Firefighters vs Emergency Medical Technicians
Side-by-side · O*NET · BLS · AI-exposure research · Anthropic Economic Index
A factual, source-backed comparison of Firefighters and Emergency Medical Technicians on the dimensions both occupations carry. Every figure is a position within an independent published dataset — not a verdict on which job is better, safer, or more “future-proof.”
At a glance
| Dimension | Firefighters | Emergency Medical Technicians |
|---|---|---|
| Median pay | $59,530 | $41,340 |
| Employment | 332,240 | 177,980 |
| Employment outlook (2024–34) · BLS projection | About average (+3.4%) | About average (+5.1%) |
| Annual openings · BLS projection | 27,100 | 14,100 |
| Typical education · O*NET | Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree. | Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree. |
| AI exposure · published exposure studies | Low · 18th pct | Low · 22nd pct |
| Global GenAI gradient · ILO ISCO-08 · via crosswalk | 29th pct · 18% of tasks | — |
| Observed AI use · Anthropic Economic Index | — | — |
| Mostly remote-capable · Dingel–Neiman | No | — |
Pay and employment are BLS OEWS estimates; outlook and openings are BLS 2024–2034 projections; AI exposure and observed-use figures come from separate research and reflect exposure and usage, not predictions that either job will disappear. Compare like with like.
Skills
Specific to Firefighters
- Public Safety and Security
- Customer and Personal Service
- Education and Training
- Problem Sensitivity
- Building and Construction
- English Language
- Critical Thinking
- Oral Comprehension
Specific to Emergency Medical Technicians
Knowledge, skills & abilities O*NET rates as important for each occupation. “Shared” are common to both; the columns list what is distinctive to each (top by the order O*NET surfaces).
Tools & technology
Shared: Spreadsheet software , Office suite software , Presentation software , Word processing software .
Specific to Firefighters
Specific to Emergency Medical Technicians
Full profiles
This page is a summary. See the complete source-backed profile for Firefighters or Emergency Medical Technicians — tasks, the full skill graph, tools, work context, preparation, wages by percentile, industries, AI exposure and the AI work map.
More comparisons
Related occupations you can place side by side on the same sourced scale.
- Firefighters vs First-Line Supervisors of Firefighting and Prevention Workers
- Firefighters vs Forest Fire Inspectors and Prevention Specialists
- Firefighters vs Fire Inspectors and Investigators
- Firefighters vs Fire-Prevention and Protection Engineers
- Firefighters vs Lifeguards, Ski Patrol, and Other Recreational Protective Service Workers
- Firefighters vs Paramedics
- Firefighters vs Occupational Health and Safety Specialists
- Firefighters vs Forest and Conservation Workers
Sources for this page
Every figure above traces to a named public dataset and the exact release below — not hand-written opinion. See the full methodology for what each measure does and does not mean.
- O*NET 30.3 U.S. Department of Labor / National Center for O*NET Development
- BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
- BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
- Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27) Anthropic
- Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai Microsoft Research
- “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130 OpenAI / academic
- AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans academic
- ILO / Gmyrek et al. GenAI exposure gradient 2025 International Labour Organization
- IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 occupation crosswalk 2022 Institute for Structural Research (IBS)
- Frey & Osborne (2013) frey-osborne-automation academic
- Dingel & Neiman (2020) dingel-neiman-workathome academic
Data compiled June 2, 2026. Figures are estimates, not advice.
Cite this page
Singulariki. "Firefighters vs Emergency Medical Technicians." Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Built from O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034; Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27); Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130; AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans; ILO / Gmyrek et al. GenAI exposure gradient 2025; IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 occupation crosswalk 2022; Frey & Osborne (2013) frey-osborne-automation; Dingel & Neiman (2020) dingel-neiman-workathome. Accessed June 7, 2026. https://singulariki.com/compare/firefighters-vs-emergency-medical-technicians
Singulariki. (2026). Firefighters vs Emergency Medical Technicians. Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Retrieved June 7, 2026, from https://singulariki.com/compare/firefighters-vs-emergency-medical-technicians
@misc{singulariki-firefighters-vs-emergency-medical-technicians,
title = {Firefighters vs Emergency Medical Technicians},
author = {{Singulariki}},
year = {2026},
note = {O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034; Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27); Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130; AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans; ILO / Gmyrek et al. GenAI exposure gradient 2025; IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 occupation crosswalk 2022; Frey & Osborne (2013) frey-osborne-automation; Dingel & Neiman (2020) dingel-neiman-workathome. Accessed June 7, 2026},
url = {https://singulariki.com/compare/firefighters-vs-emergency-medical-technicians}
} Citations name the underlying public dataset releases — they reflect what this page is built from, not just the URL.