Americans often categorize police officers along with teachers and other public service workers as being underpaid. But how much do police officers actually earn?
ZipRecruiter crunched the numbers, pulling data from employer job postings and third-party data sources to determine the average police officer salaries in each state. While the numbers don’t show the full picture, given that police salaries vary according to the city within a state and the length of time an officer has been serving, there’s over a $22,000 annual salary difference between the highest paying and lowest paying states.
Whether you’re a police officer, are thinking about becoming a police officer, or know one, these are the average salaries by state that ZipRecruiter came up with.
National Average
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For reference when looking through these numbers, the national average salary for a police officer is $62,148. That means the first eight states on this list pay their police officers more money on average than the rest of the country.
In addition to average annual police officer salaries, we also included ZipRecruiter’s average hourly wage and average monthly pay data.
We’ve ordered this ranking of police salaries from the highest paying to the lowest paying states.
1: New York
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Hourly Wage: $33.15
Monthly Pay: $5,745
Annual Salary: $68,950
2: Vermont
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Hourly Wage: $32.58
Monthly Pay: $5,646
Annual Salary: $67,763
3: California
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Hourly Wage: $32.00
Monthly Pay: $5,546
Annual Salary: $66,554
4: Maine
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Hourly Wage: $31.07
Monthly Pay: $5,386
Annual Salary: $64,632
5: Idaho
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Hourly Wage: $30.74
Monthly Pay: $5,328
Annual Salary: $63,939
Washington
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Hourly Wage: $30.50
Monthly Pay: $5,286
Annual Salary: $63,440
7: Pennsylvania
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Hourly Wage: $30.36
Monthly Pay: $5,262
Annual Salary: $63,148
8: Massachusetts
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Hourly Wage: $29.99
Monthly Pay: $5,198
Annual Salary: $62,376
9: Alaska
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Hourly Wage: $29.80
Monthly Pay: $5,165
Annual Salary: $61,980
10: New Jersey
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Hourly Wage: $29.69
Monthly Pay: $5,145
Annual Salary: $61,751
11: New Hampshire
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Hourly Wage: $29.62
Monthly Pay: $5,133
Annual Salary: $61,605
12: Oregon
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Hourly Wage: $29.46
Monthly Pay: $5,106
Annual Salary: $61,273
13: North Dakota
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Hourly Wage: $29.43
Monthly Pay: $5,101
Annual Salary: $61,212
14: Wisconsin
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Hourly Wage: $29.24
Monthly Pay: $5,068
Annual Salary: $60,821
15: Wyoming
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Hourly Wage: $28.98
Monthly Pay: $5,022
Annual Salary: $60,275
16: Hawaii
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Hourly Wage: $28.87
Monthly Pay: $5,004
Annual Salary: $60,051
17: Colorado
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Hourly Wage: $28.71
Monthly Pay: $4,977
Annual Salary: $59,726
18: Indiana
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Hourly Wage: $28.47
Monthly Pay: $4,934
Annual Salary: $59,219
19: Nevada
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Hourly Wage: $28.18
Monthly Pay: $4,883
Annual Salary: $58,605
20: New Mexico
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Hourly Wage: $28.10
Monthly Pay: $4,870
Annual Salary: $58,442
21: Minnesota
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Hourly Wage: $28.06
Monthly Pay: $4,863
Annual Salary: $58,361
22: Arizona
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Hourly Wage: $27.88
Monthly Pay: $4,832
Annual Salary: $57,995
23: South Dakota
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Hourly Wage: $27.81
Monthly Pay: $4,821
Annual Salary: $57,852
24: Montana
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Hourly Wage: $27.46
Monthly Pay: $4,760
Annual Salary: $57,122
25: Ohio
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Hourly Wage: $27.33
Monthly Pay: $4,736
Annual Salary: $56,840
26: Rhode Island
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Hourly Wage: $27.29
Monthly Pay: $4,729
Annual Salary: $56,754
27: Delaware
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Hourly Wage: $27.24
Monthly Pay: $4,720
Annual Salary: $56,648
28: Alabama
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Hourly Wage: $27.12
Monthly Pay: $4,700
Annual Salary: $56,407
29: Virginia
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Hourly Wage: $26.94
Monthly Pay: $4,669
Annual Salary: $56,033
30: Connecticut
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Hourly Wage: $26.75
Monthly Pay: $4,637
Annual Salary: $55,646
31: Iowa
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Hourly Wage: $26.70
Monthly Pay: $4,628
Annual Salary: $55,541
32: Illinois
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Hourly Wage: $26.50
Monthly Pay: $4,593
Annual Salary: $55,119
33: Mississippi
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Hourly Wage: $26.46
Monthly Pay: $4,587
Annual Salary: $55,046
34: Maryland
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Hourly Wage: $26.40
Monthly Pay: $4,576
Annual Salary: $54,912
35: Tennessee
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Hourly Wage: $26.09
Monthly Pay: $4,522
Annual Salary: $54,268
36: Utah
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Hourly Wage: $26.02
Monthly Pay: $4,510
Annual Salary: $54,128
37: Nebraska
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Hourly Wage: $25.91
Monthly Pay: $4,490
Annual Salary: $53,887
38: Missouri
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Hourly Wage: $25.56
Monthly Pay: $4,430
Annual Salary: $53,166
39: South Carolina
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Hourly Wage: $25.30
Monthly Pay: $4,385
Annual Salary: $52,628
40: Georgia
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Hourly Wage: $25.26
Monthly Pay: $4,379
Annual Salary: $52,548
41: Oklahoma
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Hourly Wage: $25.09
Monthly Pay: $4,348
Annual Salary: $52,186
42: Texas
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Hourly Wage: $25.06
Monthly Pay: $4,343
Annual Salary: $52,117
43: Kansas
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Hourly Wage: $24.91
Monthly Pay: $4,318
Annual Salary: $51,821
44: North Carolina
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Hourly Wage: $24.78
Monthly Pay: $4,295
Annual Salary: $51,541
45: Louisiana
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Hourly Wage: $24.50
Monthly Pay: $4,246
Annual Salary: $50,953
46: Kentucky
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Hourly Wage: $23.80
Monthly Pay: $4,125
Annual Salary: $49,508
47: Michigan
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Hourly Wage: $23.79
Monthly Pay: $4,124
Annual Salary: $49,489
48: West Virginia
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Hourly Wage: $23.45
Monthly Pay: $4,064
Annual Salary: $48,770
49: Arkansas
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Hourly Wage: $22.61
Monthly Pay: $3,919
Annual Salary: $47,035
50: Florida
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Hourly Wage: $22.36
Monthly Pay: $3,875
Annual Salary: $46,505
Police Hiring Woes
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In September 2023, NBC News reported that the U.S. is experiencing a police officer hiring crisis. They stated that people working in law enforcement primarily point the finger at the COVID-19 pandemic and criticism of police as reasons for fewer Americans applying for police officer positions.
That said, the issue doesn’t only lie with fewer people applying to become police officers; those already working in the police force are leaving their jobs in droves. In 2022, officer resignations had increased by 47% compared to 2019.
Not For the Money
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It’s hard to get rich off a police officer’s salary. So, if you’re in the market for a new career and want to earn an above average wage, these are the careers where the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics says workers earn $239,200 or more per year:
Surgeons
Radiologists
Psychiatrists
Obstetricians and gynecologists
Neurologists
Dermatologists
Cardiologists
Anesthesiologists
Orthodontists
Emergency medicine physicians
The bottom line? You better love school and medicine.
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