Public Service & Safety
Protecting communities and keeping things running.
Emergency communications
911 Dispatcher
The calmest voice on the worst call of someone's life.
$38k-$70k
Municipal animal services
Animal Control Officer
Animal work that is mostly about people.
$38k-$62k
Federal law enforcement
Border Patrol Agent
Federal pay and benefits, in places you do not choose.
$50k-$100k
Municipal compliance
Code Enforcement Officer
Civil authority, no badge, and everybody has an opinion about your visit.
$42k-$72k
State & county facilities
Correctional Officer
Supervising people who do not want to be supervised.
$40k-$80k
Legal transcription & captioning
Court Reporter
A skill almost nobody has anymore, and a shortage that keeps growing.
$60k-$120k
Forensic evidence collection
Crime Scene Investigator
Nothing like television, and considerably more paperwork.
$45k-$85k
Criminal investigation
Detective
A promotion you earn in a patrol car first.
$65k-$115k
Disaster preparedness & response
Emergency Management Director
Planning for the day everything fails at once.
$65k-$120k
Ambulance & event medicine
Emergency Medical Technician
The fastest way into emergency medicine, and the lowest paid.
$33k-$48k
Municipal
Firefighter
Long shifts of waiting, punctuated by everything.
$45k-$95k
Funeral home & mortuary
Funeral Director
Meeting people on the worst day and getting the details right.
$50k-$90k
Interpretation & resources
Park Ranger
An office with no ceiling.
$35k-$70k
Municipal patrol
Police Officer
Long stretches of routine broken by the calls you remember.
$50k-$100k
Adult & juvenile supervision
Probation Officer
Half social worker, half law enforcement, fully overloaded.
$45k-$85k
Food safety & environmental health
Public Health Inspector
Nobody is glad to see you, and that is the job working correctly.
$50k-$85k
Corporate, retail & event
Security Guard
Mostly presence, occasionally everything at once.
$32k-$60k
Child welfare & clinical
Social Worker
Carrying a caseload the system is not staffed to handle.
$45k-$80k
Municipal & regional planning
Urban Planner
Shaping how a city grows, one contentious meeting at a time.
$60k-$105k
Federal & state fire crews
Wildland Firefighter
Seasonal, physically extreme, and the overtime is the entire paycheck.
$35k-$75k with overtime