Checked September 8, 2026: Boise's latest entry-level firefighter recruitment pays $72,615.14. Meridian currently quotes academy pay at $34.61/hour on a 40-hour week, while Coeur d'Alene publishes $62,666–$96,416 for Firefighter/EMT and as much as $108,356 for Firefighter/Paramedic before an already-scheduled 3.5% October 2026 wage increase.
Idaho is a good example of why firefighter salaries should be read department by department. A Boise annual salary, a Meridian academy hourly rate and a Coeur d'Alene 56-hour classification are three different kinds of numbers. Putting them into one generic “Idaho entry-level range” makes the comparison look simpler than it really is.
The sections below keep the source's own pay structure intact. When a current 2026 entry number exists, it is used. When the newest entry posting is older, its date is shown rather than quietly changing the year.
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Idaho firefighter pay guide
- What the Idaho statewide wage number really means
- Current public department pay
- Boise firefighter salary
- Meridian firefighter salary and academy pay
- Coeur d'Alene firefighter and paramedic pay
- Lewiston reservist-to-career pay path
- Idaho Falls firefighter and promotion pay
- Why 40-hour and 56-hour rates look so different
- Wildland work and overtime: what not to assume
- PERSI public-safety contribution rate
- Estimating take-home pay
- Frequently asked questions
Idaho Firefighter Wages: The Statewide Number Is Not a Boise Salary
BLS-based 2025 wage data put the Idaho firefighter median at $47,320 per year. The statewide 25th percentile is $35,380 and the 75th percentile is $76,280, with a published 10th-to-90th percentile spread of $30,280 to $81,190.
That statewide figure hides a large geographic gap. The same dataset reports a $76,280 median for Boise City, $58,820 for Coeur d'Alene, $60,930 for Idaho Falls, $58,920 for Lewiston and $44,250 for Pocatello.
Those are labor-market estimates across employers, not municipal step schedules. A Boise applicant should not use the $47,320 Idaho median when the City's actual July 2026 entry posting is more than $72,000.
The old $52,140 BLS figure is gone. The page now uses the 2025 BLS-based Idaho table and keeps statewide wage statistics separate from what individual departments are offering.
Idaho Firefighter Pay by Department — What Is Publicly Verifiable
| Department | Published pay | How to read it |
|---|---|---|
| Boise Fire Department | $72,615.14 annually | Entry Level Firefighter recruitment opened July 1, 2026. This is an actual current applicant salary, not a statewide estimate. |
| Meridian Fire Department | $34.61/hr during entry academy | City FAQ says academy is a paid 40-hour week. After graduation, firefighters move to a 48/96 schedule and 56-hour workweek, so hourly pay is adjusted. |
| Coeur d'Alene Fire Department | FF/EMT $62,666–$96,416 FF/AEMT $65,433–$99,183 FF/Paramedic $74,605–$108,356 | 2026 recruitment, 56-hour classifications. A 3.5% wage increase is scheduled for October 2026 and is not baked into these September figures. |
| Lewiston Fire Department | FF/EMT $64,759.64–$84,496.65 FF/Paramedic $73,209.31–$92,946.31 | 2026 recruitment. Full-time firefighters are hired from the department's reserve pool. |
| Idaho Falls Fire Department | Latest probationary FF posting found: $52,503.36 | That entry posting opened September 2025. Current 2026 promotional postings are available, but a new 2026 probationary-firefighter salary was not found. |
Nampa is intentionally not given a made-up 2026 range here. A current City salary source clear enough to support an applicant-facing firefighter figure was not located during this update.
Boise Firefighter Salary in 2026
Boise's July 2026 Entry Level Firefighter posting lists $72,615.14 annually. It is one of the cleanest firefighter salary numbers in Idaho because it comes directly from the City's active hiring process rather than an old class specification.
The department has more than 300 full-time personnel and 19 stations. The posting also makes an EMS credential part of the hiring picture: applicants need a current EMT or paramedic certification, or must have it by the application deadline and be able to obtain Idaho reciprocity.
Boise firefighters work a 48 hours on / 96 hours off schedule. That detail matters when comparing Boise with a job that advertises a 40-hour hourly rate.
Useful search answer: if someone asks “What does a Boise firefighter start at in 2026?”, the best current public answer is $72,615.14 — not Idaho's statewide $47,320 median.
Meridian Firefighter Pay: Academy Rate vs. Shift Rate
Meridian's public hiring FAQ explains its pay structure in a way that is easy to misunderstand if you only look at an hourly number.
During the entry-level academy, recruits work a 40-hour week on a four-day schedule. Meridian currently lists entry-level firefighter pay at $34.61 per hour during this stage.
After successful academy completion, firefighters move to the department's 48/96 operations schedule, which is based on a 56-hour workweek. The City says the hourly wage adjusts accordingly after graduation.
Meridian also publishes incentive programs for college degrees, Advanced EMT and paramedic certification. The public FAQ does not put one universal dollar amount on every incentive, so those extras are not estimated here.
Why this matters: multiplying $34.61 by a 56-hour schedule would be wrong. Meridian explicitly identifies that as the 40-hour academy rate and says the hourly wage changes when the recruit moves into operations.
Coeur d'Alene Firefighter Salary in 2026
Coeur d'Alene publishes more detail than most Idaho departments. Its February 2026 firefighter recruitment uses a 56-hour workweek and breaks salary out by EMS certification:
- Firefighter/EMT: $62,666–$96,416
- Firefighter/Advanced EMT: $65,433–$99,183
- Firefighter/Paramedic: $74,605–$108,356
The collective-bargaining structure also provides service-time increases: 8% after Year 1, another 8% after Year 2, 8% after Year 3, 6% after Year 4 and 9.5% after Year 5, with an additional 5% for employees who qualify for senior pay.
Additional compensation can include FLSA, education incentive and holiday pay. The City says holiday pay is paid separately at the employee's base wage for 264 hours.
There is an important date issue: the 2026 posting says base hourly wages will increase 3.5% in October 2026, followed by another 3.5% in October 2027. Since this article is updated September 8, the table above still shows the pre-October current rates.
Coeur d'Alene firefighter paramedic salary
For paramedics, Coeur d'Alene is especially useful because the salary difference is published rather than guessed. The current Firefighter/Paramedic range reaches $108,356 before the October 2026 contractual increase.
A separate lateral Firefighter/Paramedic recruitment listed a lateral entry base range including the paramedic stipend of approximately $79,614–$95,630, depending on experience and placement.
Lewiston: A Paid Reservist-to-Career Pipeline
Lewiston does not hire its full-time firefighters through the same path as Boise. Its 2026 postings explain that full-time positions are filled from the department's reserve firefighter pool.
The April 2026 entry-level reservist recruitment listed $14.60–$17.40 per hour during the part-time training pathway. Once qualified as a reserve firefighter, the City says reservists can earn more than $400 per 24-hour shift.
The same recruitment gives the current full-time base ranges:
- Firefighter/EMT: $64,759.64–$84,496.65
- Firefighter/Paramedic: $73,209.31–$92,946.31
This is a much more useful answer to “Lewiston firefighter salary” than putting Lewiston into a generic Idaho entry-level range, because the hiring pipeline itself changes how applicants reach the full-time classification.
Idaho Falls Firefighter Salary: What Is Current and What Is Not
The latest probationary firefighter recruitment located for Idaho Falls opened in September 2025 and listed $52,503.36 annually. There is no reason to quietly rename that a 2026 starting salary.
What the City does publish in 2026 are current promotional ranges. Those give useful career-progression context:
- Fire Driver: $64,093.12–$91,844.48
- Fire Captain: $77,604.80–$111,296.64
The Fire Driver examination requires four years of service as an Idaho Falls firefighter, so that range is clearly promotional rather than entry-level pay.
Idaho Falls data rule: the $52,503.36 probationary figure is kept with its 2025 date; the 2026 Driver and Captain figures are shown only as promotions. This avoids manufacturing a 2026 starting salary from unrelated ranks.
How to Compare 40-Hour and 56-Hour Firefighter Pay in Idaho
One of the easiest ways to get an Idaho firefighter salary comparison wrong is to treat every hourly rate as if it represented the same work year.
Meridian demonstrates the issue directly: the academy uses a 40-hour schedule and operations use a 56-hour schedule. Coeur d'Alene explicitly labels its firefighter pay as a 56-hour workweek. Boise lists an annual salary and a 48/96 schedule.
When two departments use different schedules, compare the employer's published annual base salary whenever possible. If only an hourly rate is available, verify the contractual annual hours before annualizing it yourself.
Idaho Wildland Fire and Overtime: Useful Career Context, Not Guaranteed Salary
Idaho has significant wildland-fire exposure, and municipal departments such as Boise and Coeur d'Alene train for wildland response. That does not mean every city firefighter gets a predictable wildfire-overtime check each year.
Mutual-aid deployments, FLSA compensation, callback, backfill and incident overtime depend on the department, the season and the employee's assignment. Coeur d'Alene, for example, explicitly says FLSA and holiday compensation are additional to its base ranges; Lewiston separately publishes its reserve shift pay.
The old article's claim that wildland season can add “significant income” across Idaho has therefore been removed. There may be extra earnings, but a responsible salary page should not turn an unpredictable fire season into a promised annual number.
PERSI: The Old 7.16% Firefighter Contribution Was Wrong
Most eligible public employees in Idaho participate in the Public Employee Retirement System of Idaho (PERSI), but firefighters fall under the public-safety contribution class rather than the general-member rate.
The old version of this page quoted approximately 7.16%. That figure came from older general-member contribution history and is not the current firefighter rate.
PERSI's latest actuarial contribution schedule reviewed for this update lists the Fire & Police member rate at 10.36% and the employer rate at 13.98% for the period including July 1, 2026. The next scheduled increase shown in that valuation is for July 1, 2027, when the member rate is 11.40% and employer rate 15.44%.
Take-home implication: on a PERSI-covered firefighter job, using 7.16% as the pension deduction materially understates the current public-safety contribution. Confirm the employer's PERSI classification before estimating your paycheck.
What Will an Idaho Firefighter Actually Take Home?
There is no honest statewide net-pay number. A Boise recruit, a Coeur d'Alene paramedic and a Lewiston reserve firefighter have different salary structures before taxes and benefits are even considered.
A useful calculation starts with these questions:
- Is the number academy pay, entry firefighter pay, a full step range or a paramedic classification?
- Is the job based on a 40-hour or 56-hour workweek?
- Does the published salary already include FLSA, holiday or certification pay?
- What is your current PERSI public-safety deduction?
- What does the employer charge for medical, dental and dependent coverage?
- What state and federal withholding applies to your household?
- Are extra shifts guaranteed, scheduled or simply available when staffing requires them?
Idaho does levy individual income tax. As of this September 2026 update, the Idaho State Tax Commission's latest published individual rate schedule is still the 2025 schedule, with a 5.3% rate above the indexed zero-tax threshold. Rather than pretend that threshold is already a published 2026 figure, applicants should use the Commission's current-year schedule when filing or estimating withholding.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the average firefighter salary in Idaho?
The latest BLS-based 2025 data show an Idaho firefighter median of $47,320. Boise City's median is $76,280, showing how much the statewide figure can hide local differences.
How much does a Boise firefighter make in 2026?
Boise's July 2026 Entry Level Firefighter posting lists $72,615.14 annually.
How much does a Meridian firefighter make?
Meridian currently lists $34.61 per hour during the entry academy, based on a 40-hour workweek. The hourly rate changes after academy when firefighters move to a 48/96, 56-hour operations schedule.
How much does a Coeur d'Alene firefighter make?
The current 2026 range is $62,666–$96,416 for Firefighter/EMT, $65,433–$99,183 for Firefighter/AEMT and $74,605–$108,356 for Firefighter/Paramedic. A 3.5% increase is scheduled for October 2026.
How much does a Lewiston firefighter make?
Lewiston lists $64,759.64–$84,496.65 for full-time Firefighter/EMT and $73,209.31–$92,946.31 for Firefighter/Paramedic. Full-time hires come from the reserve firefighter pool.
How much do Idaho firefighters contribute to PERSI?
The current PERSI Fire & Police contribution schedule lists a 10.36% employee rate and 13.98% employer rate for the period including July 1, 2026.
Does Idaho have state income tax on firefighter wages?
Yes. Idaho taxes individual income. The latest Tax Commission schedule publicly posted as of this update is for tax year 2025 and uses a 5.3% rate above the indexed zero-tax threshold.
Sources and Data Notes
- O*NET / BLS 2025 Idaho firefighter wage data.
- City of Boise — Entry Level Firefighter, July 2026.
- Meridian Fire Department hiring FAQ.
- Coeur d'Alene Firefighter recruitment — 2026.
- Coeur d'Alene Lateral Firefighter/Paramedic — 2026.
- Lewiston Entry-Level Fire Reservist — 2026.
- Idaho Falls Probationary Firefighter — September 2025.
- Idaho Falls Fire Driver Promotional — 2026.
- Idaho Falls Fire Captain Promotional — 2026.
- PERSI July 1, 2025 Actuarial Valuation — contribution schedule through 2028.
- PERSI Contribution Rate History.
- Idaho State Tax Commission — Individual Income Tax Rate Schedule.
Editorial note: This page was rebuilt around Idaho-specific hiring systems rather than a 50-state template. Boise, Meridian, Coeur d'Alene, Lewiston and Idaho Falls are presented differently because their public salary information is genuinely different. Figures were checked against public sources available September 8, 2026; future contractual increases are identified by their actual effective date instead of being applied early.
If you're preparing for an Idaho fire-service hiring process, see our firefighter career guide for testing, physical ability, EMS certification and academy basics.
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