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Emergency Management Directors in Illinois

Thinking about a career as an Emergency Management Directors in Illinois? Here’s what you need to know. Plan and direct disaster response or crisis management activities, provide disaster preparedness training, and prepare emergency plans and procedures for natural (e.g., hurricanes, floods, earthquakes), wartime, or technological (e.g., nuclear power plant emergencies or hazardous materials spills) disasters or hostage situations.

What do Emergency Management Directors Make in Illinois?

For emergency management directors working in Illinois, wages run about $80,590 per year (or roughly $38.75/hour).Pay can range from $49,880 at the 10th percentile to $168,350 at the 90th percentile.

Wage Statistic	Annual	Hourly
10th percentile	$49,880	$23.98
25th percentile	$61,050	$29.35
Median (50th)	$80,590	$38.75
75th percentile	$119,810	$57.60
90th percentile	$168,350	$80.94

The location quotient — a measure of how concentrated this occupation is in Illinois compared to the national average — is 0.93.

National Wage Comparison

Nationally, emergency management directors earn a median of $72,305 per year ($34.76/hour), higher than the Illinois median.

Employment Outlook

There are roughly 347,365 emergency management directors across the United States. In Illinois alone, around 460 people work in this role. That’s more than the typical state, which employs around 180 emergency management directors.

Top Illinois Metros for Emergency Management Directors

The largest metro-area employers of emergency management directors in Illinois.

Metro Area	Number Employed	Annual Median Salary
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN	240	$103,630

Top States for Emergency Management Directors Employment

The table below shows the states where the most emergency management directors work.

State	Number Employed
California	1,080
Texas	1,070
New York	750
Florida	620
Georgia	480
Illinois	460
North Carolina	460
Pennsylvania	450
Tennessee	410
Virginia	410
Indiana	400
New Jersey	400
South Carolina	300
Oklahoma	280
Ohio	260
Wisconsin	250
Mississippi	240
Michigan	230
Alabama	230
Washington	200

Highest-Paying States for Emergency Management Directors

These states pay the most for emergency management directors.

State	Annual Median Salary
District of Columbia	$185,810
Washington	$129,110
California	$126,210
Massachusetts	$115,200
New Mexico	$111,980
Colorado	$109,710
New Jersey	$108,780
Oregon	$106,870
Maryland	$104,270
Connecticut	$103,390

Skills

Top emergency management directors skills, rated on an importance scale of 0 to 5:

Knowledge Areas

Important knowledge areas for this occupation, rated on an importance scale of 0 to 5:

Abilities

The abilities that matter most for emergency management directors, rated on an importance scale of 0 to 5:

Daily Tasks

Day-to-day, emergency management directors typically:

• Consult with officials of local and area governments, schools, hospitals, and other institutions to determine their needs and capabilities in the event of a natural disaster or other emergency.
• Develop and maintain liaisons with municipalities, county departments, and similar entities to facilitate plan development, response effort coordination, and exchanges of personnel and equipment.
• Coordinate disaster response or crisis management activities, such as ordering evacuations, opening public shelters, and implementing special needs plans and programs.
• Prepare emergency situation status reports that describe response and recovery efforts, needs, and preliminary damage assessments.
• Maintain and update all resource materials associated with emergency preparedness plans.
• Prepare plans that outline operating procedures to be used in response to disasters or emergencies, such as hurricanes, nuclear accidents, and terrorist attacks, and in recovery from these events.
• Develop and perform tests and evaluations of emergency management plans in accordance with state and federal regulations.
• Collaborate with other officials to prepare and analyze damage assessments following disasters or emergencies.
• Design and administer emergency or disaster preparedness training courses that teach people how to effectively respond to major emergencies and disasters.
• Keep informed of activities or changes that could affect the likelihood of an emergency, response efforts, or plan implementation.
• Inspect facilities and equipment, such as emergency management centers and communications equipment, to determine their operational and functional capabilities in emergency situations.
• Review emergency plans of individual organizations, such as medical facilities, to ensure their adequacy.

Work Activities

• Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates
• Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships
• Making Decisions and Solving Problems
• Getting Information
• Developing and Building Teams
• Working with Computers
• Organizing, Planning, and Prioritizing Work
• Communicating with People Outside the Organization
• Training and Teaching Others
• Documenting/Recording Information
• Performing for or Working Directly with the Public
• Developing Objectives and Strategies

Tools & Technology

Technologies frequently used: Hot technologies: ESRI ArcGIS software In-demand technologies: Microsoft Excel

Related Careers

Careers similar to emergency management directors include:

• Security Managers
• Medical and Health Services Managers
• Compliance Managers
• Loss Prevention Managers
• Management Analysts
• Business Continuity Planners

Also Known As

911 Communications Manager, Change Management Specialist, Civil Defense Director, Civil Preparedness Officer, Disaster Response Director, Emergency Management Coordinator, Emergency Management Director, Emergency Management Planner, Emergency Management Program Manager, Emergency Management System Director (EMS Director), Emergency Manager, Emergency Planner, Emergency Planning and Response Manager, Emergency Preparedness Coordinator, Emergency Preparedness Manager.

References

• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics — https://www.bls.gov/oes/
• O*NET Online — https://www.onetonline.org/
• BLS Employment Projections — https://www.bls.gov/emp/
• O*NET-SOC code: 11-9161.00