Georgia / Police Officer

Role across Georgia

Police Officer

Enforce laws and maintain public safety — patrol, respond to incidents, investigate crimes, and make arrests.

439 people hold the Police Officer role across 26 departments in Georgia, with a median total compensation of $53,167. Among 31 jurisdictions where this role is reported, Georgia ranks #28 by median pay.

Employees: 439
Median pay: $53,167
Departments: 26
Cross-jurisdiction: #28 of 31

Compared with the local labor market

Police Officer pay vs. Georgia

Across all employers in Georgia, the median wage for Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers — about 22,170 people — is $58,120. Georgia pays a median base salary of $59,955 for this role, 3% above that figure — about the 59th percentile of local pay for the occupation.

Where Georgia sits in the local pay range

10th

25th

Median

75th

90th

$43,690

$48,290

$58,120

$63,270

$76,250

Georgia median · $59,955

The bar is the range of annual wages for Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers across every employer in Georgia, from the 10th to the 90th percentile, with the middle 50% highlighted. The marker shows Georgia’s median base salary for this role. Both figures are base pay only.

And across the country

Nationwide, the median wage for Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers — about 670,520 people — is $76,210. Georgia’s median base salary is 21% below that national figure, about the 26th percentile of pay for the occupation nationally.

10th

25th

Median

75th

90th

$47,510

$59,290

$76,210

$97,600

$115,120

Georgia median · $59,955

Local and national wages differ for reasons beyond how well a job pays — cost of living, the mix of employers, and local demand for the occupation all move the Georgia range relative to the national one.

Computed over the 318 of 439 people in this role paid at least $25,000 in base salary. The rest are part-year or part-time records, whose actual pay isn’t comparable to a full-time annual wage.

Median total compensation for this role at Georgia is $53,167, which includes overtime and employer-paid benefits. The benchmark above excludes both, so total compensation is deliberately not compared against it.

Benchmark: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (May 2025). BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) covers all employers in the area — private, non-profit, and government alike — so this is a comparison against the whole local labor market for the occupation, not against private-sector pay. OEWS wages are straight-time pay and exclude overtime, shift differentials, and employer-paid benefits, so the government figure shown here is base pay on the same basis. Total compensation is not comparable to it. Job titles are matched to the closest standard occupation, so the comparison is between similar work rather than an identical job classification.

Compare jurisdictions

Police Officer pay in other jurisdictions

Where Police Officers are paid most

City of San Jose

$286,889 · 818

City and County of San Francisco

$253,890 · 1,860

City of Boston

$185,462 · 1,335

City of Los Angeles

$184,354 · 6,158

City of Worcester

$128,256 · 371

City of Phoenix, Arizona

$116,326 · 2,460

Illinois

$114,200 · 7

New York Public Authorities

$113,716 · 558

California

$111,913 · 298

City of Chicago

$111,252 · 9,219

City of Miami

$106,123 · 1,012

City of Salt Lake City

$104,879 · 659

$102,830 · 149

$100,602 · 611

$99,740 · 723

$96,976 · 23,503

City of Springfield, MA

$96,813 · 516

Massachusetts

$92,426 · 11

City of Milwaukee

$90,818 · 2,099

Allegheny County, Pennsylvania

$90,599 · 44

Median total compensation for comparable Police Officer roles in other jurisdictions (highest first). Titles are matched by normalized name across sources, not by identical job classification, and pay is not cost-of-living adjusted. Each bar links to that jurisdiction’s page for this role.

Within Georgia