Quick answer: The Madison metro employs about 230 police and detective supervisors (BLS OEWS, May 2025), and licensing is set at the state level, through your state peace officer standards and training commission.
Compare police and public safety administration programs enrolling now:
Licensing
Licensing is a state matter, not a city one. Sworn officers are certified by a state peace-officer standards and training commission, not by a degree, and promotion to sergeant or above is governed by the employing agency’s own process. What a degree does here is satisfy the educational requirement many agencies attach to command ranks and to federal law enforcement hiring. Requirements differ agency by agency as well as state by state.
See the Wisconsin licensing and pay overview for the statewide picture, and confirm current requirements with your state peace officer standards and training commission.
Schools Near You
Schools in our database near this area, ranked by BOC Score. The list favors schools with a related program on record, but program availability and delivery format change, so confirm directly with any school that it currently offers the program you want.
How we rank schools – graduation rate, graduate earnings, cost and retention.
Advertising plays no part.
This page lists 5 schools
within 86 miles, closest group first, then ordered by
BOC Score with the highest at the top.
5 of them carry a score.
LOCAL RANK
Location / proximity to this page
Defines the local group
Graduation rate how often students finish
30%
Median earnings, 10 years after entry whether it paid off
25%
Average net price what students actually pay after aid; lower ranks higher
20%
Retention rate how many come back for year two
15%
Fully online availability whether you can study while working
10%
Scores come from IPEDS (2024) and the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard.
Earnings are for all graduates of a school, not one program, so treat them as a signal
about the institution rather than about this subject.
Sponsored listings are paid placements and are labelled as such; they are separate from
this ranking and never change it. Read the full methodology.
What First-Line Supervisors of Police and Detectives Earn in Madison
First-Line Supervisors of Police and Detectives in the Madison area earn a median $117,080 per year, above the national median of $106,040 (BLS OEWS, May 2025).
Police and Public Safety Administration Pay in Madison, WI
Metric
Madison metro
Wisconsin
National
Median annual wage
$117,080
$97,120
$106,040
10th percentile
$80,810
$77,250
$63,350
25th percentile
$97,340
$87,640
$81,860
75th percentile
$128,400
$116,570
$132,620
90th percentile
$138,420
$125,950
$165,110
Employment
230
2,080
154,610
Location quotient
0.56
-
1.00
Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025. Metro figures cover the Madison, WI metropolitan statistical area.
What the Numbers Say About This Market
The Madison median of $117,080 is above the national median of $106,040, and above the Wisconsin statewide median of $97,120 (BLS OEWS, May 2025).
The metro’s location quotient of 0.56 means police and detective supervisors are less concentrated here than in the average U.S. labor market (BLS OEWS, May 2025). Higher concentration generally means more employers competing for the same people, and an easier job change later.
Command positions exist where the agencies are. Metro population, the number of municipal departments and the presence of state or federal offices all drive demand.
Wage and employment figures describe the occupation as measured by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, not the graduates of any particular program, and individual outcomes may vary. Licensing rules change; confirm current requirements with the responsible state board before enrolling.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much do police and detective supervisors make in Madison?
The median annual wage for police and detective supervisors in the Madison, WI metro area is $117,080, above the national median of $106,040 (BLS OEWS, May 2025).
How many police and detective supervisors work in the Madison area?
The Madison, WI metro area employs about 230 police and detective supervisors (BLS OEWS, May 2025).
Do police and detective supervisors in Madison need a license?
Licensing is handled at state level rather than by city. Sworn officers are certified by a state peace-officer standards and training commission, not by a degree, and promotion to sergeant or above is governed by the employing agency's own process. What a degree does here is satisfy the educational requirement many agencies attach to command ranks and to federal law enforcement hiring. Requirements differ agency by agency as well as state by state. Confirm current requirements with your state peace officer standards and training commission.
Can I study police and public safety administration online from Madison?
The academic portion of these programs is widely available online for working adults, while labs, clinical hours or supervised field work are completed in person. Check that the program's accreditation satisfies your state peace officer standards and training commission.
Is Madison a better market than the rest of Wisconsin?
The Madison metro median is $117,080 against a statewide median of $97,120 (BLS OEWS, May 2025). Compare that gap with the difference in living costs before treating it as a raise.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 - First-Line Supervisors of Police and Detectives (SOC 33-1012), national, state and metropolitan estimates
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections, 2024-34
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook - education and licensing requirements
About this guide: Researched and written by the TradeCareerPath Editorial Team. Our editorial team researches and sources every trade school and career guide using federal labor and education data, including BLS OEWS and Employment Projections, DOL apprenticeship records, IPEDS, College Scorecard, and state licensing boards. We follow the editorial standards documented at /editorial-policy/.
