How many law enforcement officers are there in the United States?

There are a few ways that the number of law enforcement officers can be calculated. There are some people who are curious about the states with the highest number of police officers. The states with the highest total number of police officers include:

• California has approximately 148,000 police officers.
• Texas has approximately 140,000 police officers.
• New York has approximately 126,000 police officers.
• Florida has approximately 93,000 police officers.
• Pennsylvania has approximately 60,000 police officers.

These numbers vary for a number of reasons, but one of the most important reasons is that different states have different numbers of people. Therefore, it might also be helpful to take a look at the total number of police officers per 100,000 people by state. These numbers include:

• New York has approximately 655 police officers for every 100,000 people.
• Maryland has approximately 637 police officers for every 100,000 people.
• Louisiana has approximately 614 police officers for every 100,000 people.
• Virginia has approximately 594 police officers for every 100,000 people.
• Alaska has approximately 585 police officers for every 100,000 people.

Which States Have the Fewest Police Officers Per Capita?

There are also people who are curious about the fewest number of police officers. The states that have the fewest numbers of police officers include:

• Utah has approximately 293 police officers for every 100,000 people.
• Oregon has approximately 301 police officers for every 100,000 people.
• Washington has approximately 313 police officers for every 100,000 people.
• Minnesota has approximately 317 police officers for every 100,000 people.
• Vermont has approximately 323 police officers for every 100,000 people.

Do Police Officer Numbers Change From Year To Year?

Yes, the number of police officers can change from year to year. Every year, police departments welcome new people into the academy. Then, when people finish training, they enter the police force. At the same time, police officers retire after a certain number of years on the force. Different jobs have different policies, but it can be stressful to constantly be in a patrol car. Therefore, police officers can be phased out of the force, moving to a desk job before they retire completely. Therefore, the exact numbers of police officers can change from year to year, but most states maintain a similar number of police officers every year.

What Does it Take To Become a Police Officer on the Force?

Typically, police officers are not required to have a college diploma, but they are required to finish high school. Different departments can have different philosophies, but police officers have to complete training at an academy before they are welcomed to the force. There are also other jobs within the police force that might require a college degree, but the average police officer does not require a college degree to ride in a patrol car. Police officers might also undergo psychological testing before they are welcomed to the force. This is important for analyzing how they might respond in certain stressful situations.

18.4% of police officers are female in the United States. This is 0.6 percentage points higher than last year. Additionally, the percentage of female police officers has increased by 1.2 percentage points since 2010. That means there are a total of 59,778 female police officers in the U.S. and 265,104 male police officers in the United States. Note that Zippia's estimate accounts only for the 324,882 people with the specific job title of police officer and doesn't include grouping similar job titles, or people with potentially similar credentialing.

Maintain order and protect life and property by enforcing local, tribal, state, or federal laws and ordinances. Perform a combination of the following duties: patrol a specific area; direct traffic; issue traffic summonses; investigate accidents; apprehend and arrest suspects, or serve legal processes of courts. Includes police officers working at educational institutions.

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National estimates for Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers
Industry profile for Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers
Geographic profile for Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers

National estimates for Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers:

Employment estimate and mean wage estimates for Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers:

Employment Employment
RSE Mean hourly
wageMean annual
wage Wage RSE 665,3800.4 %$ 34.02$ 70,7500.3 %

Percentile wage estimates for Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers:

Percentile10%25%50%
(Median)75%90%Hourly Wage$ 19.32$ 24.34$ 31.06$ 39.35$ 49.29Annual Wage $ 40,190$ 50,630$ 64,610$ 81,850$ 102,530

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Industry profile for Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers:

Industries with the highest published employment and wages for Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers are provided. For a list of all industries with employment in Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers, see the Create Customized Tables function.

Industries with the highest levels of employment in Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers:

Industries with the highest concentration of employment in Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers:

Top paying industries for Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers:

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Geographic profile for Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers:

States and areas with the highest published employment, location quotients, and wages for Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers are provided. For a list of all areas with employment in Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers, see the Create Customized Tables function.

States with the highest employment level in Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers:

StateEmployment Employment per thousand jobsLocation quotient Hourly mean wageAnnual mean wage California70,0504.240.90$ 49.48$ 102,920Texas60,4404.941.05$ 32.16$ 66,890New York49,9105.761.22$ 38.75$ 80,590Florida45,3605.271.12$ 31.88$ 66,320Illinois30,6405.451.15$ 39.81$ 82,800

States with the highest concentration of jobs and location quotients in Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers:

Top paying states for Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers:

StateEmployment Employment per thousand jobsLocation quotient Hourly mean wageAnnual mean wage California70,0504.240.90$ 49.48$ 102,920Washington8,6702.700.57$ 44.42$ 92,390New Jersey20,6505.361.14$ 44.08$ 91,690Alaska1,3204.470.95$ 42.07$ 87,510Illinois30,6405.451.15$ 39.81$ 82,800

Metropolitan areas with the highest employment level in Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers:

Metropolitan areas with the highest concentration of jobs and location quotients in Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers:

Top paying metropolitan areas for Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers:

Nonmetropolitan areas with the highest employment in Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers:

Nonmetropolitan areas with the highest concentration of jobs and location quotients in Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers:

Top paying nonmetropolitan areas for Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers:

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About May 2021 National, State, Metropolitan, and Nonmetropolitan Area Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates

These estimates are calculated with data collected from employers in all industry sectors, all metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas, and all states and the District of Columbia. The top employment and wage figures are provided above. The complete list is available in the downloadable XLS files.

The percentile wage estimate is the value of a wage below which a certain percent of workers fall. The median wage is the 50th percentile wage estimate—50 percent of workers earn less than the median and 50 percent of workers earn more than the median. More about percentile wages.

(1) Estimates for detailed occupations do not sum to the totals because the totals include occupations not shown separately. Estimates do not include self-employed workers.

(2) Annual wages have been calculated by multiplying the hourly mean wage by a "year-round, full-time" hours figure of 2,080 hours; for those occupations where there is not an hourly wage published, the annual wage has been directly calculated from the reported survey data.

(3) The relative standard error (RSE) is a measure of the reliability of a survey statistic. The smaller the relative standard error, the more precise the estimate.

(9) The location quotient is the ratio of the area concentration of occupational employment to the national average concentration. A location quotient greater than one indicates the occupation has a higher share of employment than average, and a location quotient less than one indicates the occupation is less prevalent in the area than average.

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