Learn about the types of people who become police officers. This page goes into detail about the employment, gender, and ethnic ratios of the workplace.
Employment Type Mix, 2024
91% of police officers work in full-time roles while 9% work part-time.
Gender Mix By Career Interest, 2024
This graph shows the distribution of females and males that are interested in becoming a police officer. Four or five star ratings on CareerExplorer indicate interest.
More men than women are interested in becoming police officers at a ratio of 2.46 to 1.
Actual Gender Mix, 2024
27% of police officers are female and 73% are male.
Gender Bias, 2024
This is one of the most compelling statistics we collect. Gender bias shows the difference between gender interest in being a police officer and the actual gender mix of people in the career.
If there is a significant difference, then it means there is a gender imbalance between those interested in becoming a police officer and those who end up becoming one.
In this case there are more women interested in becoming a police officer than those actually working as one. It is hard to pinpoint the exact reasons why, but there are likely various forces at play, from changing interests over time to societal norms and biases.
Ethnic Mix, 2019
The largest ethnic group of police officers are White, making up 66% of the population. The next highest segments are Black or African American and Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish, making up 10% and 9% respectively.