Illinois One Of Best States To Be A Cop: Study

ILLINOIS — Illinois is still among the best places in the nation to be a cop, but the Land of Lincoln dropped several spots in WalletHub's 2019 rankings of Best & Worst States to Be a Police Officer. Illinois came in at No. 11, down from its No. 7 slot in 2018.

To determine the best states to pursue a law enforcement career, WalletHub says it compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia based on 25 key indicators of "police-friendliness," such as opportunity and competition for jobs, job hazards and protections, and quality of life. Those three key metrics include factors such as average starting salary, median income for officers, assaults on police and police deaths per 1,000 officers, number of people killed by police per capita, road safety, violent crime rate and share of solved homicide cases.

WalletHub notes that regardless of perks of the job, being a police officer remains one of the most dangerous professions: "In the past 10 years, for instance, more than 1,500 police officers, including 158 in 2018 alone, died in the line of duty. Tens of thousands more were assaulted and injured."

Illinois has been particularly hard hit when it comes to officer deaths and injuries in the past few years, including three state troopers who have been struck and killed by vehicles in the first few months of 2019 alone.

• 4 Dead, Including Officer, In Mercy Hospital Shooting
• Officers Killed By Train Were Pursuing Shooting Suspect: CPD
• Thousands Line Streets To Give Paul Bauer Incredible Sendoff
• Chicago Officer Takes Own Life On NW Side

According to WalletHub, these are the top 5 states to be a cop:

• New York
• Maryland
• California
• New Hampshire
• Indiana

Illinois came in at No. 11, just behind Connecticut and ahead of Nebraska. That state ranked at No. 7 for opportunity and competition and No. 9 for quality of life, but was at No. 27 for job hazards and protections.

View the full rankings here.