Police & Sheriff's Patrol Officers salary in Seattle, WA

Median pay for police & sheriff's patrol officers in Seattle, WA: $109,180/yr

Typical range (10th–90th percentile): $84,310 – $138,340 · about 4,440 employed locally

Above the typical metro median ($69,845) by +$39,335 (+56%).

What it's really worth in Seattle

With Seattle's cost of living at 113 (US=100), that $109,180 has the buying power of about $96,850 in an average-cost US metro.

Local context: median household income $107,206 · median home $750,279 · median rent $2,232/mo.

Full Seattle cost of living & taxes →

How Seattle ranks for this job

On raw pay, Seattle, WA is 12th of the 186 metros we hold police & sheriff's patrol officers wages for. Once Seattle's cost of living is applied, it ranks 19th.

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

What that salary buys in Seattle

A median home in Seattle, WA costs $750,279 — about 6.9× 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 $2,232/mo works out at 25% of gross pay — inside the conventional 30% affordability ceiling.

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 Seattle.

Metro	Median pay	vs Seattle	Rent vs Seattle
San Jose, CA	$145,340	+33%	1.6×
San Francisco, CA	$134,860	+24%	1.5×
Vallejo, CA	$125,130	+15%	1.1×
Santa Maria, CA	$118,140	+8%	1.5×

Same job elsewhere in WA

Metro	Median pay	vs Seattle	Rent vs Seattle
Kennewick, WA	$104,890	−4%	0.8×
Bremerton, WA	$96,890	−11%	0.9×
Olympia, WA	$92,140	−16%	0.9×
Spokane, WA	$91,310	−16%	0.7×

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

Other jobs in Seattle