It’s True, Illinois Is One Of The Best States In America For Police

It's not an easy job, period.

Police officers and first responders can have a very challenging workday. The job is inherently difficult so where could a police officer work that wouldn't be too rough?

WalletHub looked at the best states (and the worst ones) for officers to work in for 2025.

The study looked at metrics divided into 3 categories:

• Opportunity & Competition: law enforcement officers per capita, average starting salary of police officers, median income for law enforcement officers, median income growth for officers, salary growth potential for LEO's, and projected law enforcement officers per capita.
• Law Enforcement Training Requirements: police officer hours training required, states allowing police work before basic training, police officer continued professional education hours required, police officer education requirements, states with laws requiring officers to be trained to respond to mental health, substance use and behavioral disorder issues, requirement of de-escalation training
• Job Hazards & Protections: police misconduct confidentiality law, police body-worn camera legislation, investigation/prosecution on use of force by police, police officer de-certification requirements, share of law enforcement departments carrying naloxone, degree of lethal force allowed for police use, presence of "red flag" laws and "blue alerts".
  • Police deaths per 1,000 officers
  • Persons killed by police per capita
  • Share of officers assaulted
  • Pursuit-related fatalities per 100,000 residents
  • Violent crime rate
  • Property crime rate
  • Road safety
  • Share of homicide cases solved
  • 911 calls delivered to local & regional answer points per capita
  • State & local police protection expenses per capita

Illinois Did Really Well

Illinois ranked as the 3rd best state to be a police officer.

The study found that Illinois has the highest median annual wage for police and sheriff's patrol officers at $101,700.

Officers in Illinois must hold at least a bachelor's degree and officers have to do at least 40 hours of training annually. Illinois is also one of the 21 states that has a "red flag" law, which allows for the temporary seizure of firearms if a person demonstrates a risk of causing violence.

Illinois came in 5th in Law Enforcement Training Requirements, 9th in Job Hazards & Protections, and 18th in Opportunity & Competition.