What Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers earn in Rockingham County, NH
The median pay for Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers in Rockingham County, NH is $78,180 per year, which works out to $37.59 per hour. The figure comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics wage survey for the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH metropolitan area, the labor market that Rockingham County, NH belongs to. Half of the workers in this occupation earn more than the median and half earn less, which makes it a sturdier yardstick than an average that a few very high earners can pull upward.
The mean wage is $83,500, which is 6.8% above the median, a sign that a group of high earners lifts the average. The survey counts about 11,440 people working in this occupation across the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH metropolitan area, so the estimate rests on a substantial pool of workers. Rockingham County, NH has roughly 319,082 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 Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH metropolitan area is not one number. The lowest-paid tenth of workers earn up to $61,750 a year ($29.69 an hour), while the highest-paid tenth earn $107,240 or more ($51.56 an hour). That is a gap of $45,490 between the bottom and the top of the scale. The middle half of workers falls between $72,270 at the 25th percentile and $98,820 at the 75th percentile. A top-tier earner makes 1.7 times what someone at the bottom makes, so experience, certification and employer all matter.
What the hourly rate looks like
Employers quote this occupation by the hour or by the year, so here are both: $37.59 an hour or $78,180 a year at the median for Rockingham County, NH. Before any deductions, that is $6,515 a month, $3,007 every two weeks and $1,503 each week. After taxes the same job pays $30.55 per hour of take-home income, which is the number that actually has to cover rent and groceries.
About this occupation: Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers
The U.S. Department of Labor's O*NET database describes the work of Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers this way: "Maintain order and protect life and property by enforcing local, tribal, state, or federal laws and ordinances. Perform a combination of the following duties: patrol a specific area; direct traffic; issue traffic summonses; investigate accidents; apprehend and arrest suspects, or serve legal processes of courts. Includes police officers working at educational institutions."
Core tasks recorded by O*NET include: "Identify, pursue, and arrest suspects and perpetrators of criminal acts"; "Provide for public safety by maintaining order, responding to emergencies, protecting people and property, enforcing motor vehicle and criminal laws, and promoting good community relations"; "Record facts to prepare reports that document incidents and activities"; "Render aid to accident survivors and other persons requiring first aid for physical injuries".
Job outlook for Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers
The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects national employment in this occupation to grow from 693,200 jobs in 2025 to 717,300 in 2035, a change of +3.5%, in line with the 3.5% projected for all occupations. The projection counts 51,500 openings a year on average, including positions created by growth and positions left by workers who retire or move to another occupation; that equals 7.4% of current employment each year.
Typical entry-level education: high school diploma or equivalent. Typical on-the-job training to reach competency: moderate-term on-the-job training. BLS lists a national median annual wage of $76,210 for this occupation; the Rockingham County, NH median of $78,180 is 2.6% above it.
How pay in Rockingham County, NH compares
Compared with the New Hampshire average
A worker in this occupation in Rockingham County, NH earns $1,182 more than the New Hampshire average of $76,998, a premium of 1.5%. Over a year that premium is worth $1,182 before tax and roughly $961 after tax. Within New Hampshire, Rockingham County, NH already has the highest median we track for this job.
Compared with the national average
The national employment-weighted average for Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers is $80,171 across the contiguous United States. At $78,180, Rockingham County, NH pays $1,991 less, which is 2.5% below that benchmark. 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 Rockingham County, NH
Among the 581 occupations with published wages in Rockingham County, NH, Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers ranks number 261 by median pay, ahead of about 55% of them. The best-paying occupation we track here is Natural Sciences Managers at $291,000 a year, which is $212,820 more than the median for Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers.
From gross pay to take-home pay
Three separate tax bills sit between the gross salary and the bank account: federal income tax, FICA, and state income tax. For Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers earning the Rockingham County, NH median of $78,180, they add up to $14,629. The result is $63,551 of take-home pay a year ($5,296 a month), based on a single filer using the standard deduction.
Put another way, of every $100 earned, about $19 goes to taxes and $81 reaches the paycheck. The overall effective tax rate is 18.7%.
Federal income tax
After the $15,750 standard deduction, taxable income is $62,430. 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 $8,649, an effective 11.1% 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 $4,847 on this salary. Medicare takes 1.45%, or $1,134. FICA totals $5,981, which is 7.7% of gross pay.
State income tax in New Hampshire
New Hampshire does not tax wage income, so the state income tax line for Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers in Rockingham County, NH is $0. That alone leaves more in the paycheck than the same salary would in a state with an income tax. For scale, a hypothetical flat 5% state tax on this salary would cost about $3,909 a year, so the absence of a state tax is worth roughly $326 a month.
A cross-check with IRS data for Rockingham County, NH
IRS Statistics of Income data for Rockingham County, NH show an average adjusted gross income of $130,341 per return and an average effective federal income tax rate of 16.6% across all filers. Filers in the $75,000 to under $100,000 bracket, where this salary falls, paid an average of 10.0%, compared with the 11.1% 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 Rockingham County, NH
Take-home pay only means something next to what life costs. We price four basics for one adult in Rockingham County, NH: a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline. All of them are converted to annual figures first, then compared with the $63,551 of take-home pay.
Rent
Housing is the largest line in most budgets. For Rockingham County, NH, HUD sets the Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom unit at $1,756 a month ($21,072 a year), and at $2,289 for two bedrooms. For Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers, a one-bedroom absorbs 33.2% of take-home pay and 26.9% 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 4.4% of gross pay for Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers in Rockingham County, NH. It is a thrifty budget with no restaurant meals, so treat it as a floor.
Energy and gasoline
Using New Hampshire residential prices from the Energy Information Administration and national household averages for consumption, electricity costs about $2,473 a year and other home energy such as natural gas about $737, for $3,210 in total. Gasoline in New Hampshire averages $3.25 per gallon; at about 463 gallons a year (11,106 miles at 24 miles per gallon) fuel adds $1,505.
What is left over
Rent, food, energy and gasoline cost $29,222 a year in Rockingham County, NH. Subtract that from $63,551 of take-home pay and $34,328 remains, which is $2,861 a month of breathing room. That margin equals 43.9% of gross pay, a comfortable cushion by common budgeting rules.
Local housing and commute data for Rockingham County, NH
The budget above covers rent, food, energy and gasoline. Three more local facts shape what a paycheck buys in Rockingham County, NH: property taxes, housing prices and the daily commute. The figures below are exact U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates for Rockingham County, NH, set beside the New Hampshire and national medians.
Property taxes in Rockingham County, NH
Homeowners in Rockingham County, NH pay a median of $7,839 a year in real estate taxes, 18% above the New Hampshire median of $6,667 and 151% above the U.S. median of $3,119. Against a median home value of $497,500, the median tax bill is 1.58% of that value (the ratio of the two county medians). For a worker paid the local Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers median of $78,180, a tax bill of that size would equal 10.0% of gross pay, which matters for anyone planning to buy rather than rent.
Rents, home prices and household income in Rockingham County, NH
Renters in Rockingham County, NH pay a median gross rent of $1,687 a month in the Census survey, 13% above the New Hampshire median of $1,491. HUD's Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment, which this site uses in the budget, is $1,756 a month; the two measures differ because the Census figure covers units of every size that renters already occupy, while the HUD figure is a one-bedroom benchmark. The median value of an owner-occupied home is $497,500, 24% above the New Hampshire median of $402,500. Median household income is $118,331, 19% above the New Hampshire median of $99,031, so a year of one-bedroom Fair Market Rent equals 17.8% of that income.
Commuting in Rockingham County, NH
Workers in Rockingham County, NH who travel to a workplace spend an average of 28.9 minutes each way, 8% above the New Hampshire average of 26.7. For someone who commutes five days a week, that is 4.8 hours of round-trip travel every week, a cost the budget does not price. 19.4% of workers in Rockingham County, NH work from home, compared with 15.1% nationally, which removes the commute for them.
Can Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers afford to live in Rockingham County, NH?
The 30% rent guideline
A common rule of thumb says rent should stay under 30% of gross income. For a gross salary of $78,180 that ceiling is $1,955 a month. The one-bedroom Fair Market Rent of $1,756 is $199 under it, so rent fits the guideline. Put as a wage, covering a one-bedroom at the 30% guideline takes $33.77 an hour; the median for Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers is $37.59, which is 11% above that mark. Another way to see it: at $30.55 of take-home pay an hour, a one-bedroom takes about 13.3 working hours every week.
Splitting a two-bedroom
Sharing a two-bedroom at $2,289 a month means $1,145 each. Compared with renting a one-bedroom alone, that saves $7,338 a year. With a roommate, the yearly margin after the basics becomes $41,666.
How fast you can save
At $2,861 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 Rockingham County, NH
How much do Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers make per hour in Rockingham County, NH?
The median is $37.59 per hour, based on $78,180 a year over 2,080 hours. Hourly pay runs from about $29.69 at the 10th percentile to $51.56 at the 90th percentile.
How much do Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers take home after taxes in Rockingham County, NH?
After federal income tax, FICA, the median salary of $78,180 becomes $63,551 a year. That is $5,296 a month, $2,444 every two weeks or $1,222 a week.
How much tax do Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers pay in Rockingham County, NH?
Total taxes are $14,629 a year, an effective rate of 18.7%: $8,649 federal income tax, $5,981 FICA and no New Hampshire income tax.
Do Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers earn more in Rockingham County, NH than elsewhere in New Hampshire?
Yes. The local median of $78,180 is +1.5% versus the New Hampshire average of $76,998, a difference of $1,182 a year.
Can Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers afford a one-bedroom apartment in Rockingham County, NH?
A one-bedroom costs $1,756 a month against take-home pay of $5,296, which is 33.2% of take-home pay. That meets the 30%-of-gross guideline, which allows up to $1,955 a month.
What is the monthly budget margin for Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers in Rockingham County, NH?
About $2,861 a month ($34,328 a year) remains after a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline, which together cost $29,222 a year.
What hourly wage covers a one-bedroom in Rockingham County, NH at the 30% guideline?
$33.77 an hour for a full-time schedule, calculated as the $21,072 annual rent divided by 0.30 and by 2,080 hours. The median for Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers is $37.59.
How we calculated these numbers
Wages are May 2025 medians from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH 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 New Hampshire 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.