Fire service officers (watch manager and below) salary in the UK
The median full-time salary for fire service officers (watch manager and below) in the UK is £44,033 (ONS, 2025). After tax and National Insurance at 2026/27 rates that is about £2,935 a month.
Pay range for fire service officers (watch manager and below)
This is the ONS occupation group "Fire service officers (watch manager and below)" (SOC 2020 code 3313). ONS figures for 2025 show that one in ten earn less than £30,517, a quarter earn less than £38,111, half earn less than £44,033 and a quarter earn more than £50,976.
| Point in the pay range | Gross a year | Gross a month | Take-home a year | Take-home a month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10th percentile | £30,517 | £2,543 | £25,492 | £2,124 |
| 25th percentile | £38,111 | £3,176 | £30,960 | £2,580 |
| Median (50th percentile) | £44,033 | £3,669 | £35,223 | £2,935 |
| 75th percentile | £50,976 | £4,248 | £40,123 | £3,344 |
| 90th percentile | Not published | Not published | Not published | Not published |
Take-home at England, Wales and Northern Ireland rates. Not published means ONS did not publish that figure because the estimate is not reliable enough. ONS rates the median for fire service officers (watch manager and below) as precise: its sampling error (coefficient of variation) is 4.2%. ONS estimates about 45,000 full-time employee jobs in this occupation. ONS says job counts like this are indicative only.
Where fire service officers (watch manager and below) rank
The median for fire service officers (watch manager and below) ranks 100th of 362 occupations on this site, in the upper half, and 10th of 58 in associate professional occupations. It is £4,994 (12.8%) higher than the UK median of £39,039 for all full-time employee jobs. ONS change on the previous year: the median for fire service officers (watch manager and below) rose 4.5%, more than the 4.3% rise in the UK median for all full-time jobs.
Jobs with the nearest medians: Education advisers and school inspectors (£44,549), Newspaper and periodical journalists and reporters (£44,534), Occupational therapists (£44,040), Protective service associate professionals n.e.c. (£44,007), Quality control and planning engineers (£43,592) and Physiotherapists (£43,532).
How spread out pay is
The middle half of full-time fire service officers (watch manager and below) earn between £38,111 and £50,976, a gap of £12,865, or 29.2% of the median. That is £11,882 narrower than the £24,747 gap for all UK jobs, and the 124th widest of the 223 jobs where ONS published both figures, in the lower half of the list.
The mean for fire service officers (watch manager and below) (total pay divided by the number of employees) is £44,795, which is £762 (1.7%) higher than the median. The two are close, so very high or very low salaries are not pulling the average far from the middle. For all UK full-time jobs the mean is 24.3% above the median, so the gap for fire service officers (watch manager and below) is smaller.
Fire service officers (watch manager and below) and related jobs
Among these 3 jobs in the same ONS minor group, this one has the highest median. The highest median among them is £44,033 (fire service officers (watch manager and below)) and the lowest £41,287 (prison service officers (below principal officer)).
| Job | SOC code | Median salary | Take-home a month |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fire service officers (watch manager and below) | 3313 | £44,033 | £2,935 |
| Protective service associate professionals n.e.c. | 3319 | £44,007 | £2,934 |
| Prison service officers (below principal officer) | 3314 | £41,287 | £2,771 |
Take-home pay against all jobs
At the median, fire service officers (watch manager and below) take home about £2,935 a month, against £2,636 on the UK median for all jobs. Scotland has its own income tax bands, so take-home pay on the same salary is different there.
| Group | Median a year | Take-home a month | Take-home a month in Scotland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fire service officers (watch manager and below) | £44,033 | £2,935 | £2,920 |
| All full-time employee jobs, UK | £39,039 | £2,636 | £2,631 |
Related pages
All jobs in the Associate professional occupations table, average salary by area, the take home pay calculator, salary to hourly calculator and pay rise calculator.
How this is worked out
Pay: ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE), 2025 provisional, SOC 2020 unit group 3313. Take-home: 2026/27 rates, tax code 1257L, no pension or student loan. How to read these figures.
Sources
- ASHE Table 14: earnings by occupation (4-digit SOC), 2025 provisional (ONS)
- ASHE Table 7: earnings by place of work, local authority, 2025 provisional (ONS)
- SOC 2020 Volume 1: structure and descriptions of unit groups (ONS)
- Income Tax rates and Personal Allowances (GOV.UK)
- Scottish Income Tax (GOV.UK)
- National Insurance: how much you pay (GOV.UK)
Figures checked on 12 October 2026. ONS plans to publish its next ASHE figures on 22 October 2026. Read how we calculate or tell us about a mistake.
Frequently asked questions
On the median full-time salary of £44,033, take-home pay is about £2,935 a month (£35,223 a year) after 2026/27 income tax and National Insurance, with tax code 1257L and no pension or student loan. In Scotland, where income tax is different, it is about £2,920 a month.
ONS figures for full-time jobs (2025) show that one in ten earn less than £30,517, a quarter earn less than £38,111, half earn less than £44,033 and a quarter earn more than £50,976. ONS did not publish every point in the range because some estimates are not reliable enough.
Yes. The median for fire service officers (watch manager and below) is £44,033, which is £4,994 (12.8%) higher than the UK median of £39,039 for all full-time employee jobs (ONS, 2025). It ranks 100th of 362 occupations on this site.