Michigan Fire Department Personnel

Personnel (fire department membership) numbers vary by region, by state and even by county. Recruiting is critical to fire department success, see National Volunteer Fire Council’s Make Me a Firefighter and National Volunteer Fire Council’s Recruiting Resources. Check out how your department’s numbers compare to those around you, to see how your recruitment and retention investments are fairing.

This information is based solely upon fire departments that have registered with the National Fire Service Registry. If you have not registered your fire department, please do so, it is free and contributes to a complete picture of the fire services. Check out some Quick Facts from the registry.

Department Type

NOTE: In the USFA National Fire Service Registry data for Michigan there are 64 departments NOT classified, and so NOT included in these statistics. Departments should register as Career, Mostly Career, Volunteer or Mostly Volunteer but we do not have it for these 64 departments .

Volunteer Departments of Michigan

Here are the average numbers of volunteer firefighters for each county within Michigan, as well as the maximum and minimum numbers for that county.

County	# Volunteer Departments	Average Firefighters	Highest #	Lowest #
Alcona	11	15	25	3
Alger	9	16	29	6
Allegan	19	24	46	14
Alpena	7	14	23	6
Antrim	10	19	36	11
Arenac	4	19	30	13
Baraga	8	17	21	12
Barry	10	21	34	16
Bay	13	21	41	10
Benzie	6	22	54	7
Berrien	21	20	28	5
Branch	6	22	28	18
Calhoun	16	26	54	15
Cass	10	21	29	15
Charlevoix	6	18	29	8
Cheboygan	6	24	32	18
Chippewa	11	17	33	7
Clare	4	19	25	15
Clinton	10	25	34	21
Crawford	6	17	27	10
Delta	11	25	68	10
Dickinson	6	21	32	8
Eaton	12	25	35	14
Emmet	8	22	30	11
Genesee	21	27	43	15
Gladwin	7	19	38	9
Gogebic	7	21	32	15
Grand Traverse	1	80	–	–
Gratiot	6	24	30	21
Hillsdale	13	21	30	15
Houghton	22	17	28	4
Huron	12	22	27	16
Ingham	8	78	375	25
Ionia	11	20	33	13
Iosco	8	22	30	16
Iron	5	23	28	10
Isabella	8	23	43	12
Jackson	12	22	30	14
Kalamazoo	13	27	67	5
Kalkaska	5	17	25	9
Kent	23	23	42	10
Keweenaw	5	13	18	8
Lake	5	16	25	13
Lapeer	16	25	40	10
Leelanau	5	21	31	7
Lenawee	17	26	50	12
Livingston	8	48	96	20
Luce	2	19	28	10
Mackinac	5	21	38	6
Macomb	10	31	68	13
Manistee	8	22	28	12
Marquette	15	25	36	7
Mason	9	21	44	12
Mecosta	6	22	27	15
Menominee	10	21	35	4
Midland	9	21	24	16
Missaukee	6	20	36	5
Monroe	19	30	64	9
Montcalm	11	25	50	17
Montmorency	4	19	23	12
Muskegon	10	22	38	12
Newaygo	6	20	24	14
Oakland	22	46	192	16
Oceana	7	15	25	4
Ogemaw	6	25	32	14
Ontonagon	9	19	34	10
Osceola	7	20	31	9
Oscoda	5	11	15	4
Otsego	6	18	40	5
Ottawa	18	30	54	16
Presque Isle	8	18	30	9
Roscommon	10	21	41	6
Saginaw	21	27	80	13
Saint Clair	17	21	31	15
Saint Joseph	10	23	30	18
Sanilac	16	20	25	15
Schoolcraft	10	17	34	9
Shiawassee	9	25	45	15
Tuscola	13	21	28	11
Van Buren	14	26	54	3
Washtenaw	7	26	30	24
Wayne	11	26	54	7
Wexford	8	16	25	10

Career Departments of Michigan

Here are the average numbers of career firefighters for each county within Michigan, as well as the maximum and minimum numbers for that county.

County	# Career Departments	Average Firefighters	Highest #	Lowest #
Alpena	2	21	29	12
Bay	2	21	23	19
Berrien	3	24	28	18
Branch	1	21	–	–
Calhoun	3	39	81	16
Chippewa	1	19	–	–
Clinton	1	10	–	–
Crawford	1	11	–	–
Delta	1	28	–	–
Dickinson	1	19	–	–
Eaton	1	50	–	–
Emmet	1	25	–	–
Genesee	2	49	88	10
Grand Traverse	4	25	45	7
Ingham	4	77	190	29
Jackson	4	26	34	17
Kalamazoo	2	156	268	44
Kent	7	58	194	16
Leelanau	2	24	33	15
Lenawee	1	28	–	–
Macomb	15	50	128	13
Manistee	1	12	–	–
Marquette	2	17	25	9
Menominee	1	12	–	–
Midland	1	45	–	–
Monroe	1	25	–	–
Muskegon	4	29	39	17
Oakland	20	50	109	19
Oscoda	1	3	–	–
Ottawa	1	40	–	–
Saginaw	2	25	40	9
Saint Clair	2	29	38	19
Saint Joseph	1	22	–	–
Shiawassee	1	18	–	–
Washtenaw	8	28	82	12
Wayne	34	66	1098	6
Wexford	1	21	–	–

Department Types of Michigan

Here are the department types by county for volunteer and career agencies in for Michigan.

Looking for NFIRS FDIDs?

Here are the fire department identifiers (FDIDs) for agencies within Michigan. NFIRS FDIDs are required for submitting NFIRS reports with mutual aid or automatic aid with those departments.

Need more NFIRS help?

Here are some useful ressources to learn more about NFIRS.

NFIRS Codes Cheat Sheet – NFIRS Coding – NFIRS Examples – FDIDs – POCs – NFIRS Transactions – NFIRS Modules – NFIRS Elements – NFIRS Rules – NFIRS Reference – NFIRS Compliant ?

You can also read this NFIRS 5.0 Complete Reference Guide, and NFIRS 5.0 Design documentation in order to have a deeper understanding of NFIRS 5.0. Here are also NFIRS 5.0 Forms ready for you to download and use.

We are here to help, Feel free to contact us if you need any additionnal informations.