Office and administrative support
Dispatchers, except police, fire, and ambulance
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.
Median pay
$50,340
Growth to 2035
−1%
little or no change
Openings a year
16,000
Time to qualify*
6 months
* From a bachelor's degree in an unrelated field.
Pay
Dispatchers, except police, fire, and ambulance
Getting in
- Typical entry education
- High school diploma or equivalent
- On-the-job training
- Moderate-term on-the-job training
- Prior experience
- None
Calculate your switch to dispatchers, except police, fire, and ambulance
What the work is like
Dealing with the public
Unpleasant or angry people
Time pressure
Cost of a mistake
Freedom to make decisions
Repeating the same tasks
Time sitting
Time standing
Outdoors in all weather
Dispatchers, except police, fire, and ambulance: 75% usually work over 40 hours a week
Core tasks
- Schedule or dispatch workers, work crews, equipment, or service vehicles to appropriate locations, according to customer requests, specifications, or needs, using radios or telephones.
- Prepare daily work and run schedules.
- Confer with customers or supervising personnel to address questions, problems, or requests for service or equipment.
- Relay work orders, messages, or information to or from work crews, supervisors, or field inspectors, using telephones or two-way radios.
- Receive or prepare work orders.
- Record and maintain files or records of customer requests, work or services performed, charges, expenses, inventory, or other dispatch information.
- Arrange for necessary repairs to restore service and schedules.
- Monitor personnel or equipment locations and utilization to coordinate service and schedules.
Also called: Aircraft Dispatcher · Charter Coordinator · City Dispatcher · Dispatcher (Dispatch) · Mine Dispatcher · Paratransit Dispatcher · School Bus Dispatcher · Taxi Dispatcher
Outlook and AI
Dispatchers, except police, fire, and ambulance held 203,500 jobs in 2025. BLS projects 202,100 by 2035 (−1%, little or no change; all jobs: +3.5%).
Productivity change - share decreases as streamlined and automated dispatch systems process relatively simple transactions with less input from dispatchers.
Compare with
- Dispatchers, except police, fire, and ambulance vs. Public safety telecommunicator
- Dispatchers, except police, fire, and ambulance vs. Railroad conductors and yardmasters
- Dispatchers, except police, fire, and ambulance vs. Production, planning, and expediting clerks
- Dispatchers, except police, fire, and ambulance vs. Aircraft cargo handling supervisor
- Dispatchers, except police, fire, and ambulance vs. First-line supervisors of mechanics, installers, and repairers
- Dispatchers, except police, fire, and ambulance vs. Power distributors and dispatchers
- Dispatchers, except police, fire, and ambulance vs. Switchboard operators, including answering service