👮Police & Sheriff's Patrol Officers
National Median Wage
$74,910
National Employment
665K
Best Value: Top Metros by Cost-Adjusted Wage
Wages adjusted for local cost of living. Higher = your salary goes further.
All Metro Areas
78 metro areas
| # | Metro Area | State | Median Wage | Cost-Adj. Wage▼ | Employment | Emp / 1K |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley, CA | CA | $131,753 | $116,596 | 7,079 | 15.7 |
| 2 | New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA | NY | $115,540 | $106,981 | 15,018 | 12.0 |
| 3 | Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA | CA | $114,047 | $100,927 | 13,703 | 13.7 |
| 4 | Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI | IL | $93,522 | $94,467 | 7,853 | 9.8 |
| 5 | Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV | VA | $90,344 | $89,450 | 8,642 | 14.4 |
| 6 | Boston-Cambridge-Nashua, MA-NH | MA | $93,319 | $86,406 | 6,447 | 12.9 |
| 7 | Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA | WA | $92,809 | $85,146 | 4,341 | 10.8 |
| 8 | Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI | MN | $83,317 | $85,017 | 4,961 | 14.2 |
| 9 | Raleigh-Cary, NC | NC | $78,954 | $83,994 | 1,978 | 13.2 |
| 10 | Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO | CO | $84,312 | $83,477 | 3,443 | 11.5 |
| 11 | Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, CT | CT | $86,666 | $83,333 | 876 | 11.7 |
| 12 | Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX | TX | $80,168 | $82,647 | 11,106 | 17.1 |
| 13 | Anchorage, AK | AK | $84,260 | $82,608 | 853 | 17.1 |
| 14 | Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI | MI | $77,134 | $82,057 | 5,901 | 14.8 |
| 15 | Nashville-Davidson-Murfreesboro-Franklin, TN | TN | $76,260 | $82,000 | 2,878 | 14.4 |
| 16 | St. Louis, MO-IL | MO | $74,528 | $81,009 | 3,518 | 14.1 |
| 17 | Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD | PA | $79,384 | $81,004 | 6,896 | 12.5 |
| 18 | Indianapolis-Carmel-Anderson, IN | IN | $74,028 | $80,465 | 3,039 | 15.2 |
| 19 | Madison, WI | WI | $74,757 | $80,384 | 778 | 10.4 |
| 20 | Austin-Round Rock-Georgetown, TX | TX | $77,935 | $80,345 | 3,977 | 15.9 |
| 21 | Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Alpharetta, GA | GA | $77,712 | $80,115 | 6,229 | 11.3 |
| 22 | Cleveland-Elyria, OH | OH | $73,676 | $80,083 | 2,244 | 15.0 |
| 23 | Hartford-East Hartford-Middletown, CT | CT | $82,548 | $79,373 | 1,651 | 16.5 |
| 24 | Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX | TX | $76,771 | $79,145 | 11,625 | 16.6 |
| 25 | New Orleans-Metairie, LA | LA | $69,420 | $78,886 | 1,205 | 12.1 |
| 26 | Kansas City, MO-KS | MO | $71,974 | $78,233 | 2,511 | 12.6 |
| 27 | Wilmington, DE-MD-NJ | DE | $77,105 | $77,884 | 751 | 15.0 |
| 28 | Salt Lake City, UT | UT | $73,806 | $77,691 | 2,324 | 15.5 |
| 29 | Columbus, OH | OH | $71,404 | $77,613 | 1,879 | 9.4 |
| 30 | San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA | CA | $87,591 | $77,514 | 4,931 | 16.4 |
| 31 | Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI | WI | $72,065 | $77,489 | 1,545 | 10.3 |
| 32 | Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD | MD | $79,675 | $76,611 | 3,288 | 13.2 |
| 33 | Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC | NC | $71,850 | $76,436 | 3,974 | 15.9 |
| 34 | Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN | OH | $70,168 | $76,270 | 3,191 | 16.0 |
| 35 | Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, NV | NV | $73,910 | $76,196 | 2,803 | 14.0 |
| 36 | Charleston-North Charleston, SC | SC | $70,545 | $75,855 | 903 | 12.0 |
| 37 | Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN | KY | $68,267 | $75,852 | 2,098 | 14.0 |
| 38 | Oklahoma City, OK | OK | $66,613 | $75,697 | 2,002 | 13.3 |
| 39 | Pittsburgh, PA | PA | $73,995 | $75,505 | 2,584 | 12.9 |
| 40 | Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA | OR | $79,211 | $75,439 | 2,435 | 9.7 |
| 41 | Omaha-Council Bluffs, NE-IA | NE | $67,518 | $75,020 | 1,339 | 13.4 |
| 42 | Albuquerque, NM | NM | $66,787 | $74,208 | 1,272 | 12.7 |
| 43 | Boise City, ID | ID | $67,495 | $74,170 | 1,257 | 16.8 |
| 44 | Manchester-Nashua, NH | NH | $77,767 | $74,064 | 722 | 14.4 |
| 45 | Baton Rouge, LA | LA | $65,108 | $73,986 | 1,151 | 15.3 |
| 46 | Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA | IA | $65,711 | $73,833 | 1,049 | 14.0 |
| 47 | Providence-Warwick, RI-MA | RI | $74,329 | $73,593 | 2,369 | 15.8 |
| 48 | Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ | AZ | $74,253 | $73,518 | 5,499 | 12.2 |
| 49 | Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, FL | FL | $75,560 | $73,359 | 5,454 | 9.9 |
| 50 | Honolulu, HI | HI | $79,507 | $72,942 | 1,025 | 13.7 |
| 51 | Columbia, SC | SC | $67,122 | $72,174 | 804 | 10.7 |
| 52 | Fargo, ND-MN | ND | $64,100 | $72,022 | 542 | 13.6 |
| 53 | Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA | CA | $81,370 | $72,009 | 3,151 | 15.8 |
| 54 | San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX | TX | $69,552 | $71,703 | 3,867 | 15.5 |
| 55 | Burlington-South Burlington, VT | VT | $68,990 | $71,124 | 351 | 14.0 |
| 56 | Memphis, TN-MS-AR | TN | $65,953 | $70,917 | 1,706 | 17.1 |
| 57 | Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway, AR | AR | $61,438 | $70,618 | 1,142 | 15.2 |
| 58 | Birmingham-Hoover, AL | AL | $63,520 | $70,578 | 1,718 | 17.2 |
| 59 | Sioux Falls, SD | SD | $61,759 | $70,181 | 448 | 11.2 |
| 60 | Richmond, VA | VA | $70,575 | $69,876 | 1,765 | 11.8 |
| 61 | Tulsa, OK | OK | $61,476 | $69,859 | 1,085 | 10.8 |
| 62 | Grand Rapids-Kentwood, MI | MI | $64,978 | $69,126 | 1,082 | 10.8 |
| 63 | Billings, MT | MT | $61,844 | $68,716 | 234 | 9.4 |
| 64 | Knoxville, TN | TN | $63,764 | $68,563 | 1,096 | 11.0 |
| 65 | Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL | FL | $70,336 | $68,287 | 3,848 | 12.8 |
| 66 | Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL | FL | $70,212 | $68,167 | 3,977 | 15.9 |
| 67 | Portland-South Portland, ME | ME | $66,031 | $68,073 | 374 | 9.3 |
| 68 | Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC | VA | $68,367 | $67,690 | 1,527 | 10.2 |
| 69 | Wichita, KS | KS | $60,518 | $67,242 | 585 | 11.7 |
| 70 | Cheyenne, WY | WY | $60,721 | $66,726 | 223 | 14.9 |
| 71 | Jackson, MS | MS | $56,812 | $65,301 | 672 | 13.4 |
| 72 | Rochester, NY | NY | $70,426 | $65,209 | 936 | 9.4 |
| 73 | Tucson, AZ | AZ | $65,029 | $64,385 | 1,053 | 10.5 |
| 74 | El Paso, TX | TX | $62,365 | $64,294 | 1,213 | 16.2 |
| 75 | Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY | NY | $69,144 | $64,022 | 1,643 | 16.4 |
| 76 | Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA | CA | $72,170 | $63,867 | 6,523 | 16.3 |
| 77 | Jacksonville, FL | FL | $65,574 | $63,664 | 2,270 | 15.1 |
| 78 | Charleston, WV | WV | $56,543 | $62,826 | 304 | 12.2 |
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the median salary for Police & Sheriff's Patrol Officers?
The national median annual wage for police & sheriff's patrol officers is $74,910, based on Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OES) data.
Where do police & sheriff's patrol officers earn the most after adjusting for cost of living?
After adjusting for local cost of living, the top-paying metro areas for police & sheriff's patrol officers are San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley, CA ($116,596), New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA ($106,981), Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA ($100,927).
How many metro areas have data for police & sheriff's patrol officers?
We have wage and employment data for police & sheriff's patrol officers across 78 metro areas in the United States.
Data Sources
📎Bureau of Labor Statistics, LAUS (Dec 2025)📎U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024📎FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, 2024📎America's Health Rankings, 2025📎WalletHub/NAEP, 2025📎U.S. Census Bureau, Vintage 2024📎Cook Political Report, PVI 2024📎Tax Foundation, Facts & Figures 2025📎ALEC Rich States Poor States, 2025📎WalletHub Tax Burden Study, 2025📎U.S. Census Bureau / FHFA, 2025📎BEA Regional Price Parities, 2023📎EPA AirData, Median AQI by County 2024📎EIA State Electricity Profiles, 2024📎FEMA National Risk Index v1.20, 2025📎U.S. Census Bureau, Net Domestic Migration 2024📎FCC / BroadbandNow, Broadband Access 2025📎National Park Service API, 2024📎USGS Protected Areas Database (PAD-US), 2024📎U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2022📎U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2023 (Commuting)📎FHWA Highway Statistics, 2023📎U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2022📎EIA State Electricity Profiles, 2024📎EIA Natural Gas Prices, 2024📎DOL National Database of Childcare Prices, 2023📎BEA Regional Price Parities (Food), 2023📎NCES Common Core of Data (CCD), 2023-24📎EDFacts ACGR Graduation Rates, 2021-22📎NCES School District Finance Survey (F-33), 2022-23📎BEA GDP by State (SAGDP9), 2023📎NASBO Fiscal Survey of States, FY2023📎Census Bureau State Government Finances, FY2022📎Pew Charitable Trusts Fiscal 50, FY2023📎Pew Charitable Trusts, FY2022📎S&P/Moody's via Ballotpedia, 2025📎Bureau of Labor Statistics, OES (May 2023)📎IRS Statistics of Income, Migration Data 2021-2022