How much does a Police Officer make in North Dakota?

BLS reports a median annual wage of $75,530 for Police Officers in North Dakota as of the latest OES release. That is the 50th-percentile figure — half earn more, half earn less. The 25th-percentile is $63,140 and the 75th-percentile is $81,100.

How are North Dakota Police Officer salaries calculated on this page?

Nominal wages come from BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OES) — annual employer surveys, May 2026 reference period. Real-wage figures use BEA Regional Price Parities (2023 vintage) to adjust for state-level cost of living. No self-report or jobs-board data is mixed in.

What does the top of the Police Officer pay scale look like in North Dakota?

The 90th percentile lands at $92,340. That tier typically reflects senior roles, specialty certifications, high-cost-of-living metros within the state, or union-negotiated rate cards. Below that, the P75 quartile is $81,100.

What are the limits of these Police Officer salary numbers?

BLS OES is an employer survey of W-2 wages — it excludes contractor pay, bonuses outside the base wage definition, equity compensation, and tip income. Self-employed practitioners and gig workers are not represented. For occupations with significant non-W-2 income, the BLS figure is a floor, not a complete picture.

When does this data update?

BLS OES releases a new May reference set roughly each spring; we re-run the ETL pipeline within two weeks of release. BEA RPP refreshes annually. The last-synced timestamp at the top of this page reflects the most recent build.

Does court time and off-duty security work appear in BLS for North Dakota police?

Court appearances on off-duty time and overtime hours show up in W-2, so BLS captures them. Off-duty security details (banks, schools, sporting events, construction sites) are typically paid through department-administered programs and run through W-2 — those are captured. Independently arranged moonlighting that bypasses department channels is not. North Dakota departments with high paid-detail volume (urban centers, college towns) push BLS-reported pay 10-25% above smaller jurisdictions in the same state.

Federal vs state trooper vs city / county pay in North Dakota?

BLS aggregates city PD, county sheriff, and state troopers under SOC 33-3051 (federal officers are separately classified under 33-3052 and not reflected in this page). In North Dakota, state troopers typically lead on starting base, big-city PDs lead on overtime opportunity and detail income, and sheriff's deputies usually trail on base but lead on assignment flexibility. Federal LE (FBI, USMS, ATF, DEA, ICE, Border Patrol) pays under the GS scale plus LEAP availability pay (25%) and locality, putting federal LE pay above most North Dakota state and local positions at the senior level.

North Dakota Police Officer Salary: BLS $76K Median, Real $86K (2026)

TL;DR

$75,530 is the BLS median wage for Police Officers in North Dakota; $85,660 is the BEA-adjusted purchasing-power equivalent.
Quartile range $63,140 (bottom 25%) to $81,100 (top 25%); the P10-P90 envelope is $58,580 to $92,340.
After the cost-of-living adjustment, take-home rises by $10,130 versus the BLS median — purchasing-power arbitrage.
Police Officer ranking: #25 on the BLS table, #8 once cost of living is in.

Wage breakdown — North Dakota

Percentile	Nominal (BLS)	Real (BEA RPP-adjusted)
P10 (entry tier)	$58,580	$66,437
P25 (lower quartile)	$63,140	$71,608
P50 (median)	$75,530	$85,660
P75 (upper quartile)	$81,100	$91,977
P90 (top tier)	$92,340	$104,725
Mean	$74,450	$84,435
Employment	1,850 Police Officers in North Dakota

Cost of living — BEA Regional Price Parity

Component	North Dakota index (US = 100)
All-items RPP	88.2
Goods	97.0
Services	75.0
Rents	69.3

North Dakota sits below the national baseline (RPP 88.2), so nominal pay translates to a higher real wage than the BLS median suggests — particularly visible in rents at 69.3.

After-tax take-home — North Dakota (2024 BLS · 2024 tax year, single filer)

Layer-by-layer take-home math at the BLS median

Layer	Amount	Note
Gross BLS P50 (Police Officer)	$75,530	nominal median
Federal income tax	−$7,864	10.4% effective; std deduction $15,750 applied
State income tax	−$246	0–2.5% (graduated, 2026)
FICA (SS 6.2% + Medicare 1.45%)	−$5,778	SS capped at $183,600 wage base
Take-home (after-tax)	$61,642	81.6% of gross
Real take-home (RPP-adjusted)	$69,910	÷ (88.2 / 100) BEA cost-of-living

What the North Dakota state-tax burden means for Police Officer take-home

North Dakota's state tax is light at this income tier (~0.3% effective). The bigger compensation lever is the below-baseline cost of living (RPP 88.2), which lifts real take-home above nominal after-tax — net real after-tax $69,910.

Computed from 2026 IRS federal brackets (Rev. Proc. 2025-32), 2026 state DOR brackets, and 2026 FICA rates. Single filer, standard deduction, no other adjustments. See methodology · tax for limitations (married filers, ITM/SALT itemizers, retirement deferrals, HSA, dependent credits, etc.).

National context

Across the United States, BLS reports a national median of $76,290 for Police Officers with mean pay of $79,320 and total employment of 666,990. North Dakota sits at #25 on nominal pay and #8 on real (cost-adjusted) pay among the 51 states and DC. After cost adjustment, North Dakota climbs 17 positions — the cost of living is favorable relative to the wage.

Frequently asked questions

How much does a Police Officer make in North Dakota?: BLS reports a median annual wage of $75,530 for Police Officers in North Dakota as of the latest OES release. That is the 50th-percentile figure — half earn more, half earn less. The 25th-percentile is $63,140 and the 75th-percentile is $81,100.
How are North Dakota Police Officer salaries calculated on this page?: Nominal wages come from BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OES) — annual employer surveys, May 2026 reference period. Real-wage figures use BEA Regional Price Parities (2023 vintage) to adjust for state-level cost of living. No self-report or jobs-board data is mixed in.
What does the top of the Police Officer pay scale look like in North Dakota?: The 90th percentile lands at $92,340. That tier typically reflects senior roles, specialty certifications, high-cost-of-living metros within the state, or union-negotiated rate cards. Below that, the P75 quartile is $81,100.
What are the limits of these Police Officer salary numbers?: BLS OES is an employer survey of W-2 wages — it excludes contractor pay, bonuses outside the base wage definition, equity compensation, and tip income. Self-employed practitioners and gig workers are not represented. For occupations with significant non-W-2 income, the BLS figure is a floor, not a complete picture.
When does this data update?: BLS OES releases a new May reference set roughly each spring; we re-run the ETL pipeline within two weeks of release. BEA RPP refreshes annually. The last-synced timestamp at the top of this page reflects the most recent build.
Does court time and off-duty security work appear in BLS for North Dakota police?: Court appearances on off-duty time and overtime hours show up in W-2, so BLS captures them. Off-duty security details (banks, schools, sporting events, construction sites) are typically paid through department-administered programs and run through W-2 — those are captured. Independently arranged moonlighting that bypasses department channels is not. North Dakota departments with high paid-detail volume (urban centers, college towns) push BLS-reported pay 10-25% above smaller jurisdictions in the same state.
Federal vs state trooper vs city / county pay in North Dakota?: BLS aggregates city PD, county sheriff, and state troopers under SOC 33-3051 (federal officers are separately classified under 33-3052 and not reflected in this page). In North Dakota, state troopers typically lead on starting base, big-city PDs lead on overtime opportunity and detail income, and sheriff's deputies usually trail on base but lead on assignment flexibility. Federal LE (FBI, USMS, ATF, DEA, ICE, Border Patrol) pays under the GS scale plus LEAP availability pay (25%) and locality, putting federal LE pay above most North Dakota state and local positions at the senior level.

Sources & methodology

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OES), SOC 33-3051, 2024 reference period.
U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis — Regional Price Parities, 2023 vintage (all-items, goods, services, rents).
Real-wage figures = nominal BLS wage ÷ (state RPP / 100).
See the methodology page for full computation details and limitations.

By Marcus Liang · Founder & Editor · Last synced 2026-05-05.

Cross-comparison: see how North Dakota Police Officer pay ranks against the other 254 state × occupation pages on the Real Wage Atlas → — four-way ranking by real wage, after-tax take-home, state-tax savings, and cost-of-living arbitrage.