Police & Sheriff's Patrol Officers salary in Kingsport, TN
Median pay for police & sheriff's patrol officers in Kingsport, TN: $49,470/yr
Typical range (10th–90th percentile): $40,310 – $63,420 · about 540 employed locally
Below the typical metro median ($69,845) by −$20,375 (-29%).
What it's really worth in Kingsport
With Kingsport's cost of living at 85 (US=100), that $49,470 has the buying power of about $58,208 in an average-cost US metro.
Local context: median household income $53,644 · median home $246,242 · median rent $1,350/mo.
How Kingsport ranks for this job
On raw pay, Kingsport, TN is 171st of the 186 metros we hold police & sheriff's patrol officers wages for. Once Kingsport's cost of living is applied, it ranks 148th.
Pay here goes further than the headline number suggests — Kingsport is one of the places where police & sheriff's patrol officers gain ground in real terms, because local costs are low relative to what the job pays.
What that salary buys in Kingsport
A median home in Kingsport, TN costs $246,242 — about 5× this salary, against a typical US metro figure of 4.7×. Buying is harder here than in the average metro on this income.
Median rent of $1,350/mo works out at 33% of gross pay — above the conventional 30% affordability ceiling, so renting would stretch this salary.
Where police & sheriff's patrol officers earn more
Pay on its own is only half the picture, so each row shows what rent costs there relative to Kingsport.
| Metro | Median pay | vs Kingsport | Rent vs Kingsport |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Jose, CA | $145,340 | +194% | 2.7× |
| San Francisco, CA | $134,860 | +173% | 2.4× |
| Vallejo, CA | $125,130 | +153% | 1.8× |
| Santa Maria, CA | $118,140 | +139% | 2.5× |
Same job elsewhere in TN
| Metro | Median pay | vs Kingsport | Rent vs Kingsport |
|---|---|---|---|
| Memphis, TN | $64,360 | +30% | 1.1× |
| Nashville, TN | $60,220 | +22% | 1.3× |
| Clarksville, TN | $52,000 | +5% | 1× |
| Knoxville, TN | $47,860 | −3% | 1.3× |
Staying in TN keeps state income tax and licensing the same, which makes these the most directly comparable moves.
Other jobs in Kingsport
Source: US BLS OEWS (May 2023) median annual wage; cost of living from BEA; home price and rent from Zillow; household income from US Census ACS. Rankings are across the 186 metros we hold wage data for in this occupation. Estimates for guidance only. See methodology.