Experts Say North Dakota Isn’t An Easy Place To Be A Cop

Working in law enforcement is very tough; you’re always in the public eye, and you’re constantly put in very dangerous situations.

Even so, many brave women and men decided to take on this profession. They want to protect and serve our community.

A study was done by WalletHub, and it found the best and worst states to be a police officer for the year 2024.

You might be surprised to see where North Dakota ranked.

Calculations

Before I tell you where North Dakota ranked, I’ll explain how the source came up with its findings

It compared 50 states and the District of Columbia across 30 different key metrics. They looked at median income for law-enforcement officers, police deaths, and state and local spending on the police force.

Worst State Overall

I’m sure you're curious which is the worst state to be a cop. According to the source, the worst state to be a police officer is not other than Alaska.

The total score for the state was 26.20. It ranked highest in competition and highest in law-enforcement training and requirements. It also ranked high in job hazards and protections.

Best State Overall

You might find this surprising: the state where it is best to be a cop is California.

Its total score is 61.87 . It ranked number five in opportunity and competition, two in enforcement training requirements, and 12 in job hazards and protections.

North Dakota Ranked

Unfortunately, for our state, we rank pretty low. North Dakota came in at number 36 on this list.

Our overall score is 39.45; we raked 18 on competition, 49 in training requirements, and 17 in job hazards.

Something else to note: According to Indeed, the average salary for a police officer is approximately $62k.

Check out the data, and see for yourself.

What do you think? Do you think this is accurate? Do you know people who are police officers in the state? Send us a message to the app and let us know. 

I did find some positives about North Dakota here:

1. ND ranked #1 for percentage of solved homicides

2. ND ranked at #5 for number of officers per capita