Fire Inspectors and Investigators Salary

It’s a stretch — at the median salary of $68K, rent takes 37.5% of take-home pay. A 2-bedroom at the HUD Fair Market Rent runs $1,685/month. The 30% guideline puts the comfortable ceiling at roughly $1,300/month in rent — so roommates or a 1-bedroom would ease the math significantly.

The 10th-percentile wage — what new fire inspectors and investigators typically earn — is $58K/year. Take-home on that works out to about $3,477/month. At HUD’s $1,685/month FMR, rent would take 48% of that take-home — above the 30% guideline, so a 1-bedroom or shared housing is likely necessary starting out.

Pay here is roughly in line with the national average — $68K locally vs. $76K nationally, a 10% difference.

Santa Fe pays $68K median vs. the U.S. average of $76K — that’s -10%. After adjusting for local cost of living (RPP 98.8), the purchasing-power equivalent is $69K — below the national median.

The median is $68,140 a year, that works out to about $33 an hour. But the range is wide: entry-level workers start around $57,950, and experienced fire inspectors and investigators can clear $80,610. These are BLS numbers, based on employer-reported data, not self-reported surveys.

On that salary, you'd take home roughly $4,498/month after taxes. A 2-bedroom here rents for about $1,685/month, which eats 37.5% of your paycheck. That's above the 30% rule of thumb, housing will be a stretch at the median salary, though you can manage with roommates or a smaller place.

Santa Fe has a Regional Price Parity of 100 (100 is the national average). That's right at the national average. After cost-of-living adjustment, the median fire inspectors and investigators salary is worth about $68,968 in national-average purchasing power.

The table above ranks every state by median pay for this role. Keep in mind that the highest-paying states tend to have the highest costs of living, so the top salary doesn't always mean the most money in your pocket.