Table 71
Full-time Law Enforcement Officers
by Region and Geographic Division by Population Group
Number and Rate per 1,000 Inhabitants, 2014
| Region/geographic division |
Total (9,792 cities; population 183,432,062) |
Group I (72 cities, 250,000 and over; population 55,946,176) |
Group II (192 cities, 100,000 to 249,999; population 28,478,947) |
Group III (405 cities, 50,000 to 99,999; population 28,000,451) |
Group IV (729 cities, 25,000 to 49,999; population 25,123,097) |
Group V (1,579 cities, 10,000 to 24,999; population 25,167,878) |
Group VI (6,815 cities, under 10,000; population 20,715,513) |
Total city agencies |
2014 estimated city population |
County1 (2,864 agencies; population 84,864,300) |
Total city and county agencies |
2014 estimated total agency population |
Suburban Areas2 (6,730 agencies; population 114,360,957) |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TOTAL | Number of officers | 403,984 | 146,606 | 47,991 | 44,551 | 42,884 | 46,181 | 75,771 | 9,792 | 183,432,062 | 223,965 | 12,656 | 268,296,362 | 279,954 |
| Average number of officers per 1,000 inhabitants | 2.2 | 2.6 | 1.7 | 1.6 | 1.7 | 1.8 | 3.7 | 2.6 | 2.4 | |||||
| NORTHEAST | Number of officers | 114,676 | 46,596 | 7,220 | 12,444 | 14,848 | 15,673 | 17,895 | 2,517 | 44,303,475 | ||||
| Average number of officers per 1,000 inhabitants | 2.6 | 4.0 | 2.5 | 1.9 | 1.8 | 1.8 | 2.9 | |||||||
| NEW ENGLAND | Number of officers | 28,501 | 2,151 | 3,870 | 5,316 | 5,905 | 5,837 | 5,422 | 791 | 13,015,911 | ||||
| Average number of officers per 1,000 inhabitants | 2.2 | 3.3 | 2.6 | 2.0 | 1.8 | 1.8 | 3.1 | |||||||
| MIDDLE ATLANTIC | Number of officers | 86,175 | 44,445 | 3,350 | 7,128 | 8,943 | 9,836 | 12,473 | 1,726 | 31,287,564 | ||||
| Average number of officers per 1,000 inhabitants | 2.8 | 4.0 | 2.4 | 1.9 | 1.8 | 1.7 | 2.8 | |||||||
| MIDWEST | Number of officers | 77,418 | 26,576 | 6,190 | 9,472 | 8,920 | 10,739 | 15,521 | 2,527 | 36,995,395 | ||||
| Average number of officers per 1,000 inhabitants | 2.1 | 3.0 | 1.7 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.7 | 2.8 | |||||||
| EAST NORTH CENTRAL | Number of officers | 51,144 | 20,620 | 3,611 | 6,042 | 6,527 | 6,415 | 7,929 | 1,322 | 23,462,944 | ||||
| Average number of officers per 1,000 inhabitants | 2.2 | 3.3 | 1.8 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.6 | 2.6 | |||||||
| WEST NORTH CENTRAL | Number of officers | 26,274 | 5,956 | 2,579 | 3,430 | 2,393 | 4,324 | 7,592 | 1,205 | 13,532,451 | ||||
| Average number of officers per 1,000 inhabitants | 1.9 | 2.3 | 1.5 | 1.4 | 1.5 | 1.7 | 3.0 | |||||||
| SOUTH | Number of officers | 131,307 | 37,737 | 20,633 | 12,447 | 12,989 | 14,711 | 32,790 | 3,374 | 51,013,291 | ||||
| Average number of officers per 1,000 inhabitants | 2.6 | 2.5 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.1 | 2.3 | 5.0 | |||||||
| SOUTH ATLANTIC | Number of officers | 63,515 | 16,834 | 10,216 | 6,626 | 6,290 | 7,027 | 16,522 | 1,430 | 21,774,071 | ||||
| Average number of officers per 1,000 inhabitants | 2.9 | 3.0 | 2.1 | 2.1 | 2.3 | 2.5 | 6.2 | |||||||
| EAST SOUTH CENTRAL | Number of officers | 23,579 | 5,414 | 3,546 | 2,000 | 2,809 | 2,847 | 6,963 | 794 | 8,677,869 | ||||
| Average number of officers per 1,000 inhabitants | 2.7 | 2.4 | 2.5 | 2.2 | 2.1 | 2.3 | 4.5 | |||||||
| WEST SOUTH CENTRAL | Number of officers | 44,213 | 15,489 | 6,871 | 3,821 | 3,890 | 4,837 | 9,305 | 1,150 | 20,561,351 | ||||
| Average number of officers per 1,000 inhabitants | 2.2 | 2.1 | 1.7 | 1.7 | 1.8 | 2.0 | 3.9 | |||||||
| WEST | Number of officers | 80,583 | 35,697 | 13,948 | 10,188 | 6,127 | 5,058 | 9,565 | 1,374 | 51,119,901 | ||||
| Average number of officers per 1,000 inhabitants | 1.6 | 1.8 | 1.2 | 1.2 | 1.3 | 1.5 | 4.1 | |||||||
| MOUNTAIN | Number of officers | 28,148 | 11,299 | 4,911 | 2,723 | 2,466 | 1,977 | 4,772 | 608 | 16,150,237 | ||||
| Average number of officers per 1,000 inhabitants | 1.7 | 1.7 | 1.4 | 1.3 | 1.4 | 1.8 | 4.3 | |||||||
| PACIFIC | Number of officers | 52,435 | 24,398 | 9,037 | 7,465 | 3,661 | 3,081 | 4,793 | 766 | 34,969,664 | ||||
| Average number of officers per 1,000 inhabitants | 1.5 | 1.8 | 1.1 | 1.1 | 1.2 | 1.4 | 4.0 |
- 1 The designation county is a combination of both metropolitan and nonmetropolitan counties.
- 2 Suburban areas include law enforcement agencies in cities with less than 50,000 inhabitants and county law enforcement agencies that are within a Metropolitan Statistical Area (see Data Declaration). Suburban areas exclude all metropolitan agencies associated with a principal city. The agencies associated with suburban areas also appear in other groups within this table.
Data Declaration
Provides the methodology used in constructing this table and other pertinent information about this table.
Overview
Full-time Law Enforcement Officers, by Region and Geographic Division by Population Group, Number and Rate per 1,000 Inhabitants, 2014
- In 2014, the average number of full-time law enforcement officers in the nation’s cities was 2.2 per 1,000 residents.
- Law enforcement agencies in the Northeast and the South had a rate of 2.6 full-time law enforcement officers per 1,000 inhabitants in each region.
- In cities in the Midwest, the rate of full-time law enforcement officers per 1,000 residents was 2.1.
- The rate of full-time law enforcement officers per 1,000 inhabitants was 1.6 in cities in the West.
