Paramedic Salary in Ohio 2026,
$51,300 Median | BLS Data by City

Ohio paramedics earn a median $51,300 a year, $24.67 an hour, per BLS OEWS May 2025, with the middle half between $45,870 and $62,170 and a full range of $38,750 to $72,140. That is 15.3% below the $60,600 national median — though the best Ohio metros pay well above the state figure.

Mansfield at $64,220, then Cleveland at $60,490, Toledo at $56,230, Canton-Massillon at $53,320 and Dayton-Kettering-Beavercreek at $52,760. Mansfield paying nearly thirteen thousand dollars above the statewide median of $51,300 is a small-market recruitment effect: a thin local labour pool combined with structured municipal and hospital-based employment.

Through the Ohio Department of Public Safety's Division of Emergency Medical Services. Ohio certifies rather than licenses EMS personnel and runs the tiers from Emergency Medical Responder through EMT, Advanced EMT and Paramedic, each requiring approved coursework, documented field experience and the National Registry examination. The same state board certifies fire service personnel, which is why so many Ohio paramedic careers run through fire departments.

Ohio's state income tax is a flat 2.75% in 2026 with roughly the first twenty-six thousand dollars of taxable income exempt. Most Ohio cities add 1% to 2.5% — Cleveland, Columbus and Akron are at 2.5% — usually applied where you work. Because paramedic earnings include substantial shift-rotation overtime, the combined state and municipal rate applies to all of it, and comparing two Ohio offers means comparing city rates as well as wages.

Municipal and fire-based employment with structured scales, critical-care and flight transport, and supervisory roles. Fire departments in Ohio pay on their own scales with pension provision and typically require paramedic certification; critical-care transport requires additional certification and pays accordingly; and field supervision adds a further step. Together these are what the $62,170 seventy-fifth percentile and the $72,140 ninetieth represent.

Employer structure. Mansfield at $64,220 and Cleveland at $60,490 reflect municipal and hospital-based EMS with defined pay scales and step increases; Canton-Massillon at $53,320 and Dayton-Kettering-Beavercreek at $52,760 reflect a mix that includes more private and contracted provision. Ohio's heavy reliance on fire-based EMS complicates the picture further, since many fire department paramedics are coded as firefighters. The statewide median of $51,300 blends all of it and describes none of it precisely.

This is an annualised wage figure for an occupation that runs on 24- and 48-hour shift patterns with routine scheduled overtime, and actual annual earnings for a full-time Ohio paramedic frequently exceed the published band because of that overtime. On the other side, the $38,750 tenth percentile reflects part-time and rural service work that is genuinely paid at that level. Neither number describes a typical full-time municipal paramedic.

It is the main career path for many Ohio paramedics and it sits partly outside this data. Ohio's municipal and township fire departments deliver much of the state's emergency medical response, they generally require paramedic certification, and they pay on firefighter scales with pension provision that private EMS cannot match. The Division of EMS certifying both fire and EMS personnel reflects that integration. For a paramedic weighing options in Ohio, the fire department route is usually the highest-value one available.