Police to Population Ratios by State (Officers per Thousand)

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The standard measure for the number of police in a region is expressed as “officers per thousand”, or a police to population ratio. Surprisingly, a table comparing the States wasn’t easy to find, so here is the data from the FBI’s Crime in the United States report, calculated, and ranked (lowest to highest). The median ratio among the States is 2.2.

Rank State Total Officers 2009
estimated
population 		officers per thousand
1 OREGON 6035 3790072 1.6
2 WASHINGTON 10593 6642851 1.6
3 MAINE 2251 1317341 1.7
4 MINNESOTA 8882 5180883 1.7
5 UTAH 4785 2783798 1.7
6 IDAHO 2690 1543324 1.7
7 IOWA 5281 2988922 1.8
8 ALASKA 1262 696273 1.8
9 MONTANA 1780 972240 1.8
10 SOUTH DAKOTA 1484 809838 1.8
11 INDIANA 11233 5995956 1.9
12 MICHIGAN 18800 9845506 1.9
13 WEST VIRGINIA 3476 1810824 1.9
14 KENTUCKY 8248 4239650 1.9
15 NORTH DAKOTA 1260 646844 1.9
16 ARIZONA 12971 6482281 2.0
17 NEBRASKA 3518 1750280 2.0
18 MISSISSIPPI 5417 2675080 2.0
19 ARKANSAS 6200 2888639 2.1
20 OKLAHOMA 7948 3681857 2.2
21 OHIO 22110 10223161 2.2
22 NEW HAMPSHIRE 2541 1166104 2.2
23 MASSACHUSETTS 13955 6396251 2.2
24 TEXAS 54857 24590665 2.2
25 NEVADA 5984 2643085 2.3
26 NEW MEXICO 4475 1958665 2.3
27 HAWAII 2990 1295178 2.3
28 WISCONSIN 13120 5648330 2.3
29 VIRGINIA 18323 7880881 2.3
30 COLORADO 11785 5018161 2.3
31 NORTH CAROLINA 22306 9260266 2.4
32 RHODE ISLAND 2554 1053209 2.4
33 CONNECTICUT 8622 3518288 2.5
34 ALABAMA 11245 4587633 2.5
35 MISSOURI 14638 5874396 2.5
36 FLORIDA 44118 17648382 2.5
37 CALIFORNIA 80321 31832381 2.5
38 TENNESSEE 15890 6293243 2.5
39 SOUTH CAROLINA 9561 3779301 2.5
40 DELAWARE 2296 884765 2.6
41 PENNSYLVANIA 25010 9523147 2.6
42 WYOMING 1446 540376 2.7
43 KANSAS 6761 2498126 2.7
44 GEORGIA 25028 9154201 2.7
45 MARYLAND 15664 5519662 2.8
46 ILLINOIS 36237 12675815 2.9
47 NEW YORK 62160 19120958 3.3
48 VERMONT 1072 303744 3.5
49 NEW JERSEY 32090 8415289 3.8
50 LOUISIANA 11140 2771692 4.0
51 DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA 4473 599657 7.5