Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers Career, Salary and Skills
Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers have a BLS-reported national median annual wage of $76,210 based on the 2025 OEWS dataset, with reported national employment of 670,520. Wage data is published for 439 locations.
Occupation description
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.
O*NET code
33-3051.00
Job zone
3
Typical education
Not recorded
Experience
None
National salary and employment
Median annual
$76,210
Hourly median
$36.64
Employment
670,520
Data year
2025
National salary distribution
Top skills
| Skill | Importance | Level |
|---|---|---|
| Active Listening | 4.12 | 4.00 |
| Social Perceptiveness | 4.00 | 4.00 |
| Critical Thinking | 3.88 | 4.00 |
| Speaking | 3.88 | 3.88 |
| Active Learning | 3.88 | 3.25 |
| Reading Comprehension | 3.75 | 3.88 |
| Judgment and Decision Making | 3.75 | 3.50 |
| Service Orientation | 3.62 | 3.50 |
| Coordination | 3.62 | 3.62 |
| Persuasion | 3.50 | 3.62 |
Typical tasks
- Provide for public safety by maintaining order, responding to emergencies, protecting people and property, enforcing motor vehicle and criminal laws, and promoting good community relations.
- Identify, pursue, and arrest suspects and perpetrators of criminal acts.
- Verify that the proper legal charges have been made against law offenders.
- Render aid to accident survivors and other persons requiring first aid for physical injuries.
- Record facts to prepare reports that document incidents and activities.
- Review facts of incidents to determine if criminal act or statute violations were involved.
- Investigate illegal or suspicious activities.
- Testify in court to present evidence or act as witness in traffic and criminal cases.
Technology
- Computer aided composite drawing software
- Computer aided dispatch software
- Corel WordPerfect Office Suite
- Crime mapping software
- Database software
- DesignWare 3D EyeWitness
- Email software
- ESRI ArcView
- IBM Lotus 1-2-3
- Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System IAFIS
- Law enforcement information databases
- Microsoft Access
- Microsoft Excel
- Microsoft Internet Explorer
Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers salary by location
Areas with the highest reported employment for this occupation.
- Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers Salary in CAMedian $118,880 · Employment 65,940
- Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers Salary in TXMedian $75,900 · Employment 63,100
- Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers Salary in New York, NYMedian $105,540 · Employment 54,270
- Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers Salary in NYMedian $92,790 · Employment 53,470
- Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers Salary in FLMedian $74,470 · Employment 43,630
- Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers Salary in ILMedian $100,520 · Employment 29,180
- Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers Salary in PAMedian $85,470 · Employment 26,510
- Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers Salary in Los Angeles, CAMedian $121,980 · Employment 24,720
- Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers Salary in OHMedian $77,020 · Employment 23,430
- Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers Salary in Chicago, ILMedian $107,810 · Employment 22,680
- Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers Salary in NCMedian $59,300 · Employment 22,370
- Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers Salary in GAMedian $58,120 · Employment 22,170
Related careers
- Court, Municipal, and License ClerksNational median $48,700
- Intelligence AnalystsNational median $93,790
- Administrative Law Judges, Adjudicators, and Hearing OfficersNational median $117,860
- CoronersNational median $80,730
- Judges, Magistrate Judges, and MagistratesNational median $153,990
- Compliance OfficersNational median $80,730
- Police Identification and Records OfficersNational median $93,790
- First-Line Supervisors of Firefighting and Prevention WorkersNational median $93,530
Career and skills data: O*NET 31.0 (onetcenter.org). Salary and employment data: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS, 2025 (bls.gov/oes). Figures are published survey estimates, not real-time market data.