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Rochester, Minnesota has 6 accredited schools offering fire science programs, with tuition ranging from $4,820 to $25,978 per year for indexed programs. Rochester has a population of about 121,638. Median household income is $87,767 (Census ACS 2023, 5-year). About 50.1% of adults 25+ hold a bachelor’s degree or higher. In Minnesota, the top-earning fire science-related role is Emergency Management Director at a median $106,880 annually (BLS, May 2025).
The accredited institutions listed below are the closest in our directory that offer fire science programs near Rochester, ranked by BOC Score and straight-line distance from Rochester city center. The list is rebuilt from federal IPEDS data on every site update.
Every school list on this site is ordered by the BOC Score, computed from the most recent school-level data published by the U.S. Department of Education (College Scorecard and IPEDS). To qualify, a school must be currently operating and accredited by an agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. Each eligible school is then scored on five measures, percentile-ranked against schools at the same credential level:
Schools without enough outcome data appear after ranked schools, without a score. On this page, schools are ordered by distance from Rochester. Advertising never affects these rankings. Read the full methodology.
Source:IPEDSCollege Scorecard
Source:IPEDSCollege Scorecard
Source:Accreditor: Higher Learning CommissionIPEDSCollege Scorecard
Source:Accreditor: Higher Learning CommissionIPEDSCollege Scorecard
Source:Accreditor: Higher Learning CommissionIPEDSCollege Scorecard
Source:IPEDSCollege Scorecard
Source: IPEDS / College Scorecard (2023 cohort). Browse all Minnesota schools on the Minnesota fire science page.
Rochester is part of the Rochester, MN metro area (BLS area code 40340). Where MSA-level wages are published, the table below shows MSA medians; otherwise it falls back to Minnesota statewide.
| Occupation | Median Wage | Source | COL-Adjusted (US=100) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Firefighter | $35,200 | Rochester, MN | $38,767 |
| First-Line Supervisor of Firefighting and Prevention Workers | $78,800 | Rochester, MN | $86,784 |
| Fire Inspector and Investigator | $84,410 | MN statewide | $92,963 |
| Emergency Management Director | $106,880 | MN statewide | $117,709 |
Source: BLS, May 2025 Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes wage data at the metro (MSA) and state level – not by individual city.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Population | 121,638 | Census ACS 2023 5-yr (B01003) |
| Median household income | $87,767 | Census ACS 2023 5-yr (B19013) |
| Adults 25+ with bachelor’s+ | 50.1% | Census ACS 2023 5-yr (B15003) |
| Regional Price Parity (US=100) | 90.8 (below U.S. average) | BEA RPP 2024 |
Our directory has 6 accredited schools offering fire science programs near Rochester. The closest is Riverland Community College in Austin, MN (34.9 miles), and the farthest of the schools shown is Hennepin Technical College (87.4 miles). 6 of the highlighted schools are flagged as offering distance education.
Based on BLS OEWS May 2025 wage data, the top-paying fire science-related roles near Rochester are: Emergency Management Director ($106,880), Fire Inspector and Investigator ($84,410), First-Line Supervisor of Firefighting and Prevention Workers ($78,800). These reflect MSA-level medians where published, with Minnesota statewide fallback for occupations not reported at the metro level.
Austin, MN is 34.3 miles from Rochester and has its own set of local fire science programs – see the city’s page. For online programs, distance matters less; for hybrid or in-person formats, comparing both can help.
Rochester’s median household income of $87,767 (Census ACS 2023) is one input. Online programs let students stay in Rochester while attending lower-cost out-of-state schools, and Minnesota public universities often offer reduced in-state online tuition.
Confirm institutional accreditation via the U.S. Department of Education database (U.S. Dept. of Education database), and check for any program-specific accreditation listed by the school.
Compare every accredited online degree program with city-level data for Rochester:
Data verified: August 11, 2026. Salary, employment, and tuition figures on this page are sourced from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (OEWS May 2025; Employment Projections 2024–2034) and the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard (2023 cohort). The source agency and data year are cited inline with every statistic.
Back to Best Fire Science Schools in Minnesota: Online Programs (2026)
