The most recent U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) occupational reports estimated that there were approximately 98,800 paramedics working in the U.S. as of May 2023.  Paramedics mostly work for ambulance service providers and local government agencies, with smaller numbers employed in hospital environments or elsewhere. Paramedics earn more modest salaries and wages than workers in many other healthcare occupations.  According to BLS data, as of May 2023 the national mean wage for paramedics was $57,450 annually.  Pay for the profession varies widely from region-to-region, with paramedics in some areas making 50% or more annually than their counterparts elsewhere. This salary and wage disparity is readily seen in BLS data from May 2023, which reports the following about paramedic pay in the top 20 metropolitan areas in the U.S.:

Paramedic Pay in the Top 20 Metropolitan Areas

	Metropolitan Area		# Employed	Mean Annual Wage
1	New York-Newark-Jersey City		4,020	$72,830
2	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim		1,300	$73,550
3	Chicago-Naperville-Elgin		2,900	$75,910
4	Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington		1,770	$58,110
5	Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land		2,230	$56,460
6	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria		900	$70,870
7	Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington		1,400	$68,310
8	Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach		930	$61,270
9	Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Alpharetta		1,730	$54,900
10	Boston-Cambridge-Newton		1,280	$67,920
11	Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler		1,100	$50,670
12	San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley		470	$78,530
13	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario		630	$68,380
14	Detroit-Warren-Dearborn		1,040	$53,460
15	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue		730	$112,530
16	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington		970	$72,230
17	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad		460	$62,710
18	Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater		780	$56,480
19	Denver-Aurora-Lakewood		1,020	$63,680
20	Baltimore-Columbia-Towson		970	$66,870
	National		98,770	$57,450

Report Period:  May 2023
Top 20 U.S. Metro areas from the 2020 Census
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Occupational Statistics
Data extracted on August 17, 2024