Dispatchers, Except Police, Fire, and Ambulance

Median salary

$50,340

Average salary

$54,740

Employment

202,810

Projected growth

0.9% decline

Annual openings

18,500

Typical entry education

High school diploma or equivalent

What Dispatchers, Except Police, Fire, and Ambulance Do

Schedule and dispatch workers, work crews, equipment, or service vehicles for conveyance of materials, freight, or passengers, or for normal installation, service, or emergency repairs rendered outside the place of business. Duties may include using radio, telephone, or computer to transmit assignments and compiling statistics and reports on work progress.

See full salary breakdown & percentiles →

Career Outlook

National employment outlook, 2024–2034.

Related work experience: None
On-the-job training: Moderate-term on-the-job training
Self-employed: 2.7%

Source: BLS Employment Projections — 2024-2034.

How Much Preparation Does This Take?

Job Zone 2 of 5

Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed

Experience: Some occupations may need little or no previous experience; others require several months to a year of experience.
Education: Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not.
Job training: Ranges from a few days to one year of on-the-job training.

Source: O*NET Job Zones.

Key Knowledge Areas

Subject-matter areas this occupation draws on most, per O*NET.

Customer and Personal Serviceimportance 4.3/5
Public Safety and Securityimportance 4.0/5
Administration and Managementimportance 3.9/5
Administrativeimportance 3.7/5
English Languageimportance 3.5/5
Transportationimportance 3.5/5
Personnel and Human Resourcesimportance 3.3/5
Computers and Electronicsimportance 3.1/5

Work Environment

What the day-to-day work setting is like, per O*NET.

Telephone Conversations5.0/5
Face-to-Face Discussions with Individuals and Within Teams5.0/5
Contact With Others4.9/5
Frequency of Decision Making4.8/5
Coordinate or Lead Others in Accomplishing Work Activities4.8/5
Impact of Decisions on Co-workers or Company Results4.7/5

Careers With Similar Skills

Occupations whose Transferable Skills profile most closely matches this one — a mathematical comparison, not observed data about people actually moving between these careers.

First-Line Supervisors of Personal Service Workers97% skill match
First-Line Supervisors of Correctional Officers97% skill match
Transportation, Storage, and Distribution Managers96% skill match
Kindergarten Teachers, Except Special Education96% skill match
Court, Municipal, and License Clerks96% skill match
Receptionists and Information Clerks96% skill match
Fire Inspectors and Investigators96% skill match
Middle School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education96% skill match

Transferable Skills

Cross-functional skills this occupation draws on most, per O*NET — the kind that carry over to other careers.

Coordinationimportance 3.9/5
Time Managementimportance 3.8/5
Social Perceptivenessimportance 3.1/5
Service Orientationimportance 3.1/5
Complex Problem Solvingimportance 3.1/5
Judgment and Decision Makingimportance 3.1/5
Systems Analysisimportance 2.9/5
Persuasionimportance 2.8/5

Software & Technologies

Tools and software used in this occupation, per O*NET.

Hot Technologies

Other Software Used

Air-Trak Cloudberry
Bornemann Associates Flight Plan
Command Alkon COMMANDconcrete
Computer aided dispatch software
Computer aided dispatching auto routing software
Database software
Digital Gateway e-automate
Dr. Dispatch

Work Style

Personal work characteristics that matter most for this occupation, per O*NET.

Dependability
Attention to Detail
Stress Tolerance
Cooperation
Self-Control
Adaptability
Integrity

Career Interests

This occupation’s RIASEC interest profile, per O*NET — how strongly it fits each of the six Holland interest types.

ConventionalHigh
RealisticHigh
EnterprisingLow
SocialLow
InvestigativeLow
ArtisticLow

This page includes information from the O*NET 30.3 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.

Where This Career Is Most Concentrated

Metro areas where dispatchers, except police, fire, and ambulance make up the largest share of local employment, relative to the national average (BLS location quotient).