Here Are The Best Cities For Police Officers In The Nation

More than 800,000 people in the United States are employed as police officers. Salary for the profession, as well as danger and stress levels, certainly vary from city to city, but what are the conditions like for cops in metros near you.

The safety website Security.org recently released its "Best & Worst Cities for Police."

Pittsburgh ranked as the best place for police officers in the nation, the researchers found, followed by Birmingham, Alabama, and New York City.

Punta Gorda, Florida, earned the dubious honor of the worst city for police officers, according to the report. Staunton, Virginia, and Columbus, Indiana, rounded out the bottom three cities in the country for cops.

Police members in San Jose, California, earn the highest median annual wage at $126,690. The Golden State dominates the list of the highest paying metros for cops as the top 14 cities are all in California.

The median annual wage for police and detectives in 2018 was $63,380, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

New York City has the largest police force in the country, with 54,670 total officers employed. Los Angeles comes in at a distant second place with 30,190 cops.

The researchers analyzed income, police deaths, employment opportunity and cost of living in more than 300 cities. The report used the most recent data from the FBI and U.S. Department of Labor to evaluate these four main metrics.

Here are the 20 best cities for police officers in the United States:

1. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
2. Birmingham, Alabama
3. New York, New York
4. Chicago, Illinois
5. Montgomery, Alabama
6. Toledo, Ohio
7. St. Louis, Missouri
8. Buffalo, New York
9. Cleveland, Ohio
10. Memphis, Tennessee
11. Columbus, Ohio
12. Youngstown, Ohio
13. Los Angeles, California
14. Charleston, West Virginia
15. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
16. Washington, DC
17. Dayton, Ohio
18. Worcester, Massachusetts
19. Miami, Florida
20. Milwaukee, Wisconsin

The full law enforcement report is available on Security.org.