911 emergency dispatcher vs public safety dispatcher

The differences between 911 emergency dispatchers and public safety dispatchers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a 911 emergency dispatcher has an average salary of $36,782, which is higher than the $35,063 average annual salary of a public safety dispatcher.

The top three skills for a 911 emergency dispatcher include EMS, computer aided dispatch and NCIC. The most important skills for a public safety dispatcher are computer aided dispatch, customer service, and CAD.

911 emergency dispatcher vs public safety dispatcher overview

	911 Emergency Dispatcher	Public Safety Dispatcher
Yearly salary	$36,782	$35,063
Hourly rate	$17.68	$16.86
Growth rate	4%	4%
Number of jobs	27,140	25,700
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 30%	Bachelor's Degree, 40%
Average age	39	39
Years of experience	-	-

911 emergency dispatcher vs public safety dispatcher salary

911 emergency dispatchers and public safety dispatchers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	911 Emergency Dispatcher	Public Safety Dispatcher
Average salary	$36,782	$35,063
Salary range	Between $27,000 And $49,000	Between $26,000 And $46,000
Highest paying City	Minneapolis, MN	Berkeley, CA
Highest paying state	Pennsylvania	Pennsylvania
Best paying company	Clark County	City of San Jos
Best paying industry	Government	Government

Differences between 911 emergency dispatcher and public safety dispatcher education

There are a few differences between a 911 emergency dispatcher and a public safety dispatcher in terms of educational background:

	911 Emergency Dispatcher	Public Safety Dispatcher
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 30%	Bachelor's Degree, 40%
Most common major	Criminal Justice	Criminal Justice
Most common college	-	-

911 emergency dispatcher vs public safety dispatcher demographics

Here are the differences between 911 emergency dispatchers' and public safety dispatchers' demographics:

	911 Emergency Dispatcher	Public Safety Dispatcher
Average age	39	39
Gender ratio	Male, 26.8% Female, 73.2%	Male, 37.6% Female, 62.4%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 9.1% Unknown, 6.0% Hispanic or Latino, 11.1% Asian, 0.9% White, 72.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%	Black or African American, 9.1% Unknown, 6.0% Hispanic or Latino, 11.1% Asian, 0.9% White, 72.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage	17%	17%

Differences between 911 emergency dispatcher and public safety dispatcher duties and responsibilities

911 emergency dispatcher example responsibilities.

Help deliver several healthy babies with the assistance of the 911 EMD cards.
Help callers perform CPR, Heimlich maneuver, and other lifesaving measures of injure subjects.
Answer emergency and non-emergency calls and dispatch the appropriate department whether it be police, fire, or ems.
Operate a nationwide computerize crime information system (NCIC) to all criminal justice agencies-local, state and federal.
Log warrant entries, missing persons, and stolen vehicles as well as other miscellaneous items into the national NCIC program.
Administer CPR instructions to numerous third party individuals.

Public safety dispatcher example responsibilities.

Manage the response and allocation of police, fire, ems personnel when call for service.
Provide a and CPR instructions.
Conduct layperson CPR instruction to local communities.
Train entry dispatchers on Fire/EMS call taking and dispatching.
Provide determinant dispatch codes base on EMD and EFD standards.
Job duties are the answering, processing and dispatching of police, fire and ems services.

911 emergency dispatcher vs public safety dispatcher skills

Common 911 emergency dispatcher skills

EMS, 12%
Computer Aided Dispatch, 10%
NCIC, 6%
CAD, 6%
Public Safety Agencies, 6%
Law Enforcement Agencies, 5%

Common public safety dispatcher skills

Computer Aided Dispatch, 15%
Customer Service, 6%
CAD, 6%
Patrol, 5%
Dispatch System, 4%
NCIC, 3%

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911 Emergency Dispatcher
911 Emergency Dispatcher vs Public Safety Dispatcher

Updated January 8, 2025

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