The average annual FDNY pension is closing in on the $100,000 mark.

The Empire Center for Public Policy, which yesterday posted the latest list of about 16,000 FDNY retirees, reported that preliminary figures for 2010 show that 1,267, or 8 percent, were collecting $100,000 or more annually.

The average pension for those who left the force in 2009 was a whopping $91,988.

For members of the department who retired last year, the average was $89,177 — but that’s calculated before adjustments that will likely drive the number to a new high.

The average benefit for everyone on the FDNY list — some retirees going back decades — was $55,235.

“They‘ve been going up every year,” said Empire spokesman Tim Hoefer. “A couple thousand one year, a few thousand another year.”

He noted that Fire Department pensions have jumped an average of $30,000 since 2001, while those at the NYPD during the same period went up by $14,000.

Officials attributed the sharp increase to a wave of firefighters who retired after 9/11 and qualified for disability pensions at three-quarters pay.

The Uniformed Firefighters Association reacted angrily to the findings, charging that top brass are the ones collecting the lion’s share of the pension checks, not rank-and-file UFA members.

“The Empire Center’s characterization of this as a firefighter pension list is false,” said UFA spokesman Tom Butler. “The FDNY pension system provides benefits for the rank of firefighter all the way to commissioner, and its average pension is highly skewed by Bloomberg-administration appointees and their friends.”

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