Police & Sheriff's Patrol Officers salary in Raleigh, NC

Median pay for police & sheriff's patrol officers in Raleigh, NC: $60,570/yr

Typical range (10th–90th percentile): $46,730 – $85,770 · about 2,090 employed locally

Below the typical metro median ($69,845) by −$9,275 (-13%).

What it's really worth in Raleigh

With Raleigh's cost of living at 98 (US=100), that $60,570 has the buying power of about $61,583 in an average-cost US metro.

Local context: median household income $91,818 · median home $438,364 · median rent $1,694/mo.

Full Raleigh cost of living & taxes →

How Raleigh ranks for this job

On raw pay, Raleigh, NC is 134th of the 186 metros we hold police & sheriff's patrol officers wages for. Once Raleigh's cost of living is applied, it ranks 136th.

Pay and living costs are roughly in step here, so Raleigh sits in much the same place whether you look at raw salary or spending power.

What that salary buys in Raleigh

A median home in Raleigh, NC costs $438,364 — about 7.2× 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 $1,694/mo works out at 34% 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 Raleigh.

Metro	Median pay	vs Raleigh	Rent vs Raleigh
San Jose, CA	$145,340	+140%	2.1×
San Francisco, CA	$134,860	+123%	1.9×
Vallejo, CA	$125,130	+107%	1.4×
Santa Maria, CA	$118,140	+95%	2×

Same job elsewhere in NC

Metro	Median pay	vs Raleigh	Rent vs Raleigh
Charlotte, NC	$60,680	+0%	1×
Greensboro, NC	$53,700	−11%	0.8×
Durham, NC	$53,450	−12%	1×
Winston-Salem, NC	$52,020	−14%	0.9×

Staying in NC keeps state income tax and licensing the same, which makes these the most directly comparable moves.

Other jobs in Raleigh