Patrol communities, respond to calls, enforce laws, and investigate crimes to keep people safe.
Streets, vehicles, and stations; outdoors and in, physical and unpredictable.
Shift work including nights, weekends, holidays, and on-call.
May 2024–25 BLS wage data · 2024–34 BLS employment projections.
Openings a year counts new jobs plus the ones that open when people retire or move on — a truer picture of your odds than growth alone.
“Median” means half earn more and half earn less. Your city, employer, and years on the job move it a lot — that is what the 10th-to-90th range shows.
High school / no degree
Training path: Paid police academy.
Requires completing a police academy and meeting state certification standards.
You can earn while you train. This field has a genuinely paid pathway in — an apprenticeship, a paid academy, or employer-funded training — so you draw a paycheck instead of taking on debt to learn it.
Pension math matters here: 20-25 years to retirement with benefits.
Run the Reality Check — build the life you want and see the salary it takes, then compare it to this one.
Browse verified internships, fellowships, and programs — many paid — that lead into fields like this.
Free resume templates, interview practice, and getting-hired guides in the Careers kit.
Standard Occupational Classification 33-3051. Pay, employment, and outlook from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (OEWS wage survey and 2024–34 employment projections). See something off? Tell us.