call firefighters as well as civilian staff and nonfirefighting personnel.
- There were a total of 1,063,100 active career, volunteer and paid per call firefighters representing nearly 87% of the registered departments' personnel.
- Of the active firefighting personnel, 34% were career firefighters, 53% were volunteer firefighters, and 12% were paid per call firefighters.
Department type
Of the fire departments registered: 4, 5
- 9.3% are career.
- 4.8% are mostly career.
- 15.7% are mostly volunteer.
- 70.2% are volunteer.
Department type by state
Percentage of registered volunteer and mostly volunteer fire departments, top 5 states by rank
98.3%
Delaware
97.2%
Minnesota
96.8%
Pennsylvania
96.6%
South Dakota
96.3%
North Dakota
Percentage of registered career and mostly career fire departments, top 5 states by rank
100.0%
District of Columbia
91.7%
Hawaii
54.3%
Florida
47.4%
Massachusetts
46.6%
Arizona
Percentage of fire departments registered by department type within each state 5
| State | Volunteer | Mostly volunteer | Mostly career | Career |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 70.2 | 15.7 | 4.8 | 9.3 |
| Alabama | 79.0 | 9.0 | 4.1 | 7.9 |
| Alaska | 57.0 | 31.1 | 1.3 | 10.6 |
| Arizona | 30.3 | 23.1 | 15.4 | 31.2 |
| Arkansas | 83.9 | 9.1 | 2.6 | 4.4 |
| California | 28.5 | 26.5 | 16.0 | 29.0 |
| Colorado | 45.3 | 29.1 | 10.7 | 14.9 |
| Connecticut | 61.1 | 22.3 | 4.5 | 12.1 |
| Delaware | 41.4 | 56.9 | 0.0 | 1.7 |
| District of Columbia | 0.0 | 0.0 | 33.3 | 66.7 |
| Florida | 34.8 | 10.8 | 15.8 | 38.5 |
| Georgia | 48.8 | 23.2 | 10.1 | 17.9 |
| Hawaii | 8.3 | 0.0 | 16.7 | 75.0 |
| Idaho | 56.6 | 31.1 | 4.1 | 8.2 |
| Illinois | 65.2 | 14.1 | 6.2 | 14.5 |
| Indiana | 72.9 | 14.3 | 3.3 | 9.5 |
| Iowa | 89.6 | 6.2 | 0.9 | 3.3 |
| Kansas | 78.8 | 11.2 | 3.8 | 6.2 |
| Kentucky | 75.9 | 14.2 | 4.0 | 5.9 |
| Louisiana | 48.1 | 36.0 | 5.6 | 10.3 |
| Maine | 70.2 | 23.2 | 3.0 | 3.6 |
| Maryland | 60.1 | 28.5 | 4.9 | 6.5 |
| Massachusetts | 24.2 | 28.4 | 15.7 | 31.7 |
| Michigan | 62.5 | 23.3 | 4.6 | 9.5 |
| Minnesota | 86.9 | 10.3 | 0.8 | 1.9 |
| Mississippi | 71.2 | 15.4 | 3.8 | 9.6 |
| Missouri | 72.4 | 12.3 | 5.6 | 9.7 |
| Montana | 83.6 | 9.6 | 2.1 | 4.6 |
| Nebraska | 92.1 | 4.1 | 0.8 | 3.1 |
| Nevada | 54.7 | 24.4 | 9.3 | 11.6 |
| New Hampshire | 52.8 | 33.0 | 9.4 | 4.7 |
| New Jersey | 75.7 | 13.0 | 3.8 | 7.5 |
| New Mexico | 78.5 | 10.1 | 2.4 | 8.9 |
| New York | 90.2 | 4.0 | 1.6 | 4.2 |
| North Carolina | 62.9 | 28.1 | 4.5 | 4.5 |
| North Dakota | 92.3 | 4.0 | 0.6 | 3.1 |
| Ohio | 60.5 | 21.3 | 5.5 | 12.7 |
| Oklahoma | 81.6 | 9.7 | 2.4 | 6.2 |
| Oregon | 44.2 | 45.8 | 3.9 | 6.2 |
| Pennsylvania | 90.1 | 6.7 | 0.7 | 2.6 |
| Rhode Island | 38.2 | 23.5 | 2.9 | 35.3 |
| South Carolina | 53.2 | 23.9 | 13.4 | 9.5 |
| South Dakota | 91.8 | 4.8 | 0.3 | 3.1 |
| Tennessee | 73.5 | 13.2 | 4.7 | 8.5 |
| Texas | 69.9 | 11.7 | 6.7 | 11.7 |
| Utah | 65.1 | 21.2 | 4.8 | 9.0 |
| Vermont | 87.7 | 7.8 | 2.9 | 1.5 |
| Virginia | 70.5 | 17.1 | 5.4 | 7.0 |
| Washington | 39.1 | 38.3 | 11.0 | 11.5 |
| West Virginia | 90.6 | 5.0 | 1.2 | 3.2 |
| Wisconsin | 78.9 | 13.6 | 1.6 | 5.9 |
| Wyoming | 70.2 | 18.4 | 0.9 | 10.5 |
| U.S. territories | 15.4 | 0.0 | 15.4 | 69.2 |
Specialized services
Percentage of registered fire departments providing specialized services
| Specialized service provided | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Vehicle extrication | 77.8 |
| Fire/Injury prevention/Public education | 64.2 |
| Wildfire/Wildland Urban Interface | 63.2 |
| Basic Life Support | 60.1 |
| Emergency Medical Services (EMS) nontransport response | 40.0 |
| Technical/Specialized rescue | 35.9 |
| Fire investigation/Fire cause determination 6 | 35.5 |
| Fire inspection/Code enforcement | 35.0 |
| Departmental (in-house) training academy | 22.1 |
| Advanced Life Support | 21.4 |
| EMS ambulance transport | 21.1 |
| Hazardous materials team | 17.9 |
| Juvenile firesetter intervention program | 13.7 |
| Airport/Aviation | 8.0 |
| Fireboat | 4.8 |