According to the BLS, the average police officer earns a healthy $65,400 a year.
This steady salary is an above average income that comes with relatively low training requirements and heaping benefits, including the increasingly envy inspiring pension. However, each city and police department has its own pay, requirements, and size.
And the number of police per citizen can vary dramatically by city. Some have a staggering 101 cops per 10,000 citizens, while others only have 1-10th of that number.
We evaluated 353 cities to find the cities with more than their share of cops.
Large, northeastern cities and tourist hot spots make up the bulk of the top 10. In fact, the furthest west city is St. Louis. Keep reading to see how the scope of police force in each city– and where your city landed.
How We Determined This Data
This one was pretty simple. We used the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting data to determine the number of police officers, and police employees, per 10,000 residents for 353 cities.
The more police officers to citizen, the most policed a city was. We excluded all departments with less than 100 officers.
Police Officers: 278 Total Employees: 397 Total Employees Per 10k Population: 101.3
Atlantic City is the most policed city in the US, with a staggering 101 police employees for every 10,000 residents. Broken down, that is a little over 1 cop to 100 residents. Why are there so many cops in “America’s Playground”? While we can only speculate, the steady stream of tourists and short term guests might be a partial reason for their ginormous police force.
Police Officers: 219 Total Employees: 300 Total Employees Per 10k Population: 94.2
Right behind Atlantic City is Myrtle Beach in 2nd place. This beach side city has 94 police officers for every 10,000 residents. Similar to Atlantic City, Myrtle Beach is a vacation favorite. How much of police officers’ time is spent wrangling tourists?
3. Washington DC
Source: Public Domain
Police Officers: 3,753 Total Employees: 4,352 Total Employees Per 10k Population: 63.9
Washington DC is the 3rd most over policed city in the nation. The Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia employs 4,352 individuals to police DC. While 63.9 employees per 10,000 residents is significantly less than Myrtle Beach, it is still far greater than most other cities.
Police Officers: 36,228 Total Employees: 51,399 Total Employees Per 10k Population: 60
In 4th place is New York City. The Big Apple has a hefty 60 employees for every 10,000 residents. New York City is a fairly safe city with lower than average violent crime. However, they have the largest police force in the nation per resident, 36,228 officers. To put that into perspective, New York City has more police officers than Myrtle Beach has people.
Police Officers: 394 Total Employees: 492 Total Employees Per 10k Population: 52.8
Miami Beach, Florida is known for its beautiful beaches and top notch resorts. However, as you’re enjoying the city, chances are you’ll see more cops than other cities. Miami has 52 police employees per 10,000 residents.
Police Officers: 6,313 Total Employees: 7,995 Total Employees Per 10k Population: 50.9
Philadelphia has the fourth largest police force with 6,313 police officers. Combine that with the population in Philly, and you have 50.9 officers for every 10,000 Philadelphians.
Police Officers: 11,954 Total Employees: 13,135 Total Employees Per 10k Population: 48.2
Chicago has the 2nd largest police force in the nation with 11,954 officers. When you add in support staff and others, the Windy City employs 13,135 workers. That’s 48 police employs for every 10,000 residents.
Summary On The Most Over Policed Cities
These 10 cities have the largest police forces for their population size.
While many popular vacation towns (Atlantic City, Miami Beach, Myrtle Beach) may be policing a larger population than their permanent residents, not all of the cities see the same staggering influx of tourists compared to population size to explain such large forces.
Nationally, the average is far closer to 21 police officers to every 10,000 residents– but even Chicago in 10th place has double that total.
You can scroll below to see where you city landed, and gauge the staggering difference in the number of police employed per citizen in nationally.
Kathy is the head of content at Zippia with a knack for engaging audiences. Prior to joining Zippia, Kathy worked at Gateway Blend growing audiences across diverse brands. She graduated from Troy University with a degree in Social Science Education.
