What Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers earn in Miami-Dade County, FL
If you are weighing a move or a job offer, start with $79,840: the median annual pay for Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers in Miami-Dade County, FL. Spread over a standard 2,080-hour work year, that is $38.38 an hour. Because the wage survey covers the whole Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL metropolitan area, the number reflects employers across the region rather than a single town or a single company.
The mean wage is $84,780, which is 6.2% above the median, a sign that a group of high earners lifts the average. The survey counts about 14,710 people working in this occupation across the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL metropolitan area, so the estimate rests on a substantial pool of workers. Miami-Dade County, FL has roughly 2,738,356 residents, according to the population figures used by the rent data.
The salary range, from entry level to top earners
Pay for Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL metropolitan area is not one number. The lowest-paid tenth of workers earn up to $61,600 a year ($29.62 an hour), while the highest-paid tenth earn $115,690 or more ($55.62 an hour). That is a gap of $54,090 between the bottom and the top of the scale. The middle half of workers falls between $73,900 at the 25th percentile and $97,740 at the 75th percentile. A top-tier earner makes 1.9 times what someone at the bottom makes, so experience, certification and employer all matter.
What the hourly rate looks like
Converted to an hourly wage, the median for Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers in Miami-Dade County, FL is $38.38. A full-time schedule of 40 hours for 52 weeks adds up to $79,840, and the same salary is $6,653 a month before taxes or about $3,071 per biweekly pay period. After taxes the same job pays $31.11 per hour of take-home income, which is the number that actually has to cover rent and groceries.
How pay in Miami-Dade County, FL compares
Compared with the Florida average
Miami-Dade County, FL pays above the state benchmark. The Florida employment-weighted average for Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers is $72,276; the local median of $79,840 beats it by $7,564, or 10.5%. Within Florida, Miami-Dade County, FL already has the highest median we track for this job.
Compared with the national average
Nationally, Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers earn an employment-weighted average of $80,171 across the contiguous United States, so $79,840 in Miami-Dade County, FL is essentially average. Keep in mind that a higher salary only helps if living costs do not rise faster, which is why the cost sections below matter as much as the headline number.
Where this job ranks in Miami-Dade County, FL
Among the 572 occupations with published wages in Miami-Dade County, FL, Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers ranks number 135 by median pay, ahead of about 77% of them. The best-paying occupation we track here is Financial Managers at $164,230 a year, which is $84,390 more than the median for Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers.
From gross pay to take-home pay
A salary of $79,840 does not arrive in full. We model a single filer with wage income only, the standard deduction and tax-year 2025 rules, and we keep the three tax layers apart: federal income tax, FICA (Social Security and Medicare) and state income tax. Together they take $15,122 a year, which leaves $64,718, or $5,393 a month.
Put another way, of every $100 earned, about $19 goes to taxes and $81 reaches the paycheck. The overall effective tax rate is 18.9%.
Federal income tax
After the $15,750 standard deduction, taxable income is $64,090. Federal brackets are marginal, so only the slice of income above each threshold is taxed at the higher rate; the last dollars of this salary fall in the 22% bracket. The resulting federal income tax is $9,014, an effective 11.3% of gross pay, well below the 22% marginal rate because the lower brackets are cheaper.
Social Security and Medicare (FICA)
Payroll taxes are a flat percentage of wages. Social Security takes 6.2% up to a wage base of $176,100, which costs $4,950 on this salary. Medicare takes 1.45%, or $1,158. FICA totals $6,108, which is 7.6% of gross pay.
State income tax in Florida
There is no state income tax on wages in Florida, which means Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers in Miami-Dade County, FL keep the full $64,718 left after federal and payroll taxes. For scale, a hypothetical flat 5% state tax on this salary would cost about $3,992 a year, so the absence of a state tax is worth roughly $333 a month.
A cross-check with IRS data for Miami-Dade County, FL
IRS Statistics of Income data for Miami-Dade County, FL show an average adjusted gross income of $93,606 per return and an average effective federal income tax rate of 18.1% across all filers. Filers in the $75,000 to under $100,000 bracket, where this salary falls, paid an average of 9.4%, compared with the 11.3% estimated here for a single filer taking the standard deduction. Gaps between the two reflect filing status, dependents, credits and other income, none of which a single-person wage estimate includes.
Cost of living in Miami-Dade County, FL
Take-home pay only means something next to what life costs. We price four basics for one adult in Miami-Dade County, FL: a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline. All of them are converted to annual figures first, then compared with the $64,718 of take-home pay.
Rent
The HUD Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Miami-Dade County, FL is $2,121 a month, or $25,452 a year. A two-bedroom costs $2,564 a month. For Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers, a one-bedroom absorbs 39.3% of take-home pay and 31.9% of gross pay.
Food
The USDA Thrifty Food Plan (August 2026) puts the cost of a nutritious home-cooked diet for an adult at about $3,436 a year, which is $286 a month or $66.07 a week. That equals 4.3% of gross pay for Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers in Miami-Dade County, FL. It is a thrifty budget with no restaurant meals, so treat it as a floor.
Energy and gasoline
Using Florida residential prices from the Energy Information Administration and national household averages for consumption, electricity costs about $1,494 a year and other home energy such as natural gas about $1,005, for $2,498 in total. Gasoline in Florida averages $3.08 per gallon; at about 463 gallons a year (11,106 miles at 24 miles per gallon) fuel adds $1,427.
What is left over
Add the four basics together and living costs come to $32,814 a year, 51% of take-home pay. That leaves $31,905 a year, or $2,659 a month, for savings, transportation beyond fuel, health care, debt and everything else. That margin equals 40.0% of gross pay, a comfortable cushion by common budgeting rules.
Can Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers afford to live in Miami-Dade County, FL?
The 30% rent guideline
A common rule of thumb says rent should stay under 30% of gross income. For a gross salary of $79,840 that ceiling is $1,996 a month. The one-bedroom Fair Market Rent of $2,121 is $125 over it, so rent breaks the guideline. Put as a wage, covering a one-bedroom at the 30% guideline takes $40.79 an hour; the median for Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers is $38.38, which is 6% below that mark. Another way to see it: at $31.11 of take-home pay an hour, a one-bedroom takes about 15.7 working hours every week.
Splitting a two-bedroom
Sharing a two-bedroom at $2,564 a month means $1,282 each. Compared with renting a one-bedroom alone, that saves $10,068 a year. With a roommate, the yearly margin after the basics becomes $41,973.
How fast you can save
At $2,659 a month of margin, building a $10,000 emergency fund would take about 4 months. Setting aside half of the margin stretches the same goal to about 8 months. These figures ignore interest, raises and any spending beyond the four basics.
Frequently asked questions about Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers pay in Miami-Dade County, FL
What is the hourly wage for Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers in Miami-Dade County, FL?
The median is $38.38 per hour, based on $79,840 a year over 2,080 hours. Hourly pay runs from about $29.62 at the 10th percentile to $55.62 at the 90th percentile.
What is the take-home pay for Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers in Miami-Dade County, FL?
After federal income tax, FICA, the median salary of $79,840 becomes $64,718 a year. That is $5,393 a month, $2,489 every two weeks or $1,245 a week.
What percentage of pay goes to taxes for Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers in Miami-Dade County, FL?
Total taxes are $15,122 a year, an effective rate of 18.9%: $9,014 federal income tax, $6,108 FICA and no Florida income tax.
Is pay for Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers in Miami-Dade County, FL above the Florida average?
Yes. The local median of $79,840 is +10.5% versus the Florida average of $72,276, a difference of $7,564 a year.
Is a one-bedroom rent affordable on the median Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers salary in Miami-Dade County, FL?
A one-bedroom costs $2,121 a month against take-home pay of $5,393, which is 39.3% of take-home pay. That does not meet the 30%-of-gross guideline, which allows up to $1,996 a month.
How much is left after rent, food and energy for Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers in Miami-Dade County, FL?
About $2,659 a month ($31,905 a year) remains after a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline, which together cost $32,814 a year.
What hourly wage covers a one-bedroom in Miami-Dade County, FL at the 30% guideline?
$40.79 an hour for a full-time schedule, calculated as the $25,452 annual rent divided by 0.30 and by 2,080 hours. The median for Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers is $38.38.
How we calculated these numbers
Wages are May 2025 medians from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL metropolitan area; hourly-only values are annualized at 2,080 hours. Rents are HUD Fair Market Rents, food costs come from the USDA Thrifty Food Plan, and energy prices come from the Energy Information Administration. County-level tax statistics come from the IRS Statistics of Income.
Taxes use tax-year 2025 federal brackets, FICA rates and the Florida rules for a single filer with wage income only. Figures are estimates for planning and comparison, not tax or financial advice, and they exclude local income taxes, benefits, retirement contributions and individual circumstances.