Police Officer Salary
Official ONS earnings for the UK, covering 298,000 jobs.
ONS doesn't publish an annual pay figure for this occupation in the current edition, so everything below is hourly pay excluding overtime. We'd rather show the figure ONS does publish than multiply it into a yearly number nobody measured.
Median salary
£23.18
gross, per hour, all employees
▲ 4.3% change on the previous year
Full-time only
£23.17
Part-time only
£23.82
Mean
£22.65
Jobs measured
298,000
What most police officers actually earn
Half of police officers earn between £17.50 and £25.73. Earning above £25.73 puts you in the top quarter of the profession.
The full pay range
Each bar is the salary at that percentile — the 25th means a quarter of police officers earn less than this.
Police Officer salary by region
8 of 11 GB regions have a published figure for this occupation.
| Region | Median | Mean |
|---|---|---|
| Scotland | £51,135.00 | £50,005.00 |
| North West | £48,282.00 | £46,967.00 |
| North East | £48,045.00 | £45,364.00 |
| South West | £47,712.00 | £45,416.00 |
| West Midlands | £47,320.00 | £45,496.00 |
| East Midlands | £47,228.00 | £45,228.00 |
| Wales | £46,768.00 | £44,901.00 |
| Yorkshire and The Humber | £46,540.00 | £44,323.00 |
Police Officer jobs hiring now in the UK
Live adverts. Salaries are shown only where the employer states one.
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Police Officer£42,000–£43,000
Metropolitan Police · St. Albans, Hertfordshire
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Police Officer£42,000–£43,000
Metropolitan Police · Sevenoaks, Kent
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Police Officer£42,000–£43,000
Metropolitan Police · Basildon, Essex
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Police Officer£36,995
Police Scotland · Minnigaff, Newton Stewart
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Police Officer£36,995
Police Scotland · Clarebrand, Castle Douglas
Where this figure comes from
- ONS occupation group
- Police officers (sergeant and below)
- SOC 2020 code
- 3312
- Measure
- Gross hourly pay excluding overtime, all employees
- Edition
- ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, 2025 provisional
ONS doesn't measure “police officer” as its own category. These figures are for the wider group “Police officers (sergeant and below)”, which includes this role alongside others. ONS withdrew annual pay for this occupation in the 2025 provisional edition, so figures are hourly. The group covers sergeant and below.
Source: Office for National Statistics, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Figures are estimates from a survey of PAYE jobs and are not financial advice.
Police Officer salary FAQs
What is the average Police Officer salary in the UK?
The median is £23.18 an hour and the mean is £22.65, according to the ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings. Those cover all employees; full-time employees alone have a median of £23.17 and part-time employees £23.82.
What is a good Police Officer salary?
Half of police officers earn between £17.50 and £25.73. Anything above £25.73 is in the top quarter for the role.
What is the starting salary for a police officer?
ASHE does not record experience, so there is no official starting salary. What it does show is that the lowest-paid 10% of police officers earn under £15.91 and the lowest quarter under £17.50 — the range a new entrant is most likely to be offered.
How much do the highest-paid police officers earn?
The top 10% of police officers earn more than £28.09 an hour, and the top quarter more than £25.73. ASHE does not publish figures above the 90th percentile.
Which part of the UK pays police officers the most?
Scotland, at a median of £51,135.00, is the highest of the 8 GB regions with a precise ONS estimate; Yorkshire and The Humber is the lowest at £46,540.00. Regions where ONS marks the figure as imprecise are not ranked.
Has police officer pay gone up in the last year?
ASHE puts the year-on-year change in the median at +4.3% for this occupation in the UK. That compares the latest survey with the one before it and is not adjusted for inflation.
How many police officers are there in the UK?
ASHE counts around 298,000 employee jobs in “Police officers (sergeant and below)” (SOC 3312) in the UK. Self-employed work is not included.
Is this figure official?
Yes. It comes from the ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, an accredited official statistic based on employer PAYE records.
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