# Public Safety Telecommunicators

US SOC code 43-5031. Markdown version of https://futurehistory.earth/timeline/43-5031

Also called: 911 dispatcher, 911 operator, Emergency dispatcher, Emergency communications officer, Police dispatcher.

## In brief

In May 2025, [BLS](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm25nat.zip) counted **102,500** US public safety telecommunicators, with median pay of **$53,040** a year. Of the BLS counts since 2021, the May 2025 count is the highest. The earliest figure here is [an estimate](https://www.americanhistory.si.edu/explore/stories/9-1-1-what-your-emergency-history-raising-alarm) of **15,000** from 1952, not measured the same way as today's count. The last full technology era for public safety telecommunicators: Next Generation 9-1-1, 2012 to 2024.

## What the sources say

### Official outlook

BLS projects employment to grow 3.7% from 2025 to 2035. Source: [BLS Employment Projections 2025-35](https://data.bls.gov/projections/nationalMatrix?queryParams=43-5031&ioType=o).

### AI exposure studies

- **59.4%** of this job's tasks are exposed to large language models. Not a forecast of job losses. [Eloundou and others, 2023](https://github.com/openai/GPTs-are-GPTs/blob/main/data/occ_level.csv)

Data as of BLS OEWS May 2025; BLS Employment Projections 2025-35. BLS publishes these counts as yearly survey snapshots and cautions against reading them as a precise trend.

## Public Safety Telecommunicators employment and pay by year

- On record since: 1880
- Latest US employment: 102,500 (May 2025). Source: BLS OEWS May 2025 [4]
- Latest US median pay: $53,040 (May 2025). Source: BLS OEWS May 2025 [5]
- Outlook: +3.7% by 2035. Source: BLS Employment Projections 2025-35 [22]

### All 26 years of cited US data

| Year | US employment | Annual pay (median unless marked) | Source |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1952 | 15,000 (estimate) | n/a | Est., Smithsonian Institution [1] |
| 1980 | 60,000 (estimate) | n/a | Est., HISTORY.com [2] |
| 1999 | 94,000 (estimate) | n/a | Est., Bureau of Labor Statistics [3] |
| 2003 | 89,620 | $28,290 | BLS OEWS May 2003 [4] |
| 2004 | 90,930 | $28,930 | BLS OEWS May 2004 [4] |
| 2005 | 94,060 | $30,060 | BLS OEWS May 2005 [4] |
| 2006 | 94,710 | $31,470 | BLS OEWS May 2006 [4] |
| 2007 | 93,670 | $32,660 | BLS OEWS May 2007 [4] |
| 2008 | 96,360 | $33,670 | BLS OEWS May 2008 [4] |
| 2009 | 98,090 | $34,790 | BLS OEWS May 2009 [4] |
| 2010 | 97,740 | $35,370 | BLS OEWS May 2010 [4] |
| 2011 | 97,100 | $35,930 | BLS OEWS May 2011 [4] |
| 2012 | 95,640 | $36,300 | BLS OEWS May 2012 [4] |
| 2013 | 96,860 | $37,040 | BLS OEWS May 2013 [4] |
| 2014 | 96,390 | $37,410 | BLS OEWS May 2014 [4] |
| 2015 | 95,630 | $38,010 | BLS OEWS May 2015 [4] |
| 2016 | 95,170 | $38,870 | BLS OEWS May 2016 [4] |
| 2017 | 95,450 | $39,640 | BLS OEWS May 2017 [4] |
| 2018 | 95,020 | $40,660 | BLS OEWS May 2018 [4] |
| 2019 | 95,320 | $41,910 | BLS OEWS May 2019 [4] |
| 2020 | 93,290 | $43,290 | BLS OEWS May 2020 [4] |
| 2021 | 97,050 | $46,670 | BLS OEWS May 2021 [4] |
| 2022 | 95,730 | $46,900 | BLS OEWS May 2022 [4] |
| 2023 | 97,820 | $48,890 | BLS OEWS May 2023 [4] |
| 2024 | 101,140 | $50,730 | BLS OEWS May 2024 [4] |
| 2025 | 102,500 | $53,040 | BLS OEWS May 2025 [4] |

## Sources (89)

### Employment series

1. [Smithsonian National Museum of American History — "This is 9-1-1. What is your emergency?": A history of raising the alarm (fire alarm and telephone dispatch history)](https://www.americanhistory.si.edu/explore/stories/9-1-1-what-your-emergency-history-raising-alarm), Smithsonian Institution
2. [HISTORY.com — "First 9-1-1 emergency call is placed in the United States" (Feb. 16, 1968) — background on system rollout by 1987](https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/february-16/first-911-emergency-call-is-placed-in-the-united-states), HISTORY
3. [BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics History — OEWS program adopted SOC system in 1999](https://www.bls.gov/opub/hom/oews/history.htm), Bureau of Labor Statistics
4. BLS OEWS, national cross-industry estimates (flat file), Bureau of Labor Statistics. Editions: [2003](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm03nat.zip), [2004](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm04nat.zip), [2005](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm05nat.zip), [2006](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm06nat.zip), [2007](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm07nat.zip), [2008](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm08nat.zip), [2009](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm09nat.zip), [2010](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm10nat.zip), [2011](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm11nat.zip), [2012](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm12nat.zip), [2013](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm13nat.zip), [2014](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm14nat.zip), [2015](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm15nat.zip), [2016](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm16nat.zip), [2017](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm17nat.zip), [2018](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm18nat.zip), [2019](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm19nat.zip), [2020](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm20nat.zip), [2021](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm21nat.zip), [2022](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm22nat.zip), [2023](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm23nat.zip), [2024](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm24nat.zip), [2025](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm25nat.zip)

### Wage series

5. BLS OEWS, national cross-industry estimates (flat file), Bureau of Labor Statistics. Editions: [2003](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm03nat.zip), [2004](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm04nat.zip), [2005](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm05nat.zip), [2006](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm06nat.zip), [2007](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm07nat.zip), [2008](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm08nat.zip), [2009](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm09nat.zip), [2010](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm10nat.zip), [2011](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm11nat.zip), [2012](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm12nat.zip), [2013](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm13nat.zip), [2014](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm14nat.zip), [2015](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm15nat.zip), [2016](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm16nat.zip), [2017](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm17nat.zip), [2018](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm18nat.zip), [2019](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm19nat.zip), [2020](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm20nat.zip), [2021](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm21nat.zip), [2022](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm22nat.zip), [2023](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm23nat.zip), [2024](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm24nat.zip), [2025](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm25nat.zip)

### Tool eras

6. [Smithsonian National Museum of American History — "This is 9-1-1": fire alarm telegraph history, Channing-Farmer system, Gamewell 500 cities by 1890](https://www.americanhistory.si.edu/explore/stories/9-1-1-what-your-emergency-history-raising-alarm), Smithsonian Institution
7. [FFAM — Early American Fire Alarm Systems (Gamewell history)](https://www.ffam.org/early-american-fire-alarm-systems/), Fire Fighters Association of Missouri
8. [99% Invisible — Emergency Telegraphs: Inside America's Historic Fire and Police Call Boxes](https://99percentinvisible.org/article/emergency-telegraphs-inside-americas-historic-fire-police-call-boxes/), 99% Invisible
9. [APCO International — History: APCO founded January 1935 to represent civilian public safety communications officers](https://www.apcointl.org/community/history/), APCO International
10. [Wikipedia — Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials-International (founding 1935, radio standardization)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Association_of_Public-Safety_Communications_Officials-International), Wikipedia
11. [HISTORY.com — First 9-1-1 emergency call placed in United States, February 16, 1968, Haleyville Alabama](https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/february-16/first-911-emergency-call-is-placed-in-the-united-states), HISTORY
12. [911.gov — 50th Anniversary of 911: system history, 50% coverage by 1987](https://www.911.gov/about/the-national-911-program-celebrates-50-years-of-911/), NTIA / 911.gov
13. [Caliber Public Safety — Computer-Aided Dispatch: A Long Time Coming (history: St. Louis 1965, first integrated CAD 1979)](https://caliberpublicsafety.com/computer-aided-dispatch-a-long-time-coming-part-3-of-4/), Caliber Public Safety
14. [Larimore Associates — First in Public Safety Software Since 1970](https://larimorepublicsafety.com/first-in-public-safety-software-since-1970/), Larimore Associates
15. [FCC — Enhanced 9-1-1 Wireless Services: Phase I (1998) and Phase II (2001) mandate history](https://www.fcc.gov/general/enhanced-9-1-1-wireless-services), Federal Communications Commission
16. [Wikipedia — Enhanced 911 (E911 history, ANI/ALI, wireless mandates)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enhanced_911), Wikipedia
17. [Wikipedia — Next Generation 911 (NG911 origins 2007, ESInet, text-to-911)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Next_Generation_911), Wikipedia
18. [NTIA — Next Generation 9-1-1 program and policy](https://www.ntia.gov/category/next-generation-911), National Telecommunications and Information Administration
19. [Prepared (Axon) — end-to-end assistive AI platform: real-time transcription, translation, radio logging, automated QA; 1,000+ agencies 49 states (Nov 2024)](https://www.prepared911.com/blog/unveiling-the-prepared-end-to-end-assistive-ai-platform), Prepared / Axon
20. [TechCrunch — 911 centers so understaffed they are turning to AI to answer calls (Aug 2025)](https://techcrunch.com/2025/08/27/911-centers-are-so-understaffed-theyre-turning-to-ai-to-answer-calls/), TechCrunch
21. [BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook — Public Safety Telecommunicators: +3% projected growth 2024-2034](https://www.bls.gov/ooh/office-and-administrative-support/police-fire-and-ambulance-dispatchers.htm), Bureau of Labor Statistics

### Forecasts and exposure studies

22. [BLS Employment Projections 2025-35, National Employment Matrix: 43-5031 Public safety telecommunicators (2025: 105.6 thousand; 2035: 109.5 thousand; +3.7%)](https://data.bls.gov/projections/nationalMatrix?queryParams=43-5031&ioType=o), Bureau of Labor Statistics
23. [Eloundou, Manning, Mishkin & Rock (2023), "GPTs are GPTs", occupation-level exposure data occ\_level.csv (O\*NET-SOC 43-5031.00, human-rated β 0.594)](https://github.com/openai/GPTs-are-GPTs/blob/main/data/occ_level.csv), OpenAI

### Historical notes

24. [Smithsonian NMAH — "This is 9-1-1": Channing-Farmer fire alarm system, Boston 1852](https://www.americanhistory.si.edu/explore/stories/9-1-1-what-your-emergency-history-raising-alarm), Smithsonian Institution
25. [APCO International History — APCO founding January 1935, St. Louis](https://www.apcointl.org/community/history/), APCO International
26. [HISTORY.com — First 9-1-1 emergency call placed in United States, February 16, 1968](https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/february-16/first-911-emergency-call-is-placed-in-the-united-states), HISTORY
27. [FCC — Enhanced 9-1-1 Wireless Services: Phase I (1998) and Phase II (2001) mandate history and implementation](https://www.fcc.gov/general/enhanced-9-1-1-wireless-services), Federal Communications Commission
28. [APCO International — Public Safety Telecommunicator SOC Reclassification advocacy (911 SAVES Act)](https://www.apcointl.org/advocacy/soc-revision/), APCO International
29. [911.gov — IAED/NASNA Nationwide 911 Staffing Survey 2023: 25,000 unfilled positions, burnout, turnover data](https://www.911.gov/assets/IAED_NASNA_Staffing-Survey-Report-2023.pdf), NTIA / 911.gov

### Predecessors & successors

30. [Smithsonian NMAH — history of raising the alarm: central fire alarm rooms and the Gamewell system](https://www.americanhistory.si.edu/explore/stories/9-1-1-what-your-emergency-history-raising-alarm), Smithsonian Institution
31. [99% Invisible — Emergency Telegraphs: Inside America's Historic Fire and Police Call Boxes](https://99percentinvisible.org/article/emergency-telegraphs-inside-americas-historic-fire-police-call-boxes/), 99% Invisible

### Present-day analysis

- [O\*NET 30.3 — Public Safety Telecommunicators (43-5031.00)](https://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/43-5031.00), accessed 2026-06-05
- [BLS OES May 2024 — 43-5031: Public Safety Telecommunicators, 105,200 employed, median $50,730](https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes435031.htm), accessed 2026-06-05
- [BLS OOH 2024-2034 — Public Safety Telecommunicators: +3% projected growth, 10,700 annual openings](https://www.bls.gov/ooh/office-and-administrative-support/police-fire-and-ambulance-dispatchers.htm), accessed 2026-06-05
- [Axon / Prepared — End-to-End Assistive AI Platform for 911 Response (Nov 2024): 1,000+ agencies, 49 states](https://www.prepared911.com/blog/unveiling-the-prepared-end-to-end-assistive-ai-platform), accessed 2026-06-05
- [RapidSOS — HARMONY: First AI Copilot for 911 (2024); UNITE platform launched May 2024](https://rapidsos.com/blog/introduces-unite/), accessed 2026-06-05
- [Aurelian — $14M Series A (Aug 2025): AI handles 74% of non-emergency calls, saves 3 hrs/dispatcher/day](https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250827895125/en/Aurelian-Raises-$14M-Series-A-to-Ease-911-Dispatcher-Workloads-with-AI), accessed 2026-06-05
- [TechCrunch — 911 centers turn to AI as they are understaffed (Aug 2025)](https://techcrunch.com/2025/08/27/911-centers-are-so-understaffed-theyre-turning-to-ai-to-answer-calls/), accessed 2026-06-05
- [Eloundou et al. 2024 — GPTs are GPTs (Science)](https://arxiv.org/abs/2303.10130), accessed 2026-06-05
- [NTIA — Improving 9-1-1 Operations with Artificial Intelligence](https://www.ntia.gov/category/next-generation-911/improving-911-operations-with-artificial-intelligence), accessed 2026-06-05
- [Police1 — AI call automation eases strain: non-emergency calls account for over 60% of total call volume in some jurisdictions](https://www.police1.com/911-and-dispatch/how-ai-call-automation-can-ease-the-strain-on-911-centers), accessed 2026-06-05
- [Police1 — AI situational clarity from call-taker to responding officer: Prepared platform QA scoring automates protocol checks and coaching across the PSAP (2025)](https://www.police1.com/911-and-dispatch/how-this-ai-assistant-can-create-situational-clarity-from-call-taker-to-responding-officer), accessed 2026-06-22
- [RapidSOS HARMONY — real-time call translation; "turns your call-taker into a translator" across 9-1-1 language barriers](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/rapidsos-introduces-harmony--the-first-ai-copilot-for-911-302150884.html), accessed 2026-06-05
- [Prepared (Axon) — live translation across 70+ spoken languages during active 9-1-1 calls (Nov 2024)](https://www.axon.com/solutions/axon-911), accessed 2026-06-05
- [Police1 — AI reinventing the emergency call: language translation and real-time transcription reduce barriers (2025)](https://www.police1.com/911-and-dispatch/smarter-faster-safer-how-ai-is-reinventing-the-emergency-call), accessed 2026-06-05

How to read these figures: https://futurehistory.earth/methodology. Every figure links to its own source; gaps stay gaps.