Table 71

Full-time Law Enforcement Officers
by Geographic Region and Division by Population Group
Number and Rate per 1,000 Inhabitants, 2005

Geographic region/division		Total (10,832 cities; population 187,432,928)	Group I (70 cities, 250,000 and over; population 53,583,154)	Group II (180 cities, 100,000 to 249,999; population 27,066,683)	Group III (411 cities, 50,000 to 99,999; population 28,032,707)	Group IV (769 cities, 25,000 to 49,999; population 26,455,091)	Group V (1,791 cities, 10,000 to 24,999; population 28,385,387)	Group VI (7,611 cities, under 10,000; population 23,909,906)	Total city agencies	2005 estimated city population	County¹ (3,459 agencies; population 91,767,689)	Total city and county agencies	2005 estimated total agency population	Suburban Area² (7,354 agencies; population 118,418,670)
TOTAL	Number of officers	431,590	151,870	50,111	48,687	48,052	54,925	77,945	10,832	187,432,928	241,556	14,291	279,200,617	288,835
TOTAL	Average number of officers per 1,000 inhabitants	2.3	2.8	1.9	1.7	1.8	1.9	3.3			2.6			2.4
NORTHEAST	Number of officers	114,314	47,584	8,210	12,485	14,830	16,403	14,802	2,308	42,405,056
NORTHEAST	Average number of officers per 1,000 inhabitants	2.7	4.3	2.7	2.1	2.0	1.8	2.5
NEW ENGLAND	Number of officers	26,997	2,075	3,904	5,109	5,515	6,013	4,381	772	12,586,682
NEW ENGLAND	Average number of officers per 1,000 inhabitants	2.1	3.7	2.7	2.0	1.9	1.8	2.4
MIDDLE ATLANTIC	Number of officers	87,317	45,509	4,306	7,376	9,315	10,390	10,421	1,536	29,818,374
MIDDLE ATLANTIC	Average number of officers per 1,000 inhabitants	2.9	4.3	2.7	2.1	2.1	1.9	2.5
MIDWEST	Number of officers	97,841	30,654	8,291	11,546	12,315	15,748	19,287	3,224	44,574,925
MIDWEST	Average number of officers per 1,000 inhabitants	2.2	3.3	1.9	1.6	1.6	1.8	2.6
EAST NORTH CENTRAL	Number of officers	73,140	25,283	5,639	8,501	9,410	11,687	12,620	2,032	31,800,191
EAST NORTH CENTRAL	Average number of officers per 1,000 inhabitants	2.3	3.6	2.0	1.7	1.7	1.8	2.6
WEST NORTH CENTRAL	Number of officers	24,701	5,371	2,652	3,045	2,905	4,061	6,667	1,192	12,774,734
WEST NORTH CENTRAL	Average number of officers per 1,000 inhabitants	1.9	2.4	1.8	1.4	1.5	1.7	2.5
SOUTH	Number of officers	140,537	38,672	20,361	14,662	13,854	17,706	35,282	3,960	54,093,278
SOUTH	Average number of officers per 1,000 inhabitants	2.6	2.5	2.1	2.0	2.2	2.4	4.5
SOUTH ATLANTIC	Number of officers	67,073	15,854	10,401	7,835	6,929	8,649	17,405	1,723	22,428,114
SOUTH ATLANTIC	Average number of officers per 1,000 inhabitants	3.0	3.3	2.2	2.3	2.4	2.6	5.6
EAST SOUTH CENTRAL	Number of officers	24,765	4,878	3,681	1,529	3,061	3,906	7,710	948	9,108,421
EAST SOUTH CENTRAL	Average number of officers per 1,000 inhabitants	2.7	2.3	2.5	2.4	2.3	2.4	4.1
WEST SOUTH CENTRAL	Number of officers	48,699	17,940	6,279	5,298	3,864	5,151	10,167	1,289	22,556,743
WEST SOUTH CENTRAL	Average number of officers per 1,000 inhabitants	2.2	2.1	1.8	1.7	1.8	2.0	3.6
WEST	Number of officers	78,898	34,960	13,249	9,994	7,053	5,068	8,574	1,340	46,359,669
WEST	Average number of officers per 1,000 inhabitants	1.7	2.0	1.3	1.3	1.4	1.6	3.3
MOUNTAIN	Number of officers	26,438	10,456	4,620	2,879	2,374	2,010	4,099	582	14,397,412
MOUNTAIN	Average number of officers per 1,000 inhabitants	1.8	1.9	1.5	1.5	1.6	1.9	3.1
PACIFIC	Number of officers	52,460	24,504	8,629	7,115	4,679	3,058	4,475	758	31,962,257
PACIFIC	Average number of officers per 1,000 inhabitants	1.6	2.0	1.2	1.3	1.3	1.5	3.5

¹ The designation county is a combination of both metropolitan and nonmetropolitan counties
² Suburban area includes 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 area excludes 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

Download Printable Document

In the U.S. in 2005, the average number of full-time law enforcement officers in cities was 2.3 per 1,000 inhabitants.
Within cities in the Northeast, the rate of full-time law enforcement officers per 1,000 inhabitants was 2.7.
Within cities in the South, the rate of full-time law enforcement officers per 1,000 was 2.6.
Within cities in the Midwest, the rate of full-time law enforcement officers per 1,000 was 2.2.
Within cities in the West, the rate of full-time law enforcement officers per 1,000 inhabitants was 1.7.