Police Officer
Law & Public Safety
Respond to calls, investigate, and work with the community.
Why it matters here: Montgomery County and municipal departments recruit annually.
Labor Market — DMV Region
Sourced from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS releases (DMV metro and nationwide) plus MD, VA, and D.C. workforce agencies.
Local cost of living is why DMV pay often differs from the national median.
- DMV & state figures: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — OEWS wage & employment estimates and Employment Projections, with OEWS area pay relatives for the Washington–Arlington–Alexandria metro, Maryland, D.C., and Northern Virginia · View source
- Occupation profiles & skills: O*NET OnLine (U.S. Department of Labor) · onetonline.org
All salary figures are published estimates for groups of workers, not offers or guarantees for any individual role.
Education & Career Pathways
Multiple ways to get here — pick the one that fits your life.
Career Progression
How you can grow — with expected salary at each step.
- Entry-level Police OfficerLearning the role, supervised work, building core skills.$63,220
- Police Officer (experienced)Independent work, mentoring newer team members.$81,650
- Senior / Lead Police OfficerOwning projects, specialization, higher responsibility.$106,820
- Manager or specialist trackSupervising a team or moving into a high-demand specialty.$128,184
Skills Required
What you'll actually do — and how you'll be judged.
Patrol car and community, rotating shifts, unpredictable calls
Where you work
A patrol vehicle covering a beat, plus homes, businesses, roadsides and the station for reports.
Hours and schedule
Rotating shifts covering nights, weekends and holidays, with mandatory overtime and court appearances on days off.
Pace and pressure
Long routine stretches interrupted by calls that demand immediate judgment.
Who you work with
You work solo or with a partner, with backup a radio call away, inside a squad culture that's tight.
Physical demands
Wearing heavy gear all shift, running, restraining, long hours seated in a car, all weather.
What people wear
Uniform, duty belt, body armor and body camera.
Remote reality
None.
Workplace culture: what's normal here
- Body camera footage means every interaction is reviewable, which shapes how officers talk and act.
- Report writing is a legal document, and sloppy reports lose cases.
- De-escalation training is now central, and agencies increasingly review use-of-force decisions closely.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook — Work Environment, with regional detail for the DMV.
Official data behind this career
Federal statistics for DMV Region, translated into plain language.
Washington–Arlington–Alexandria, DC–VA–MD–WV metro area
Source: U.S. Census Bureau — ACS 2019–2023 5-year estimates (tables DP03, DP02, DP05)
- The DMV functions as one labor market: workers routinely cross state lines to get to work.
- The largest employment destinations are D.C., Fairfax County and Montgomery County.
Top places these workers go to work
Source: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis — BEA regional GDP and personal income, most recent published year
Private-sector payroll data from ADP. It is a supplemental near-real-time indicator and does not replace BLS government employment statistics.
Source: ADP National Employment Report — Most recent monthly ADP National Employment Report
- 1U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (OOH, OEWS, Employment Projections, CES) — Primary source for occupation wages, outlook, projected openings, education and training.
- 2U.S. Census Bureau — American Community Survey — Primary source for income, educational attainment, labor force and demographic context by place.
- 3Census LEHD (LODES / OnTheMap) — Primary source for where workers live versus where they work, and local workforce flows.
- 4U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis — Primary source for regional GDP, industry contribution, compensation and personal income.
- 5ADP National Employment Report — Supplemental near-real-time private-sector employment and pay indicator. Not a replacement for BLS.
Figures describe groups of workers, not any one person. Where an official figure is not published for a category, this page says “Data unavailable for this category.” rather than estimating.
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