Police & Sheriff's Patrol Officers salary in Wilmington, NC

Median pay for police & sheriff's patrol officers in Wilmington, NC: $50,600/yr

Typical range (10th–90th percentile): $44,570 – $68,300 · about 700 employed locally

Below the typical metro median ($69,845) by −$19,245 (-28%).

What it's really worth in Wilmington

With Wilmington's cost of living at 95 (US=100), that $50,600 has the buying power of about $53,016 in an average-cost US metro.

Local context: median household income $68,845 · median home $446,210 · median rent $1,708/mo.

Full Wilmington cost of living & taxes →

How Wilmington ranks for this job

On raw pay, Wilmington, NC is 165th of the 186 metros we hold police & sheriff's patrol officers wages for. Once Wilmington's cost of living is applied, it ranks 170th.

Pay and living costs are roughly in step here, so Wilmington sits in much the same place whether you look at raw salary or spending power.

What that salary buys in Wilmington

A median home in Wilmington, NC costs $446,210 — about 8.8× this salary, against a typical US metro figure of 4.7×. Buying is harder here than in the average metro on this income.

Median rent of $1,708/mo works out at 41% of gross pay — above the conventional 30% affordability ceiling, so renting would stretch this salary.

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 Wilmington.

Metro	Median pay	vs Wilmington	Rent vs Wilmington
San Jose, CA	$145,340	+187%	2.1×
San Francisco, CA	$134,860	+167%	1.9×
Vallejo, CA	$125,130	+147%	1.4×
Santa Maria, CA	$118,140	+133%	2×

Same job elsewhere in NC

Metro	Median pay	vs Wilmington	Rent vs Wilmington
Charlotte, NC	$60,680	+20%	1×
Raleigh, NC	$60,570	+20%	1×
Greensboro, NC	$53,700	+6%	0.8×
Durham, NC	$53,450	+6%	1×

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

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