Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
Job outlook for border polices in the United States
Are border police jobs in demand?
Border police job and salary trends over time
Border police jobs over time
Border police job growth rate over time
| Year | # of jobs | % of population |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 190 | 0.00% |
| 2020 | 187 | 0.00% |
| 2019 | 190 | 0.00% |
| 2018 | 189 | 0.00% |
| 2017 | 189 | 0.00% |
Average border police salary over time
Border police salary by year
| Year | Avg. salary | Hourly rate | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $46,884 | $22.54 | +3.8% |
| 2024 | $45,174 | $21.72 | +2.9% |
| 2023 | $43,908 | $21.11 | +0.5% |
| 2022 | $43,672 | $21.00 | +2.3% |
| 2021 | $42,692 | $20.53 | +2.3% |
Border police jobs by state
Most common states for border polices
| Rank | State | Population | # of jobs | Employment/ 1000ppl |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alaska | 739,795 | 26 | 4% |
| 2 | Montana | 1,050,493 | 32 | 3% |
| 3 | District of Columbia | 693,972 | 23 | 3% |
| 4 | New Mexico | 2,088,070 | 40 | 2% |
| 5 | Nebraska | 1,920,076 | 31 | 2% |
| 6 | North Dakota | 755,393 | 15 | 2% |
| 7 | Wyoming | 579,315 | 12 | 2% |
| 8 | California | 39,536,653 | 340 | 1% |
| 9 | Ohio | 11,658,609 | 109 | 1% |
| 10 | Maryland | 6,052,177 | 71 | 1% |
| 11 | Washington | 7,405,743 | 68 | 1% |
| 12 | Colorado | 5,607,154 | 53 | 1% |
| 13 | Arizona | 7,016,270 | 52 | 1% |
| 14 | Minnesota | 5,576,606 | 39 | 1% |
| 15 | Nevada | 2,998,039 | 34 | 1% |
| 16 | Iowa | 3,145,711 | 34 | 1% |
| 17 | Oregon | 4,142,776 | 32 | 1% |
| 18 | Hawaii | 1,427,538 | 14 | 1% |
| 19 | Delaware | 961,939 | 10 | 1% |
| 20 | Rhode Island | 1,059,639 | 10 | 1% |
Border Police job outlook: Expert opinions
Our panel of border police experts
Pennsylvania State University - Harrisburg
University of Wisconsin - Oshkosh
Jennifer Gibbs Ph.D.
Associate ProfessorPennsylvania State University - Harrisburg
School of Public Affairs, Criminal Justice Program
What skills stand out on Border Police resumes?
Jennifer Gibbs Ph.D.: Police officers need many skills to be successful on the job. The most important are written and oral communication skills and the ability to make ethical decisions with limited information quickly. Written communications skills are crucial. If a police report is poorly worded or incomplete, it can derail a criminal case. Police officers also need to talk to people of all ages from all walks of life in any circumstance. Often, police meet people on what may be the worst day of their lives when emotions are running high. Police need to be able to help calm a person while gathering information. Police need to be able to use their words and body language to empathize with someone who has been victimized, and they need to project authority, so people making poor decisions obey their commands.
This may be common sense, but research has demonstrated that communication and ethical decision-making skills are important for police officers. (See the research article published in 2017 in the Journal of Criminal Justice Education, entitled "An assessment of the relative importance of criminal justice learning objectives," by Baker and colleagues.) Baker and colleagues asked students, professionals, and college professors to rate the skills of hypothetical job applicants. These participants rated the following as the most important characteristics for criminal justice applicants (including law enforcement officers):
Ethics
Oral communication
Critical thinking
Sensitivity to diversity
Written communication skills
Dr. Durmus Alper CAMLIBEL Ph.D.
Assistant ProfessorUniversity of Wisconsin - Oshkosh
Department of Criminal Justice
What Border Police skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Dr. Durmus Alper CAMLIBEL Ph.D.: The economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic apparently has brought uncertainty to the job market, and job opportunities, especially in some of the social sciences, are reduced. There is an old Turkish saying, "bread is in the mouth of the lion" (ekmek aslanın ağzında) that sums it up nicely. It implies that it is a struggle to make a living. Life after college is not easy. There is too much competition in the job market. Suppose graduates need to take a gap year. In that case, they need to continue to learn after graduation—an extra set of skills that can put them ahead of other applicants—learning another language can put the graduates on the top of other candidates since there are plenty of applicants just like them. Becoming fluent in a second language can bring graduates several advantages.
They can also apply for internship programs of local and federal criminal justice agencies during a gap year. The graduates can observe a criminal justice agency's working environment and the culture of a specific community. They can decide if they want to serve in the organization and the community. They should also consider international organizations' internship programs, such as the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) or Office of Counter-Terrorism internship programs. The UNODC has an office in New York. This internship program provides a framework for students (enrolled in, or have completed, the final academic year of a bachelor's level or equivalent degree programs) to develop their professional skills and gain practical work experience in an international environment. In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, applicants may be requested to undertake the internship online.