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Police & Sheriff's Patrol Officers salary in Rockford, IL

Median pay for police & sheriff's patrol officers in Rockford, IL: $79,790/yr

Typical range (10th–90th percentile): $47,910 – $87,200 · about 460 employed locally

Above the typical metro median ($69,845) by +$9,945 (+14%).

What it's really worth in Rockford

With Rockford's cost of living at 90 (US=100), that $79,790 has the buying power of about $88,492 in an average-cost US metro.

Local context: median household income $63,834 · median home $221,368 · median rent $1,319/mo.

Full Rockford cost of living & taxes →

How Rockford ranks for this job

On raw pay, Rockford, IL is 63rd of the 186 metros we hold police & sheriff's patrol officers wages for. Once Rockford's cost of living is applied, it ranks 38th.

Pay here goes further than the headline number suggests — Rockford is one of the places where police & sheriff's patrol officers gain ground in real terms, because local costs are low relative to what the job pays.

What that salary buys in Rockford

A median home in Rockford, IL costs $221,368 — about 2.8× this salary, against a typical US metro figure of 4.7×. Buying is more attainable here than in the average metro on this income.

Median rent of $1,319/mo works out at 20% of gross pay — inside the conventional 30% affordability ceiling.

Where police & sheriff's patrol officers earn more

Pay on its own is only half the picture, so each row shows what rent costs there relative to Rockford.

MetroMedian payvs RockfordRent vs Rockford
San Jose, CA $145,340 +82% 2.7×
San Francisco, CA $134,860 +69% 2.5×
Vallejo, CA $125,130 +57% 1.8×
Santa Maria, CA $118,140 +48% 2.5×

Same job elsewhere in IL

MetroMedian payvs RockfordRent vs Rockford
Chicago, IL $102,520 +28% 1.7×
Peoria, IL $78,960 −1% 0.9×

Staying in IL keeps state income tax and licensing the same, which makes these the most directly comparable moves.

Other jobs in Rockford

Source: US BLS OEWS (May 2023) median annual wage; cost of living from BEA; home price and rent from Zillow; household income from US Census ACS. Rankings are across the 186 metros we hold wage data for in this occupation. Estimates for guidance only. See methodology.