Here’s Why Kentucky is Ranked As One of the Country’s Worst States to Be a Cop?

I'm not sure I can think of a profession that has been more scrutinized in recent years than that of a police officer. With the abundance of body camera footage as well as footage from everyday folks, our law enforcement officers are constantly under a microscope. That coupled with a growing backlash from the public has led to a shortage of police officers recently, so there are plenty of law enforcement job opportunities available. But which opportunities are better than others?

READ MORE: KY Has One of the Country’s Largest Increases in Tornado Activity Over Last 20 Years

WalletHub.com released its annual report which ranks the best & worst states to be a police officer. The rankings were determined by comparing data in three main categories, each of which had several subcategories.

• Opportunity & Competition
• Law Enforcement Training Requirements
• Job Hazards & Protections.

READ MORE: IN & KY Ranked Among the Least Educated States In America

Kentucky Ranks as One of the Worst States for Cops

According to the rankings in this study, Kentucky is the 8th worst state to be a police officer - that means they are ranked #44 out of 51. It's definitely not great news for the Bluegrass state, but it's important to keep this in mind - Kentucky ranked #48 in the 2023 study. At least Kentucky seems to be moving in the right direction.

Below are some of the metrics that were especially bad for Kentucky.

• KY ranked 46th in the Opportunity & Competition category
• KY ranked 48th in the Job Hazards & Protections category
• KY ranked 47th in law enforcement officers per capita
• KY ranked 51st in state & local police protection expenses

There is a lot more information in this study, and if you are the least bit interested in law enforcement, I would encourage you to spend a few minutes looking over the full report. If you're just kind of curious about how the rest of the country scored, you can just scroll over the map below to see the rankings.