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Study Reveals The Best And Worst States To Be A Police Officer

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio speaks from the podium to the New York City Police Academy Graduating class in New York December 29, 2014. Hundreds of officers took part in the ceremony at Madison Square Garden. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri
Virginia Kruta Associate Editor
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Working in law enforcement has its perks and drawbacks in every state, but a recent study from WalletHub concluded that there are definite winners and losers.WATCH:

The study “compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across 27 key indicators of police-friendliness,” looking at everything “from median income for law-enforcement officers to police deaths per 1,000 officers to state and local police-protection expenses per capita.”

Top five overall:

  • New York
  • Maryland
  • California
  • New Hampshire
  • Indiana

Bottom five overall:

  • Louisiana
  • Arkansas
  • Kentucky
  • New Mexico
  • Arizona

Source: WalletHub
For those looking for the best possible paycheck, the highest median incomes among law enforcement professionals were found in Alaska, New Jersey, Illinois, Colorado and Michigan. The states with the highest median wage growth were Missouri, Indiana, New York, Vermont and Minnesota.
The lowest violent crime rate was found in Maine, followed closely by neighbors Vermont and New Hampshire, then Virginia and Kentucky. The highest violent crime rate was a four-way tie between Tennessee, New Mexico, Alaska and the District of Columbia. (RELATED: Police Suicides Are Up — Retired Cop Says ‘Ferguson Effect’ Is Partly To Blame)

A few states went from extremes in one direction to extremes in another. Illinois, for example, ranked 11th overall and was first on the list for housing affordability. It was last, however, in solved homicide cases. The District of Columbia (ranked 26th overall) was first in number of law enforcement officers per capita and highest cost of police protection per capita, but was ranked last in median income growth and violent crime rate.

According to a similar study done just two years ago, the rankings have shifted somewhat. The top two states in 2017 — North Dakota and Connecticut — slipped to sixth and tenth, respectively.

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