Being a police officer is one of the toughest jobs in the world. At any moment's notice, police officers' lives can be at risk and every day a police officer goes to work, they sadly don't know if it will be their last day on the job. That's the harsh reality that comes with protecting lives and property on a daily basis.

When you become a police officer, you're automatically thrown into the public eye, whether you're ready for it or not. Every decision you make, right or wrong, the public will eventually learn about it.

There's a lot of pressure placed on police officers and it's a job many people couldn't handle. They're the first people we call when we need help or are in dangerous situations and I know being a police officer is something I probably could never do.

Best States To Be A Police Officer

Wallet Hub has conducted a study on the best states/District of Columbia to be a police officer. Sadly...Iowa's rank is fairly low and the study puts Iowa in the bottom 50%. Being a police officer would be considered a dangerous job and this requires law enforcement agencies to offer decent incentives to help people become cops.

These incentives come in the form of benefits packages, which could include retirement contribution matches, tuition assistance, paid time off, and access to health and fitness facilities. In the Wallet Hub study, they used 30 key indicators to determine which states are the best states to be a police officer. T

These indicators range from median income, police deaths per 1,000 officers, and state/local police protection expenses per capita.

Iowa comes in ranked 31st.

It looks like Iowa has some work to do on improvements for police officers. 31st isn't exactly terrible but this is a study each state would not want to find themselves in the bottom 50%. It's not all bad for Iowa police officers. Iowa did receive a decent score when it came to "Job Hazards & Protections," with a ranking of 19.

I was pretty surprised to learn that California is supposedly the best state to be a police officer. They received a rank of 3 for Opportunity and Competition and a rank of 2 for Law Enforcement Training Requirements. The best midwest state to be a police officer would be Illinois as they were ranked 5.