Police officers

Detailed Occupation

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2020 Workforce

798k

Average Age

39.6

Average Salary

$71,020

Average Male Salary

$72,179

Average Female Salary

$63,777

About

Police officers are most often employed by the Justice, public order, & safety activities industry. The average yearly wage for Police officers was $71,020 in 2016. The top 3 most similar occupations to Police officers by wage are Human resources workers, Property, real estate, & community association managers, and Property appraisers and assessors.

Police officers are part of the Protective service occupations, along with Firstline supervisors of correctional officers, Firstline supervisors of police & detectives, Firstline supervisors of fire fighting & prevention workers, Miscellaneous first-line supervisors, protective service workers, Firefighters, and 13 more.

The top 3 locations that employ the most Police officers are Ashburn, Washington Heights, Morgan Park & Beverly PUMA, IL, Sierra Vista City PUMA, AZ, and Pulaski, Camden, Miller & Morgan Counties PUMA, MO. The top 3 locations with a relatively high concentration of Police officers are Ashburn, Washington Heights, Morgan Park & Beverly PUMA, IL, Carr 2 (Sur) PUMA, PR, and Sierra Vista City PUMA, AZ.

Photo by Highway Patrol Images

Service Occupations Protective service occupations

Information on the businesses and industries that employ Police officers and on wages and locations for those in the field. Justice, public order, & safety activities is the industry that employs the most Police officers, both by share and by number, though the highest paid industry for Police officers, by average wage, is Public finance activities. Police officers are paid most in Rancho Santa Margarita City (East) & Ladera Ranch PUMA, CA but are relatively concentrated in Ashburn, Washington Heights, Morgan Park & Beverly PUMA, IL.

Wages

Yearly Wage

$71,020

AVERAGE SALARY

± $1,087

In 2020, Police officers earned an average of $71,020, $15,066 more than than the average national salary of $55,954.

Property, real estate, & community association managers make somewhat more than Police officers while Human resources workers make somewhat less. This chart shows the various occupations closest to Police officers as measured by average annual salary in the US.

Wage Distribution

0.274

WAGE GINI

In 2015, Police officers had a wage GINI coefficient of 0.274, which is lower than than the national average of 0.478. In other words, wages are distributed more evenly for Police officers (shown in red) than for the overall labor force (shown in gray).

Wage by Location

HIGHEST PAYING PUMAS

This map shows the Public Use Microdata Areas (PUMAs) in the United States shaded by average annual wage for Police officers.

Spatial Concentration

PUMAs with a Relatively High Concentration of Police officers

This map displays which Public Use Microdata Areas (PUMAs) in the United States have a relatively high population of Police officers.

Industries

Most Common

The most common industries employing Police officers, by number of employees, are Justice, public order, & safety activities , National security & international affairs, Colleges, universities & professional schools, including junior colleges, Executive offices & legislative bodies, U. S. Air Force, U. S. Army, Elementary & secondary schools, Administration of environmental quality & housing programs, General medical and surgical hospitals, and specialty (except psychiatric and substance abuse) hospitals, U. S. Navy, and Investigation & security services.

Highest Paying

The highest paying industries for Police officers, by average wage, are Public finance activities, Banking & related activities, and Water, steam, air-conditioning, & irrigation systems.

Industries by Share

798k

2020 Workforce

± 21,866

2.12%

1 YEAR GROWTH

± 3.82%

The number of people employed as Police officers has been growing at a rate of 2.12%, from 780,968 people in 2019 to 797,536 people in 2020.

This graphic shows the share of Police officers employed by various industries. Justice, public order, & safety activities employs the largest share of Police officers at 85.6%, followed by National security & international affairs with 3.64% and Colleges, universities & professional schools, including junior colleges with 2.01%.

Diversity

Demographic information on Police officers in the US. The average age of male Police officers in the workforce is 39.7 and of female Police officers is 38.9, and the most common race/ethnicity for Police officers is White (Non-Hispanic).

Composition by Sex

688k

MALE WORKFORCE

± 20,310

110k

FEMALE WORKFORCE

± 8,141

86.2% of Police officers are Male, making them the more common sex in the occupation. This chart shows the sex breakdown of Police officers.

Race & Ethnicity

Most Common Race or Ethnicity of Police officers

White (Non-Hispanic)
Black (Non-Hispanic)
White (Hispanic)

66% of Police officers are White (Non-Hispanic), making that the most common race or ethnicity in the occupation. Representing 13.2% of Police officers, Black (Non-Hispanic) is the second most common race or ethnicity in this occupation. This chart shows the racial and ethnic breakdown of Police officers.

Age by Sex

39.7

AVERAGE MALE AGE

± 0.336

38.9

AVERAGE FEMALE AGE

± 0.836

The median age of Police officers is 39.6, and Male employees are generally 0.857 years older than than their Female counterparts.

Education

Data on higher education choices for Police officers from The Department of Education and Census Bureau. The most common major for Police officers is Protective Services but a relatively high number of Police officers hold a major in Protective Services.