California has the highest-paid police officers in the U.S.
LOS ANGELES, CA — More than 800,000 people in the United States are employed as police officers. Salaries for the profession, as well as danger and stress levels, certainly vary from city to city, but what are the conditions like for cops in California?
The safety expert website Security.org recently released its “Best & Worst Cities for Police.”
While other cities were pretty average in most categories, our city was ranked among the top highest-paying areas. Because the top 14 highest-paying cities for police officers are all in California, researchers created a list that excluded those cities.
With an average police officer salary of $81,600, Denver was the 12th best city for salaries in the country on that list.
The median annual wage for police and detectives in 2018 was $63,380, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.
Pittsburgh ranked as the best place for police officers in the nation, the researchers found, followed by Birmingham, Alabama, and New York City.
Other highlights from the report include:
Cops in San Jose, California, earn the highest median annual wage at $126,690.
Punta Gorda, Florida, earned the dubious honor of the worst city for police officers, according to the report.
Here are the 15 best cities for police officers:
- Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- Birmingham, Alabama
- New York, New York
- Chicago, Illinois
- Montgomery, Alabama
- Toledo, Ohio
- St. Louis, Missouri
- Buffalo, New York
- Cleveland, Ohio
- Memphis, Tennessee
- Columbus, Ohio
- Youngstown, Ohio
- Los Angeles, California
- Charleston, West Virginia
- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
The full law enforcement report is available on Security.org.