Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers · SOC 33-3051

Highest-Paying Metro Areas for Police Officers

Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025U.S. metropolitan areas

Metro areas ranked by published median annual wage for police and sheriff's patrol officers. Areas where BLS suppressed the median are not ranked (2 such areas are excluded here). Higher medians often track higher living costs — this is a pay comparison, not a ranking of where the job is “best”.

Top 25 of 386 metro areas

Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers: metro areas with the highest published median annual wages, May 2025
#	Metro area	Median annual	Employment	Per 1,000 jobs
1	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$136,140	2,590	2.3
2	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$132,000	7,990	3.4
3	Carson City, NV	$131,210	110	3.4
4	Vallejo, CA	$129,900	690	4.8
5	Napa, CA	$127,310	300	3.9
6	Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA	$125,910	590	2.9
7	Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA	$122,970	400	4.0
8	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$121,980	24,720	3.9
9	Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA	$120,900	730	3.6
10	Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA	$119,640	1,330	4.1
11	Salinas, CA	$118,220	930	5.0
12	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$115,120	4,520	2.2
13	Anchorage, AK	$115,020	570	3.2
14	Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	$111,460	5,420	5.0
15	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$110,400	4,950	3.2
16	Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN	$107,810	22,680	5.0
17	Redding, CA	$107,270	290	4.0
18	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$105,540	54,270	5.7
19	Fairbanks-College, AK	$105,370	110	2.9
20	Kennewick-Richland, WA	$104,570	340	2.6
21	Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO	$101,970	4,990	3.1
22	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	$101,870	6,010	3.5
23	San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA	$101,860	460	3.8
24	Bellingham, WA	$101,810	310	3.4
25	Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard, WA	$101,440	350	3.7

Full state and metro tables, the national distribution, and the pay map are on the Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers overview.

About this data. Estimates are from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program, May 2025 release, retrieved from bls.gov/oes/tables.htm on July 24, 2026. OEWS estimates describe metropolitan/nonmetropolitan areas and states — not city limits — and are not designed for year-over-year comparisons. See BLS methodology, our plain-English methodology, and sources. CitySalaryData is independent and not affiliated with BLS.