Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers in Georgia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$46,578
after federal, FICA and Georgia tax
Tax takes
$11,542
19.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$48,168
Georgia costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Georgia — roughly, since only five points along the band are published.
One filer, standard deduction, no dependants and nothing paid in before tax — the same household the rest of this page uses, so the comparison holds. City and school-district income taxes are not included.
Median here
$58,120
Kept after tax
$46,578
Worth in national money
$48,168
State rank
45
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Georgia pays this job a middle wage of $58,120, 45 of 51 states and about 23.74% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 492 occupations Georgia reports figures for, this is number 233.
- Here is where Georgia does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $58,120 you keep $46,578, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $48,168 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $58,520, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Georgia's $58,120 median for police and sheriff's patrol officers places it 45 of 51 states, about 23.74% below national. Because both the tax and price adjustments tend to favor lower-nominal states, this ranking is the least stable of the three reported here.
- In Georgia's occupational distribution, police and sheriff's patrol officers sits at 233 of 492 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- After federal, FICA and Georgia income tax, retained pay for police and sheriff's patrol officers on $58,120 is $46,578. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $48,168 in national-average terms. ⚠️ That figure is purchasing power, not a wage, and nobody is paid it; it is what the take-home buys. The mean of $58,520 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $43,690 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $58,120 |
| Top tenth earn over | $76,250 |
| This salary | $58,120 |
Positions between the published tenth, quarter, half, three-quarter and ninetieth points are estimated by straight line.
The same pay, somewhere else
The state median for this job
| Take-home in Georgia | $46,578 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $48,879 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,132 |
State income tax and state price levels only. No city income tax, and no housing market.
What you would need there
The state median for this job
| To match take-home only | $55,256 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,579 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 97 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Georgia earn less than $58,120. The published range is $43,690 up to $76,250, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Georgia's $46,578, worked from $58,120. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 233 of 492.
- Two cautions on $48,168, the adjusted value of that $58,120 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Georgia. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 233 of 492 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for police and sheriff's patrol officers in Georgia the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $43,690 to $76,250. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Georgia take-home of $46,578, on $58,120 for work ranking 233 of 492 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 233 of 492 in the state.
- This $48,168 adjusted figure, worked from $58,120, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 233 of 492 in the state. The occupation ranks 233 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $43,690 at the bottom tenth to $76,250 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
A smaller wage in a cheaper place is not automatically less. Adjusted for local prices, this is worth $48,168.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and Georgia's own levy, $46,578 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($43,690 to $76,250) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Georgia rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Georgia's regional price parity is at or below the national average, so nominal wages understate purchasing power. Take-home deflated by the state price level is $48,168 in national-average terms. The adjustment uses an all-items index and does not isolate housing.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $46,578 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Georgia income tax for a single filer with no adjustments. The state layer is levied in addition to the federal one; only its rate and base differ between states.
Is this occupation's state coverage complete?
State-level estimates are published for all 51 jurisdictions for this occupation, so cross-state comparison is not confounded by suppression. ⚠️ Estimates remain survey-based and carry sampling error; small differences between adjacent states should not be over-read.