Table 71

Full-time Law Enforcement Officers
by Geographic Region and Division by Population Group
Number and Rate per 1,000 Inhabitants, 2006

Geographic region/division		Total (10,872 cities; population 189,942,258)	Group I (71 cities, 250,000 and over; population 53,957,412)	Group II (181 cities, 100,000 to 249,999; population 27,081,536)	Group III (423 cities, 50,000 to 99,999; population 29,029,089)	Group IV (788 cities, 25,000 to 49,999; population 27,199,664)	Group V (1,818 cities, 10,000 to 24,999; population 28,813,877)	Group VI (7,591 cities, under 10,000; population 23,860,680)	Total city agencies	2006 estimated city population	County¹ (3,464 agencies; population 93,296,402)	Total city and county agencies	2006 estimated total agency population	Suburban Area² (7,438 agencies; population 121,334,744)
TOTAL	Number of officers	436,908	152,315	50,019	50,896	49,616	55,907	78,155	10,872	189,942,258	246,488	14,336	283,238,660	302,210
TOTAL	Average number of officers per 1,000 inhabitants	2.3	2.8	1.8	1.8	1.8	1.9	3.3			2.6			2.5
NORTHEAST	Number of officers	115,984	47,298	8,319	13,052	15,542	16,796	14,977	2,343	43,159,649
NORTHEAST	Average number of officers per 1,000 inhabitants	2.7	4.3	2.8	2.1	2.0	1.9	2.5
NEW ENGLAND	Number of officers	27,609	2,056	3,898	5,122	5,874	6,155	4,504	791	12,770,040
NEW ENGLAND	Average number of officers per 1,000 inhabitants	2.2	3.7	2.7	2.1	1.9	1.8	2.4
MIDDLE ATLANTIC	Number of officers	88,375	45,242	4,421	7,930	9,668	10,641	10,473	1,552	30,389,609
MIDDLE ATLANTIC	Average number of officers per 1,000 inhabitants	2.9	4.3	2.8	2.2	2.0	1.9	2.5
MIDWEST	Number of officers	98,618	31,075	7,619	12,130	12,412	15,703	19,679	3,196	44,589,036
MIDWEST	Average number of officers per 1,000 inhabitants	2.2	3.4	1.8	1.6	1.6	1.8	2.7
EAST NORTH CENTRAL	Number of officers	73,238	25,516	4,964	8,676	9,757	11,484	12,841	2,007	31,598,623
EAST NORTH CENTRAL	Average number of officers per 1,000 inhabitants	2.3	3.7	1.9	1.7	1.7	1.8	2.7
WEST NORTH CENTRAL	Number of officers	25,380	5,559	2,655	3,454	2,655	4,219	6,838	1,189	12,990,413
WEST NORTH CENTRAL	Average number of officers per 1,000 inhabitants	2.0	2.5	1.8	1.4	1.6	1.7	2.6
SOUTH	Number of officers	143,315	39,702	20,654	15,283	14,400	18,313	34,963	3,989	55,491,842
SOUTH	Average number of officers per 1,000 inhabitants	2.6	2.4	2.1	2.1	2.2	2.4	4.4
SOUTH ATLANTIC	Number of officers	68,542	16,005	10,899	8,220	7,313	8,943	17,162	1,705	22,992,879
SOUTH ATLANTIC	Average number of officers per 1,000 inhabitants	3.0	3.2	2.2	2.3	2.4	2.6	5.6
EAST SOUTH CENTRAL	Number of officers	25,910	5,476	3,077	1,903	2,976	4,277	8,201	1,031	9,561,474
EAST SOUTH CENTRAL	Average number of officers per 1,000 inhabitants	2.7	2.3	2.5	2.3	2.2	2.4	4.0
WEST SOUTH CENTRAL	Number of officers	48,863	18,221	6,678	5,160	4,111	5,093	9,600	1,253	22,937,489
WEST SOUTH CENTRAL	Average number of officers per 1,000 inhabitants	2.1	2.1	1.9	1.8	1.8	2.0	3.4
WEST	Number of officers	78,991	34,240	13,427	10,431	7,262	5,095	8,536	1,344	46,701,731
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	26,915	10,731	4,722	2,909	2,625	1,900	4,028	577	14,840,930
MOUNTAIN	Average number of officers per 1,000 inhabitants	1.8	1.9	1.4	1.4	1.6	1.8	3.1
PACIFIC	Number of officers	52,076	23,509	8,705	7,522	4,637	3,195	4,508	767	31,860,801
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

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In the U.S. in 2006, 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.
The rate of full-time law enforcement officers per 1,000 was 2.6 within cities in the South.
Within cities in the Midwest, the rate of full-time law enforcement officers per 1,000 was 2.2.
The rate of full-time law enforcement officers per 1,000 inhabitants was 1.7 within cities in the West.