Emergency Management Directors Salary in the United States
The median annual wage for emergency management directors in the U.S. is $93,330 ($44.87 per hour), according to the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program, May 2025 estimates.
- Median annual wage
- $93,330
- Mean annual wage
- $102,420
- Median hourly wage
- $44.87
- Employment
- 13,500
13,500 employed
Wage percentiles
| Percentile | Annual wage | Hourly wage |
|---|---|---|
| 10th percentile | $54,210 | $26.06 |
| 25th percentile | $67,910 | $32.65 |
| Median (50th) | $93,330 | $44.87 |
| 75th percentile | $126,490 | $60.81 |
| 90th percentile | $166,430 | $80.02 |
Highest-paying states for emergency management directors
| State | Median annual wage | Employment |
|---|---|---|
| District of Columbia | $184,350 | 150 |
| New Mexico | $145,550 | 170 |
| Washington | $130,780 | 180 |
| California | $129,910 | 1,170 |
| Colorado | $129,660 | — |
| Massachusetts | $123,250 | 220 |
| New Jersey | $120,990 | 490 |
| Connecticut | $113,380 | 180 |
| Oregon | $110,720 | 120 |
| Maryland | $107,200 | 150 |
Lowest-paying states
- Mississippi: $48,650 median annual wage
- Arkansas: $50,180 median annual wage
- West Virginia: $60,460 median annual wage
- Oklahoma: $60,990 median annual wage
- Montana: $62,770 median annual wage
About this occupation
Plan and direct disaster response or crisis management activities, provide disaster preparedness training, and prepare emergency plans and procedures for natural (e.g., hurricanes, floods, earthquakes), wartime, or technological (e.g., nuclear power plant emergencies or hazardous materials spills) disasters or hostage situations.
Typical tasks
- Coordinate disaster response or crisis management activities, such as ordering evacuations, opening public shelters, and implementing special needs plans and programs.
- Design and administer emergency or disaster preparedness training courses that teach people how to effectively respond to major emergencies and disasters.
- Keep informed of activities or changes that could affect the likelihood of an emergency, response efforts, or plan implementation.
- Develop and maintain liaisons with municipalities, county departments, and similar entities to facilitate plan development, response effort coordination, and exchanges of personnel and equipment.
- Prepare plans that outline operating procedures to be used in response to disasters or emergencies, such as hurricanes, nuclear accidents, and terrorist attacks, and in recovery from these events.
- Develop and implement training procedures and strategies for radiological protection, detection, and decontamination.
Education of the current workforce — typical entry: Bachelor's degree
| Education level | Share of workers |
|---|---|
| High school diploma or equivalent | 4.7% |
| Some college, no degree | 18.8% |
| Associate's degree | 12.9% |
| Bachelor's degree | 32.8% |
| Master's degree | 29.5% |
| Doctoral or professional degree | 1.2% |
Occupation profile data from CareerOneStop, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor.
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About this data
- Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics — data period May 2025, retrieved August 13, 2026.
- Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics — data period May 2025, retrieved August 13, 2026.
- CareerOneStop Occupation Profiles — data period 2026-08, retrieved August 14, 2026.
Figures are shown exactly as published by the source or derived by the documented formulas on our methodology page. Where a source suppresses an estimate, we show “—” rather than a substitute value.