Law enforcement employees per 1,000 people: U.S. states ranked (2024)
Measure: Law enforcement employees per 1,000 people. All 50 states and District of Columbia with data in Law enforcement employees by state (FBI), ranked from highest to lowest. Reference period: 2024.
National value: 3.53 (United States).
Small states, hard to see on the map:
- Lowest: 2.05 to 2.72
- Group 2: 2.72 to 3.07
- Group 3: 3.07 to 3.34
- Group 4: 3.34 to 3.62
- Highest: 3.62 to 6.47
Rank is derived by Quadranac: 1 = highest value; ties share a rank. Values are as published in the source table.
Caution against ranking: the FBI warns that rankings based on its Uniform Crime Reporting data “lead to simplistic and/or incomplete analyses that often create misleading perceptions”. Agency participation, reporting practices and local conditions vary, so differences between states partly reflect reporting rather than crime. Source: FBI, Caution Against Ranking (Hate Crime Statistics).
| 1 | District of Columbia | 6.47 |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | New Jersey | 5.14 |
| 3 | Wyoming | 4.62 |
| 4 | Louisiana | 4.47 |
| 5 | New York | 4.18 |
| 6 | Tennessee | 4.02 |
| 7 | New Mexico | 3.98 |
| 8 | Illinois | 3.72 |
| 9 | Kansas | 3.66 |
| 10 | Nevada | 3.63 |
| 11 | Arkansas | 3.62 |
| 11 | South Dakota | 3.62 |
| 13 | Georgia | 3.57 |
| 13 | Texas | 3.57 |
| 15 | Alabama | 3.54 |
| 16 | California | 3.51 |
| 17 | Colorado | 3.39 |
| 18 | Delaware | 3.38 |
| 18 | Florida | 3.38 |
| 20 | Missouri | 3.35 |
| 21 | Maryland | 3.34 |
| 21 | Oklahoma | 3.34 |
| 23 | North Dakota | 3.33 |
| 24 | Mississippi | 3.22 |
| 25 | Wisconsin | 3.21 |
| 26 | South Carolina | 3.18 |
| 27 | Massachusetts | 3.15 |
| 27 | North Carolina | 3.15 |
| 29 | Pennsylvania | 3.11 |
| 30 | Idaho | 3.1 |
| 31 | Montana | 3.07 |
| 32 | Arizona | 3.03 |
| 33 | Iowa | 2.94 |
| 34 | Ohio | 2.93 |
| 35 | Indiana | 2.88 |
| 36 | Rhode Island | 2.84 |
| 37 | Nebraska | 2.81 |
| 38 | Minnesota | 2.77 |
| 39 | Virginia | 2.75 |
| 40 | Michigan | 2.72 |
| 40 | New Hampshire | 2.72 |
| 42 | Utah | 2.7 |
| 43 | Connecticut | 2.63 |
| 44 | Kentucky | 2.62 |
| 45 | Oregon | 2.58 |
| 46 | Alaska | 2.56 |
| 47 | Hawaii | 2.36 |
| 48 | Vermont | 2.32 |
| 49 | West Virginia | 2.3 |
| 50 | Maine | 2.25 |
| 51 | Washington | 2.05 |
Source: FBI, Uniform Crime Reporting Program, Crime Data Explorer API: Law Enforcement Employees (police employee data, LEOKA program), 2024 (retrieved 2026-11-03). Reference period: 2024.
Cite this ranking
U.S. states ranked by law enforcement employees per 1,000 people (2024). Data: FBI, Crime Data Explorer API, police employee (LEOKA) data, 2024, retrieved 2026-11-03; rank derived by Quadranac. Data last updated 2026-11-03. https://quadranac.com/rankings/us-states-by-law-enforcement-employees-per-1000-people/