Emergency Management Directors Career, Salary and Skills
Emergency Management Directors have a BLS-reported national median annual wage of $93,330 based on the 2025 OEWS dataset, with reported national employment of 13,500. Wage data is published for 114 locations.
Occupation description
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.
O*NET code
11-9161.00
Job zone
4
Typical education
Bachelor's Degree
Experience
Over 4 years, up to and including 6 years
National salary and employment
Median annual
$93,330
Hourly median
$44.87
Employment
13,500
Data year
2025
National salary distribution
Top skills
| Skill | Importance | Level |
|---|---|---|
| Service Orientation | 4.25 | 5.25 |
| Speaking | 4.12 | 4.25 |
| Complex Problem Solving | 4.12 | 5.38 |
| Social Perceptiveness | 4.00 | 4.12 |
| Writing | 4.00 | 4.25 |
| Critical Thinking | 4.00 | 4.38 |
| Active Listening | 4.00 | 4.12 |
| Reading Comprehension | 4.00 | 4.12 |
| Monitoring | 4.00 | 4.62 |
| Coordination | 4.00 | 5.00 |
Typical tasks
- Develop and maintain liaisons with municipalities, county departments, and similar entities to facilitate plan development, response effort coordination, and exchanges of personnel and equipment.
- Coordinate disaster response or crisis management activities, such as ordering evacuations, opening public shelters, and implementing special needs plans and programs.
- Prepare emergency situation status reports that describe response and recovery efforts, needs, and preliminary damage assessments.
- Maintain and update all resource materials associated with emergency preparedness plans.
- 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 perform tests and evaluations of emergency management plans in accordance with state and federal regulations.
- Collaborate with other officials to prepare and analyze damage assessments following disasters or emergencies.
- Consult with officials of local and area governments, schools, hospitals, and other institutions to determine their needs and capabilities in the event of a natural disaster or other emergency.
Technology
- Alert Technologies OpsCenter
- Digital Engineering Corporation E-MAPS
- Emergency Managers Weather Information Network EMWIN
- Emergency Services Integrators ESi WebEOC
- ESRI ArcGIS software
- Federal Emergency Management Information System FEMIS
- Geographic information system GIS software
- Graphics software
- IBM Lotus Notes
- MapInfo Professional
- McAfee
- Microsoft Excel
- Microsoft Office software
- Microsoft Outlook
Emergency Management Directors salary by location
Areas with the highest reported employment for this occupation.
- Emergency Management Directors Salary in TXMedian $93,570 · Employment 1,210
- Emergency Management Directors Salary in CAMedian $129,910 · Employment 1,170
- Emergency Management Directors Salary in NYMedian $92,570 · Employment 790
- Emergency Management Directors Salary in FLMedian $99,020 · Employment 720
- Emergency Management Directors Salary in New York, NYMedian $100,980 · Employment 630
- Emergency Management Directors Salary in PAMedian $81,550 · Employment 520
- Emergency Management Directors Salary in NJMedian $120,990 · Employment 490
- Emergency Management Directors Salary in VAMedian $99,860 · Employment 450
- Emergency Management Directors Salary in ILMedian $83,820 · Employment 450
- Emergency Management Directors Salary in GAMedian $83,200 · Employment 430
- Emergency Management Directors Salary in NCMedian $93,840 · Employment 420
- Emergency Management Directors Salary in TNMedian $81,800 · Employment 370
Related careers
- Loss Prevention ManagersNational median $141,900
- Fire-Prevention and Protection EngineersNational median $115,160
- First-Line Supervisors of Security WorkersNational median $55,940
- Fire Inspectors and InvestigatorsNational median $75,920
- Occupational Health and Safety TechniciansNational median $61,560
- First-Line Supervisors of Firefighting and Prevention WorkersNational median $93,530
- Ambulance Drivers and Attendants, Except Emergency Medical TechniciansNational median $35,450
- ParamedicsNational median $60,600
Career and skills data: O*NET 31.0 (onetcenter.org). Salary and employment data: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS, 2025 (bls.gov/oes). Figures are published survey estimates, not real-time market data.