Criminal Justice and Law Enforcement Teachers, Postsecondary salary

SOC 25-1111 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$76,590

per year, nationally

Middle half

$60,020–$100,870

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

13,150

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

+2.0%

1,200 openings/yr

What the range looks like

A single median hides most of what a job pays. The bar below is the full national range: the wash spans the 10th to 90th percentile, the solid bar is the middle half, and the tick is the median.

$45,000$140,240

10th: $45,000
25th: $60,020
Median: $76,590
75th: $100,870
90th: $140,240

Getting in

Typical education to enter: Doctoral or professional degree
Related work experience: None
On-the-job training: None

Entry requirements describe what is typical, not mandatory. Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34.

Where criminal justice and law enforcement teachers, postsecondary earn the most

Nominal pay and pay adjusted for local prices rank states differently — a high-wage state with high costs can be worse off in real terms than a middling one. Switch between the two below.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	State	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	California	$139,720	110.7	1,460	0.95×
2	Colorado	$122,050	103.1	370	1.52×
3	Maryland	$99,600	105.0	220	0.94×
4	Pennsylvania	$94,710	97.6	790	1.54×
5	Oregon	$93,960	103.4	70	0.45×
6	Rhode Island	$84,270	102.3	70	1.56×
7	Minnesota	$83,060	98.6	100	0.39×
8	New York	$82,770	107.9	880	1.08×
9	Louisiana	$82,100	88.2	70	0.42×
10	Wisconsin	$81,890	94.1	300	1.19×
11	Delaware	$80,510	99.8	40	0.93×
12	Iowa	$79,690	87.8	80	0.61×
13	Massachusetts	$79,500	105.8	380	1.24×
14	New Hampshire	$79,190	104.2	40	0.70×
15	Mississippi	$78,520	87.0	110	1.12×
16	Texas	$77,270	97.1	1,150	0.96×
17	South Carolina	$76,960	93.7	150	0.75×
18	Michigan	$76,770	96.2	360	0.96×
19	West Virginia	$76,730	89.5	90	1.44×
20	Utah	$76,650	98.9	80	0.52×
21	Ohio	$76,610	92.8	420	0.90×
22	Connecticut	$73,090	103.6	200	1.38×
23	Washington	$72,700	107.0	120	0.41×
24	New Jersey	$71,610	108.8	530	1.46×
25	Georgia	$71,510	96.3	320	0.77×
26	Arizona	$71,230	100.7	310	1.12×
27	Missouri	$70,500	90.8	360	1.45×
28	Wyoming	$69,530	92.7	40	1.65×
29	Indiana	$68,340	93.3	170	0.61×
30	North Dakota	$67,720	89.0	40	1.22×
31	Nevada	$67,440	100.0	60	0.49×
32	Illinois	$66,040	100.0	480	0.94×
33	Alabama	$65,280	88.8	130	0.73×
34	North Carolina	$63,020	94.3	1,220	2.92×
35	Oklahoma	$62,990	87.8	90	0.62×
36	Arkansas	$62,380	86.9	60	0.50×
37	Tennessee	$62,090	91.9	190	0.70×
38	Nebraska	$61,650	90.1	70	0.76×
39	Florida	$61,550	103.4	840	1.00×
40	Kentucky	$60,280	90.2	100	0.59×
41	Kansas	$50,270	90.1	70	0.58×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. States where criminal justice and law enforcement teachers, postsecondary wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for criminal justice and law enforcement teachers, postsecondary

The 40 highest-paying metros with a published estimate. BLS suppresses roughly half of all occupation-by-metro cells, so a metro absent here has no local figure rather than a low one.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	Metro area	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	$223,240	106.4	150	1.06×
2	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$170,070	115.6	130	0.64×
3	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$168,410	111.9	150	1.14×
4	Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	$139,790	106.7	50	0.54×
5	Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO	$137,340	105.8	230	1.69×
6	Bakersfield-Delano, CA	$122,730	100.9	50	1.66×
7	Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD	$105,680	104.5	110	0.99×
8	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$103,870	113.6	660	1.24×
9	Harrisburg-Carlisle, PA	$97,380	98.7	30	1.18×
10	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$93,990	105.4	50	0.45×
11	Pittsburgh, PA	$93,670	94.7	180	1.90×
12	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$86,690	112.6	920	1.15×
13	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$85,560	108.3	230	1.00×
14	Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD	$83,930	102.6	270	1.10×
15	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	$83,060	104.8	40	0.24×
16	Jackson, MS	$82,610	89.0	30	1.34×
17	Providence-Warwick, RI-MA	$82,530	101.8	90	1.55×
18	Columbia, MO	$82,000	89.4	60	6.26×
19	Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI	$81,690	96.9	60	0.85×
20	Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI	$81,530	100.3	70	0.44×
21	Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ	$81,300	100.0	50	1.45×
22	Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX	$81,080	103.1	250	0.72×
23	Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY	$80,270	99.6	60	1.52×
24	Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX	$79,800	98.1	60	0.56×
25	Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX	$79,420	98.6	240	0.86×
26	Charleston-North Charleston, SC	$79,410	101.0	40	1.15×
27	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$79,330	111.1	50	0.29×
28	Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN	$78,830	95.4	90	0.98×
29	Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL	$78,720	114.2	100	0.41×
30	Columbus, OH	$78,650	95.5	90	1.01×
31	Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA	$78,610	100.1	180	0.73×
32	Columbia, SC	$77,120	93.7	40	1.11×
33	Greensboro-High Point, NC	$75,600	92.9	150	4.71×
34	Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN	$75,020	96.3	40	0.45×
35	Springfield, MA	$74,550	96.1	60	3.44×
36	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	$74,440	108.9	210	0.78×
37	St. Louis, MO-IL	$73,650	95.1	140	1.23×
38	Rochester, NY	$73,330	97.0	50	1.19×
39	Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC	$73,260	97.3	150	1.28×
40	Syracuse, NY	$73,070	95.7	40	1.54×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. Metro areas where criminal justice and law enforcement teachers, postsecondary wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

Other jobs in the same field, with what each pays nationally.

Health Specialties Teachers, Postsecondary$107,310
Postsecondary Teachers, All Other$77,640
Career/Technical Education Teachers, Postsecondary$63,820
Art, Drama, and Music Teachers, Postsecondary$78,620
Business Teachers, Postsecondary$99,080
Nursing Instructors and Teachers, Postsecondary$80,250
Education Teachers, Postsecondary$75,350
English Language and Literature Teachers, Postsecondary$78,760

Criminal Justice and Law Enforcement Teachers, Postsecondary salary

What the range looks like

Getting in

Where criminal justice and law enforcement teachers, postsecondary earn the most

Best paying metro areas for criminal justice and law enforcement teachers, postsecondary

Similar occupations

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