Fire captain vs battalion chief

The differences between fire captains and battalion chiefs can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 6-8 years to become both a fire captain and a battalion chief. Additionally, a fire captain has an average salary of $66,742, which is higher than the $61,652 average annual salary of a battalion chief.

The top three skills for a fire captain include emergency response, EMT and fire suppression. The most important skills for a battalion chief are emergency response, fire suppression, and incident command system.

Fire captain vs battalion chief overview

	Fire Captain	Battalion Chief
Yearly salary	$66,742	$61,652
Hourly rate	$32.09	$29.64
Growth rate	4%	-
Number of jobs	5,885	12,767
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 41%	Bachelor's Degree, 45%
Average age	49	49
Years of experience	8	8

Fire captain vs battalion chief salary

Fire captains and battalion chiefs have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Fire Captain	Battalion Chief
Average salary	$66,742	$61,652
Salary range	Between $40,000 And $109,000	Between $39,000 And $96,000
Highest paying City	-	-
Highest paying state	-	-
Best paying company	-	-
Best paying industry	-	-

Differences between fire captain and battalion chief education

There are a few differences between a fire captain and a battalion chief in terms of educational background:

	Fire Captain	Battalion Chief
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 41%	Bachelor's Degree, 45%
Most common major	Fire Science And Protection	Fire Science And Protection
Most common college	Northwestern University	Stanford University

Fire captain vs battalion chief demographics

Here are the differences between fire captains' and battalion chiefs' demographics:

	Fire Captain	Battalion Chief
Average age	49	49
Gender ratio	Male, 93.8% Female, 6.2%	Male, 96.3% Female, 3.7%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 5.8% Unknown, 5.9% Hispanic or Latino, 8.2% Asian, 2.3% White, 76.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.0%	Black or African American, 5.8% Unknown, 5.9% Hispanic or Latino, 8.2% Asian, 2.3% White, 76.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.1%
LGBT Percentage	7%	7%

Differences between fire captain and battalion chief duties and responsibilities

Fire captain example responsibilities.

Achieve a long time department goal by exceeding the NFPA and DPSST standards by recreating the fire district's training program.
Manage the combat logistics operations center's daily operations and ensure efficient information flow between internal and external organizations.
Certify as CPR and defibrillator instructor.
Fulfill a specialize function in the HAZMAT discipline.
Train local nationals and Americans on EVOC and CPR.
Establish incident command and mitigate all fire, medical, hazmat emergency scenes.

Battalion chief example responsibilities.

Manage the handling and disposal of over 2,000 pounds of hazmat and the disposal of over 5,000 pounds of hazardous waste.
Manage the combat logistics operations center's daily operations and ensure efficient information flow between internal and external organizations.
Participate in the administration and planning of a comprehensive fire prevention and firefighting rescue program.
Demonstrate expert knowledge of firefighting preparedness, suppression operations, incident management, fuels management, fire use and resource management.
Assist in teaching classes at the fire academy to new recruits and teach EMT to high school students.
Coordinate training with grind combat elements enablers in support of battalion operations.

Fire captain vs battalion chief skills

Common fire captain skills

Emergency Response, 8%
EMT, 6%
Fire Suppression, 5%
EMS, 5%
Fire Service, 5%
Medical Services, 4%

Common battalion chief skills

Emergency Response, 8%
Fire Suppression, 7%
Incident Command System, 7%
EMS, 6%
Fire Protection, 5%
Fire Service, 5%