Police vs Fire and emergency workers Salary Comparison

Students, career changers, and hiring managers often ask whether Police or Fire and emergency workers pays more on a nationally representative benchmark. This page anchors that question to ABS May 2023 EEH average weekly total cash earnings (annualized) — then layers 2026 paycheck math so you see take-home, not just gross.

Police leads on gross average by $16,152 per year. That is roughly $8.17 per hour — before you factor training time, licensing, or non-wage benefits.

Use the scoreboard for averages and ranks, the scenario ladder for baseline vs HELP take-home, then open each occupation profile for ABS source links and calculator deep links.

ABS EEH Data cube 11 averages are all-employee weekly total cash earnings for the ANZSCO unit group nationally. They do not add equity or self-employment income. Superannuation Guarantee is employer-side and sits outside employee cash take-home unless you model salary sacrifice.

Police (ANZSCO 4413) and Fire and emergency workers (ANZSCO 4412) can look closer or farther apart in a specific city than on this national line — especially tech and healthcare roles with Sydney/Melbourne weighting or penalty rates.

When an offer exceeds the average, model it in the Australia paycheck calculator. When you need city context, pair this page with metro paycheck examples Australia.

At Police's average ($123,490), modeled effective employee levy rates run 24.3% baseline and 30.9% with HELP. At Fire and emergency workers's average ($107,338): 23.2% (baseline) and 28.4% (HELP).

Australian personal income tax is federal only — states do not levy a separate wage income tax. Both vignettes include Medicare levy; baseline assumes private hospital cover so Medicare levy surcharge does not apply.

These are Australian-resident vignettes — not a forecast of your PAYG withholding or year-end reconciliation.

Education debt, licensing exams, night shifts, and Super packaging can invert a simple average ranking over a full career.

Healthcare pairs often compare years of training (health professionals vs carers). Tech pairs compare equity-heavy total pay against cash-wage averages.

Remember ABS figures are employee averages — sole traders and contractors can differ substantially.

Police ranks #18 of 55 tracked occupations; Fire and emergency workers ranks #23.

The $16,152 gap is 15% relative to Fire and emergency workers's average — use hourly figures when comparing to part-time or contract offers.

Featured corridors on the hub (software vs nursing, cyber vs software) exist because search volume clusters there — your pair may still be valid even when ranks are far apart.

Open the Police and Fire and emergency workers profiles for ABS source links and calculator deep links prefilled at each average.

If relocation is involved, stack metro paycheck examples Australia on top of this occupation comparison — gross average alone does not price rent or commute.

When an offer exceeds either average, model it in the Australia paycheck calculator with your HELP, residency, and private hospital cover settings.