An estimated 665,380 police and sheriff’s patrol officers are employed in the United States, according to May 2021 data. The vast majority of these officers work for local governments, with only about 10% working for state governments, and only a fraction working for universities, hospitals, schools, and other entities.
On average, there are about 2.4 police officers per 1,000 people and 3.4 civilian law enforcement personnel per 1,000 people. Considering the differences across states and urban population centers, police departments vary in size but often fall somewhere near the national average.
States like New York and Utah are vastly different by many measures and demographics, and their police departments reflect this. Within each state, too, population centers vary in size and require matching police departments. A small rural community does not need as large a police department as a large metropolitan area. And most states have at least one if not several large urban centers. (These are the most dangerous states to be a police officer.)
To find the largest police department in every state, 24/7 Wall St. referenced law enforcement employment data from the FBI’s 2021 Uniform Crime Reporting Program for 2021. We ranked each state in terms of its total of officers and civilians employed by a department. We excluded law enforcement agencies with greater jurisdictions than cities or counties, such as State Troopers and Highway Patrol.
It is important to note that this list is reflective of the departments that reported this data to the FBI. Several large cities do not report this data. In cases of the 50 largest cities in the United States that did not report to the FBI, we reviewed city budgets and other documents to best identify comparable city department sizes. Those cities include Philadelphia, Chicago, Columbus, and Indianapolis. For these cities we did not include police personnel per 1,000 population. (These are America’s most heavily policed cities.)
It is not surprising to find New York City and Los Angeles topping the list in New York and California, respectively. The two are the most populous and second-most populous metropolitan areas in the U.S. And while Ada, Idaho, and Polk, Iowa,may not be readily familiar, they respectively encompass Boise, Idaho’s largest city, and Des Moines, Iowa’s largest city.
Still, although these are the largest police departments in their respective states, the largest police department in Vermont is Burlington, which employs 99 police and civilians. Compare that to New York City’s police department employing over 50,000 personnel.
Here is a look at the largest police department in each state:
Alabama: Birmingham
> Total police personnel (2021): 951
> Police personnel per 1,000 population (2021): 4.6
> Total officers (2021): 756
> Total civilians (2021): 195
[in-text-ad]
Alaska: Anchorage
> Total police personnel (2021): 574
> Police personnel per 1,000 population (2021): 2.0
> Total officers (2021): 413
> Total civilians (2021): 161
24/7 Wall St.
Arizona: Phoenix
> Total police personnel (2021): 3,772
> Police personnel per 1,000 population (2021): 2.3
> Total officers (2021): 2795
> Total civilians (2021): 977
Arkansas: Little Rock
> Total police personnel (2021): 659
> Police personnel per 1,000 population (2021): 3.3
> Total officers (2021): 534
> Total civilians (2021): 125
[in-text-ad-2]
California: Los Angeles
> Total police personnel (2021): 15,286
> Police personnel per 1,000 population (2021): 16.6
> Total officers (2021): 9522
> Total civilians (2021): 5,764
Colorado: Denver
> Total police personnel (2021): 1,784
> Police personnel per 1,000 population (2021): 2.4
> Total officers (2021): 1447
> Total civilians (2021): 337
[in-text-ad]
Connecticut: Hartford
> Total police personnel (2021): 419
> Police personnel per 1,000 population (2021): 3.5
> Total officers (2021): 395
> Total civilians (2021): 24
Delaware: New Castle County Police Department
> Total police personnel (2021): 430
> Police personnel per 1,000 population (2021): 1.0
> Total officers (2021): 376
> Total civilians (2021): 54
Florida: Miami-Dade
> Total police personnel (2021): 4,154
> Police personnel per 1,000 population (2021): 3.6
> Total officers (2021): 3020
> Total civilians (2021): 1,134
[in-text-ad-2]
Georgia: Atlanta
> Total police personnel (2021): 2,095
> Police personnel per 1,000 population (2021): 4.0
> Total officers (2021): 1641
> Total civilians (2021): 454
Hawaii: Honolulu
> Total police personnel (2021): 2,437
> Police personnel per 1,000 population (2021): 2.5
> Total officers (2021): 1942
> Total civilians (2021): 495
[in-text-ad]
Idaho: Ada
> Total police personnel (2021): 551
> Police personnel per 1,000 population (2021): 3.7
> Total officers (2021): 190
> Total civilians (2021): 361
Illinois: Chicago
> Total police personnel (2021): 14,058
> Police personnel per 1,000 population (2021): N/A
> Total officers (2021): 13108
> Total civilians (2021): 950
Indiana: Indianapolis
> Total police personnel (2021): 1,950
> Police personnel per 1,000 population (2021): N/A
> Total officers (2021): 1700
> Total civilians (2021): 250
[in-text-ad-2]
Iowa: Polk
> Total police personnel (2021): 500
> Police personnel per 1,000 population (2021): 8.4
> Total officers (2021): 150
> Total civilians (2021): 350
Kansas: Johnson
> Total police personnel (2021): 651
> Police personnel per 1,000 population (2021): 24.4
> Total officers (2021): 484
> Total civilians (2021): 167
[in-text-ad]
Kentucky: Louisville Metro
> Total police personnel (2021): 1,320
> Police personnel per 1,000 population (2021): 2.0
> Total officers (2021): 1038
> Total civilians (2021): 282
Louisiana: Jefferson
> Total police personnel (2021): 1,273
> Police personnel per 1,000 population (2021): 3.9
> Total officers (2021): 858
> Total civilians (2021): 415
Maine: Portland
> Total police personnel (2021): 203
> Police personnel per 1,000 population (2021): 3.0
> Total officers (2021): 146
> Total civilians (2021): 57
[in-text-ad-2]
Maryland: Baltimore
> Total police personnel (2021): 2,843
> Police personnel per 1,000 population (2021): 4.8
> Total officers (2021): 2360
> Total civilians (2021): 483
Massachusetts: Boston
> Total police personnel (2021): 2,716
> Police personnel per 1,000 population (2021): 3.9
> Total officers (2021): 2184
> Total civilians (2021): 532
[in-text-ad]
Michigan: Detroit
> Total police personnel (2021): 3,100
> Police personnel per 1,000 population (2021): 4.6
> Total officers (2021): 2475
> Total civilians (2021): 625
Minnesota: Hennepin
> Total police personnel (2021): 824
> Police personnel per 1,000 population (2021): 94.8
> Total officers (2021): 321
> Total civilians (2021): 503
Mississippi: Jackson
> Total police personnel (2021): 416
> Police personnel per 1,000 population (2021): 2.7
> Total officers (2021): 278
> Total civilians (2021): 138
[in-text-ad-2]
Missouri: Kansas City
> Total police personnel (2021): 1,839
> Police personnel per 1,000 population (2021): 3.7
> Total officers (2021): 1286
> Total civilians (2021): 553
Montana: Yellowstone
> Total police personnel (2021): 187
> Police personnel per 1,000 population (2021): 3.8
> Total officers (2021): 60
> Total civilians (2021): 127
[in-text-ad]
Nebraska: Omaha
> Total police personnel (2021): 1,044
> Police personnel per 1,000 population (2021): 2.2
> Total officers (2021): 895
> Total civilians (2021): 149
24/7 Wall St.
Nevada: Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department
> Total police personnel (2021): 5,760
> Police personnel per 1,000 population (2021): 3.4
> Total officers (2021): 3994
> Total civilians (2021): 1,766
New Hampshire: Manchester
> Total police personnel (2021): 269
> Police personnel per 1,000 population (2021): 2.4
> Total officers (2021): 222
> Total civilians (2021): 47
[in-text-ad-2]
New Jersey: Jersey City
> Total police personnel (2021): 1,444
> Police personnel per 1,000 population (2021): 5.3
> Total officers (2021): 934
> Total civilians (2021): 510
New Mexico: Albuquerque
> Total police personnel (2021): 1,474
> Police personnel per 1,000 population (2021): 2.6
> Total officers (2021): 940
> Total civilians (2021): 534
[in-text-ad]
New York: New York
> Total police personnel (2021): 50,029
> Police personnel per 1,000 population (2021): 5.9
> Total officers (2021): 35047
> Total civilians (2021): 14,982
North Carolina: Charlotte-Mecklenburg
> Total police personnel (2021): 2,281
> Police personnel per 1,000 population (2021): 2.4
> Total officers (2021): 1734
> Total civilians (2021): 547
North Dakota: Fargo
> Total police personnel (2021): 199
> Police personnel per 1,000 population (2021): 1.6
> Total officers (2021): 180
> Total civilians (2021): 19
[in-text-ad-2]
Ohio: Columbus
> Total police personnel (2021): 2,100
> Police personnel per 1,000 population (2021): N/A
> Total officers (2021): 1800
> Total civilians (2021): 300
Oklahoma: Oklahoma City
> Total police personnel (2021): 1,378
> Police personnel per 1,000 population (2021): 2.0
> Total officers (2021): 1105
> Total civilians (2021): 273
[in-text-ad]
Oregon: Portland
> Total police personnel (2021): 1,040
> Police personnel per 1,000 population (2021): 1.6
> Total officers (2021): 791
> Total civilians (2021): 249
24/7 Wall St.
Pennsylvania: Philadelphia
> Total police personnel (2021): 7,300
> Police personnel per 1,000 population (2021): N/A
> Total officers (2021): 6500
> Total civilians (2021): 800
Rhode Island: Providence
> Total police personnel (2021): 533
> Police personnel per 1,000 population (2021): 2.9
> Total officers (2021): 449
> Total civilians (2021): 84
[in-text-ad-2]
South Carolina: Charleston
> Total police personnel (2021): 651
> Police personnel per 1,000 population (2021): 8.0
> Total officers (2021): 271
> Total civilians (2021): 380
South Dakota: Pennington
> Total police personnel (2021): 431
> Police personnel per 1,000 population (2021): 14.6
> Total officers (2021): 101
> Total civilians (2021): 330
[in-text-ad]
Tennessee: Memphis
> Total police personnel (2021): 2,446
> Police personnel per 1,000 population (2021): 3.8
> Total officers (2021): 2027
> Total civilians (2021): 419
Texas: Houston
> Total police personnel (2021): 6,249
> Police personnel per 1,000 population (2021): 2.7
> Total officers (2021): 5250
> Total civilians (2021): 999
Utah: Salt Lake City
> Total police personnel (2021): 627
> Police personnel per 1,000 population (2021): 3.0
> Total officers (2021): 490
> Total civilians (2021): 137
[in-text-ad-2]
Vermont: Burlington
> Total police personnel (2021): 99
> Police personnel per 1,000 population (2021): 2.3
> Total officers (2021): 69
> Total civilians (2021): 30
Virginia: Fairfax County Police Department
> Total police personnel (2021): 1,768
> Police personnel per 1,000 population (2021): 1.6
> Total officers (2021): 1430
> Total civilians (2021): 338
[in-text-ad]
Washington: Seattle
> Total police personnel (2021): 1,597
> Police personnel per 1,000 population (2021): 2.0
> Total officers (2021): 1178
> Total civilians (2021): 419
West Virginia: Charleston
> Total police personnel (2021): 180
> Police personnel per 1,000 population (2021): 4.0
> Total officers (2021): 157
> Total civilians (2021): 23
Wisconsin: Milwaukee
> Total police personnel (2021): 2,015
> Police personnel per 1,000 population (2021): 3.4
> Total officers (2021): 1654
> Total civilians (2021): 361
[in-text-ad-2]
Wyoming: Laramie
> Total police personnel (2021): 175
> Police personnel per 1,000 population (2021): 5.1
> Total officers (2021): 43
> Total civilians (2021): 132
The #1 Thing to Do Before You Claim Social Security (Sponsor)
Choosing the right (or wrong) time to claim Social Security can dramatically change your retirement. So, before making one of the biggest decisions of your financial life, it’s a smart idea to get an extra set of eyes on your complete financial situation.
A financial advisor can help you decide the right Social Security option for you and your family. Finding a qualified financial advisor doesn’t have to be hard. SmartAsset’s free tool matches you with up to three financial advisors who serve your area, and you can interview your advisor matches at no cost to decide which one is right for you.
Click here to match with up to 3 financial pros who would be excited to help you optimize your Social Security outcomes.
Have questions about retirement or personal finance? Email us at [email protected]!
By emailing your questions to 24/7 Wall St., you agree to have them published anonymously on a673b.bigscoots-temp.com.
By submitting your story, you understand and agree that we may use your story, or versions of it, in all media and platforms, including via third parties.
Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.
Latest from 24/7
