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Chattanooga, Tennessee has 6 accredited schools offering fire science programs, with tuition ranging from $3,300 to $33,256 per year for indexed programs. Chattanooga has a population of about 182,832. Median household income is $61,028 (Census ACS 2023, 5-year). About 35.5% of adults 25+ hold a bachelor’s degree or higher. In Tennessee, the top-earning fire science-related role is Emergency Management Director at a median $81,800 annually (BLS, May 2025).
The accredited institutions listed below are the closest in our directory that offer fire science programs near Chattanooga, ranked by BOC Score and straight-line distance from Chattanooga 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 Chattanooga. Advertising never affects these rankings. Read the full methodology.
Source:IPEDSCollege Scorecard
Source:IPEDSCollege Scorecard
Source: IPEDS / College Scorecard (2023 cohort). Browse all Tennessee schools on the Tennessee fire science page.
Chattanooga is part of the Chattanooga, TN-GA metro area (BLS area code 16860). Where MSA-level wages are published, the table below shows MSA medians; otherwise it falls back to Tennessee statewide.
| Occupation | Median Wage | Source | COL-Adjusted (US=100) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Firefighter | $46,060 | Chattanooga, TN-GA | $50,339 |
| First-Line Supervisor of Firefighting and Prevention Workers | $77,920 | Chattanooga, TN-GA | $85,158 |
| Fire Inspector and Investigator | $63,400 | TN statewide | $69,290 |
| Emergency Management Director | $81,800 | TN statewide | $89,399 |
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 | 182,832 | Census ACS 2023 5-yr (B01003) |
| Median household income | $61,028 | Census ACS 2023 5-yr (B19013) |
| Adults 25+ with bachelor’s+ | 35.5% | Census ACS 2023 5-yr (B15003) |
| Regional Price Parity (US=100) | 91.5 (below U.S. average) | BEA RPP 2024 |
Our directory has 6 accredited schools offering fire science programs near Chattanooga. The closest is Chattanooga State Community College in Chattanooga, TN (2.5 miles), and the farthest of the schools shown is Lanier Technical College (97.8 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 Chattanooga are: Emergency Management Director ($81,800), First-Line Supervisor of Firefighting and Prevention Workers ($77,920), Fire Inspector and Investigator ($63,400). These reflect MSA-level medians where published, with Tennessee statewide fallback for occupations not reported at the metro level.
East Ridge, TN is 4.9 miles from Chattanooga 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.
Chattanooga’s median household income of $61,028 (Census ACS 2023) is one input. Online programs let students stay in Chattanooga while attending lower-cost out-of-state schools, and Tennessee 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 Chattanooga:
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 Tennessee: Online Programs (2026)
