Trooper Overview
Working as a Trooper
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a trooper. For example, did you know that they make an average of $16.44 an hour? That's $34,205 a year!
Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 5% and produce 37,500 job opportunities across the U.S.
What Does a Trooper Do
There are certain skills that many troopers have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed communication skills, empathy and good judgment.
When it comes to the most important skills required to be a trooper, we found that a lot of resumes listed 16.2% of troopers included traffic accidents, while 12.3% of resumes included domestic violence, and 12.0% of resumes included criminal cases. Hard skills like these are helpful to have when it comes to performing essential job responsibilities.
When it comes to searching for a job, many search for a key term or phrase. Instead, it might be more helpful to search by industry, as you might be missing jobs that you never thought about in industries that you didn't even think offered positions related to the trooper job title. But what industry to start with? Most troopers actually find jobs in the government and hospitality industries.
How To Become a Trooper
If you're interested in becoming a trooper, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 47.9% of troopers have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 14.0% of troopers have master's degrees. Even though most troopers have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Choosing the right major is always an important step when researching how to become a trooper. When we researched the most common majors for a trooper, we found that they most commonly earn bachelor's degree degrees or associate degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on trooper resumes include master's degree degrees or high school diploma degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become a trooper. In fact, many trooper jobs require experience in a role such as police officer. Meanwhile, many troopers also have previous career experience in roles such as correction officer or sergeant.
What is the right job for my career path?
Tell us your goals and we'll match you with the right jobs to get there.
Trooper Career Paths
In addition to switching up your job search, it might prove helpful to look at a career path for your specific job. Now, what's a career path you ask? Well, it's practically a map that shows how you might advance from one job title to another. Our career paths are especially detailed with salary changes. So, for example, if you started out with the role of sergeant you might progress to a role such as officer eventually. Later on in your career, you could end up with the title senior officer.
What is the right job for my career path?
Tell us your goals and we'll match you with the rights job to get there.
Average Salary for a Trooper
Best Paying Cities
Recently Added Salaries
Job TitleCompany  | Company | Start Date | Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
Idaho Division of Human Resources ISP Trooper ISP Trooper | Idaho Division of Human Resources Idaho Division of Human Resources | 11/28/2020 11/28/2020 | $48,27711/28/2020 $48,277 |
State of Idaho ISP Trooper ISP Trooper | State of Idaho State of Idaho | 11/28/2020 11/28/2020 | $53,44811/28/2020 $53,448 |
Maryland Government Jobs MSP Trooper Candidate MSP Trooper Candidate | Maryland Government Jobs Maryland Government Jobs | 11/02/2020 11/02/2020 | $35,00011/02/2020 $35,000 |
Maryland Government Jobs Trooper Trooper | Maryland Government Jobs Maryland Government Jobs | 12/19/2019 12/19/2019 | $35,00012/19/2019 $35,000 |
Iowa Department of Administrative Services Trooper Trooper | Iowa Department of Administrative Services Iowa Department of Administrative Services | 06/14/2019 06/14/2019 | $43,05606/14/2019 $43,056 |
Calculate your salary
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Top Colleges for Troopers
1. California State University - Long Beach
Long Beach, CA • Public
2. Northeastern University
Boston, MA • Private
3. Savannah State University
Savannah, GA • Public
4. Hampton University
Hampton, VA • Private
5. Pennsylvania State University
University Park, PA • Public
6. Florida Atlantic University
Boca Raton, FL • Public
7. Lewis University
Romeoville, IL • Private
8. Western Illinois University
Macomb, IL • Public
9. Syracuse University
Syracuse, NY • Private
10. Marian University
Fond Du Lac, WI • Private
Top Skills For a Trooper
The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 16.2% of troopers listed traffic accidents on their resume, but soft skills such as communication skills and empathy are important as well.
- Traffic Accidents, 16.2%
- Domestic Violence, 12.3%
- Criminal Cases, 12.0%
- Motor Vehicle, 8.1%
- Swat, 7.6%
- Other Skills, 43.8% See All Trooper Skills