Salary
Average Salary: $52,590
Expected Lifetime Earnings: $2,195,527
As a newbie specialist in the field of emergency management, your salary will be in the neighborhood of $29,000 (source).
It's lower than the average, but your job will also be easier. Everything is still nice and quiet at this stage, and you spend your days and weeks updating emergency preparedness plans, conducting inspections to make sure facilities and equipment are up to snuff, and attending meetings.
But when the dynamite hits the fan and you're working around the clock dealing with the aftermath of a disaster such as a hurricane or flood, suddenly you're feeling vastly underpaid. It's go time, and your preparedness and ability to make critical snap decisions may affect peoples' lives and millions of dollars of infrastructure. It's like being a basketball player who rides the bench all season and is finally inserted into game seven of the finals.
Such is the life of emergency management. Fortunately the average pay is much better, almost $53,000, and the top earners in the field often rake in more than $90,000 (source).
Want to up that number a little? Put "Work for the Federal Government" on your career bucket list. Although there are fewer positions at this level than at the state and local levels, the average pay is much better. The private sector isn't too shabby either. Certain industries, such as manufacturing and utilities, pay top dollar.