Occupation salary profile

Paramedics

SOC 29-2043 BLS OEWS May 2025 H-1B LCAs, last 12 months

Administer basic or advanced emergency medical care and assess injuries and illnesses. May administer medication intravenously, use equipment such as EKGs, or administer advanced life support to sick or injured individuals. Excludes “Emergency Medical Technicians” (29-2042) and “Ambulance Drivers and Attendants, Except Emergency Medical Technicians” (53-3011).

National median · BLS
$60,600
▲ +3.75% YoY
H-1B sponsor median
$59,218
▲ +15.03% YoY · 53 LCAs
Average salary · BLS
$63,360
Mean annual wage
U.S. employment
100,610
Jobs (BLS)
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Enter your pay and a location to see where you stand against BLS and H-1B pay, your estimated take-home pay, and your purchasing power.

Pay range for Paramedics

Annual base pay at each percentile. BLS covers all U.S. workers in this occupation; H-1B covers 53 certified Labor Condition Applications filed by sponsoring employers in the last 12 months.

Percentile All U.S. workers (BLS) H-1B sponsored
10th — entry pay$44,230$48,048
25th$49,660$51,480
Median (50th)$60,600$59,218
75th$73,470$71,294
90th — top pay$84,850$82,398
H-1B sponsors pay a median of $59,218 for Paramedics — 2.3% below the BLS national median of $60,600.

Hourly ⇄ annual pay

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Based on hrs/week × weeks/year = 2,080 hrs
Projections 2025–2035

Job outlook for Paramedics

BLS projects employment of paramedics to grow 5.7% from 2025 to 2035, faster than the 3.5% average for all occupations. About 4,300 openings are projected each year, on average, from new jobs and from replacing workers who retire or move to other occupations.

Jobs 2025 → 2035
102,200 → 108,000
+5,800 jobs
Projected change
+5.7%
All occupations: +3.5%
Openings per year
4,300
Average, 2025–2035
Typical entry education
Postsecondary nondegree award
Plus less than 5 years experience
Self-employed
0.5% of workers (2025)
Preparation needed (O*NET Job Zone 3)
Medium Preparation Needed. Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.
Fastest-growing jobs → Best-paying jobs that need a postsecondary certificate (nondegree award) →

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025–2035 · BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook →

H-1B sponsored pay

Pay by H-1B wage level

Employers assign every H-1B filing a Department of Labor prevailing-wage level, from Level I (entry) to Level IV (fully competent). Pay rises steeply with level.

H-1B median $59,218
Change vs prior year +15.03%
After inflation (CPI-U) +11.54%
Wage level LCAs Share P25 Median P75
Level I 13 24.5% $51,480 $51,480 $51,480
Level II 27 50.9% $53,768 $69,363 $74,436
Level III 13 24.5% $57,200 $71,294 $83,785
H-1B job titles

Salaries by job title in Paramedics

The 3 most-filed job titles inside SOC 29-2043, from 53 H-1B filings. Seniority words and level numbers are grouped (“Senior Data Engineer II” counts as Data Engineer). Tap a title for its full range, wage levels and the exact titles employers used.

Job title LCAs Share P25 Median P75 YoY
Paramedic 22 41.51% $48,100 $59,332 $79,266 -13.11%
Emergency Medical Technician 15 28.3% $51,480 $51,480 $53,768 +8.55%
Critical Care Paramedic 13 24.53% $69,363 $70,465 $71,294 —

Titles are cleaned from the employer's own LCA text (codes and typos removed, nothing invented). Rows need 10+ filings in this SOC.

Skills & tools

Skills needed for Paramedics

How important each skill and knowledge area is for this job, rated by O*NET on a 1–5 scale from surveys of workers and occupational analysts.

Top skills
  • Service Orientation3.9
  • Coordination3.8
  • Critical Thinking3.8
  • Social Perceptiveness3.8
  • Active Listening3.6
  • Monitoring3.5
  • Reading Comprehension3.5
  • Speaking3.5
  • Active Learning3.4
  • Judgment and Decision Making3.4
Top knowledge areas
  • Medicine and Dentistry4.5
  • English Language4.2
  • Public Safety and Security3.9
  • Customer and Personal Service3.9
  • Biology3.7
  • Education and Training3.7
  • Psychology3.5
  • Mathematics3.4
Software and technology used
Apple iOSeClinicalWorks EHR softwareMEDITECH softwareMicrosoft ExcelMicrosoft Office softwareMicrosoft OutlookMicrosoft PowerPointMicrosoft WordREpocratesHyperToxInformed EMS Field GuideIterum eMedicMedDataSolutions Regist*rMedical Wizards ER & ICU ToolBoxMedical Wizards ER SuiteMedical Wizards Paramedics ToolBoxMosby's Drug Consult

Highlighted = in demand: frequently listed in employer job postings for this occupation (O*NET).

Source: O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.

About the job

What paramedics do

  • Perform emergency cardiac care, such as cardioversion and manual defibrillation.
  • Perform emergency invasive intervention before delivering patient to an acute care facility.
  • Coordinate work with other emergency medical team members or police or fire department personnel.
  • Assess nature and extent of illness or injury to establish and prioritize medical procedures.
  • Comfort and reassure patients.
  • Administer first aid treatment or life support care to sick or injured persons in prehospital settings.
  • Operate equipment, such as electrocardiograms (EKGs), external defibrillators, or bag valve mask resuscitators, in advanced life support environments.
  • Perform emergency pharmacological interventions.
Also called
Critical Care ParamedicFirefighter ParamedicFirst ResponderFlight Paramedic
More job titles for this occupation (7)
Critical Care Flight ParamedicED Paramedic (Emergency Department Paramedic)EMT Paramedic (Emergency Medical Technician Paramedic)ER Paramedic (Emergency Room Paramedic)Paramedic Specialist (PS)Rescue WorkerResponder

Source: O*NET 31.0 (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0). These are general job titles, not H-1B filings; for titles employers actually filed, see “Job titles” above.