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Transit and Railroad Police: Career Profile

Protect and police railroad and transit property, employees, or passengers.

What Do Transit and Railroad Police Take On?

Typical responsibilities of transit and railroad police span:

• Prepare reports documenting investigation activities and results.
• Monitor transit areas and conduct security checks to protect railroad properties, patrons, and employees.
• Apprehend or remove trespassers or thieves from railroad property or coordinate with law enforcement agencies in apprehensions and removals.
• Direct security activities at derailments, fires, floods, or strikes involving railroad property.
• Patrol railroad yards, cars, stations, or other facilities to protect company property or shipments and to maintain order.
• Investigate or direct investigations of freight theft, suspicious damage or loss of passengers' valuables, or other crimes on railroad property.
• Examine credentials of unauthorized persons attempting to enter secured areas.
• Enforce traffic laws regarding the transit system and reprimand individuals who violate them.

Key Skills and Knowledge

Effective transit and railroad police combine a mix of skills and domain knowledge.

Key Skills

The competencies that matter most in this role, rated on an importance scale of 0 to 5:

Knowledge Areas

Types of Transit and Railroad Police Jobs

This career also goes by job titles like:

• Canine Officer (K-9 Officer)
• Field Training Advisor
• Field Training Agent
• Law Enforcement Officer
• Officer
• Patrol Man
• Patrol Officer
• Patroller

Job Outlook

There are roughly 151,400 transit and railroad police working in the United States today. This occupation is expected to grow by +8.6% over the projection horizon.

Transit and Railroad Police Pay

Statistic	Value
Annual median	$47,463
Hourly median	$22.82
10th percentile	$33,344
25th percentile	$40,404
75th percentile	$54,523
90th percentile	$61,582

Wages vary widely based on experience, location, and industry.

Transit and Railroad Police Salary by State

State	Annual median salary
California	$109,810
Texas	$108,530
New Jersey	$105,630
New York	$105,510
Maryland	$86,650
Florida	$69,620
Missouri	$68,640
Colorado	$62,440

Where Transit and Railroad Police Earn the Most

Compensation for transit and railroad police vary by region. These regions lead on median pay:

Region	Median annual wage	Share of U.S. jobs	Location quotient
Far Western US	$109,810	5.2%	0.30
Southwest	$108,530	4.6%	0.33
Middle Atlantic	$102,681	78.4%	4.80
Southeast	$69,620	5.2%	0.51
Plains States	$68,640	4.1%	1.40
Rocky Mountains	$62,440	2.6%	0.95

Highest-Paying Metro Areas for Transit and Railroad Police

Metro area	State	Median annual wage	Employment
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	NY	$108,490	1,110
Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD	MD	$91,930	40
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD	PA	$89,220	90
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	DC	$86,650	260

Which Industries Hire Transit and Railroad Police

Most transit and railroad police are found across these industries:

Industry	Employment	Median annual wage
Transportation and Warehousing	610	$98,290

The table below shows some of the most common industries where those employed in this career field work.

Tech Stack

• Web platform development software: Microsoft Active Server Pages ASP (hot technology)
• Spreadsheet software: Microsoft Excel (hot technology)
• Office suite software: Microsoft Office software (hot technology)
• Electronic mail software: Microsoft Outlook (hot technology)
• Presentation software: Microsoft PowerPoint (hot technology)
• Word processing software: Microsoft Word (hot technology)

What the Workplace Is Like

The work environment for transit and railroad police tends to involve the following characteristics:

• E-Mail
• In an Enclosed Vehicle or Operate Enclosed Equipment
• Outdoors, Exposed to All Weather Conditions
• Deal With External Customers or the Public in General
• Contact With Others

How to Become Transit and Railroad Police

Most transit and railroad police positions require a bachelor’s degree as the typical entry-level education. The role falls in Medium Preparation Needed (Job Zone 3), indicating the level of preparation typically expected.

Related Careers

Similar Occupations

• Compliance Officers (Primary-Long)
• First-Line Supervisors of Police and Detectives (Primary-Short)
• First-Line Supervisors of Firefighting and Prevention Workers (Supplemental)
• First-Line Supervisors of Security Workers (Primary-Short)
• Fire Inspectors and Investigators (Primary-Long)
• Correctional Officers and Jailers (Supplemental)
• Detectives and Criminal Investigators (Primary-Short)
• Parking Enforcement Workers (Supplemental)

Where to Study

Students preparing for transit and railroad police commonly pursue programs in:

Homeland Security, Law Enforcement, Firefighting and Related Protective Services

1 programs across 1 majors

• Criminal Justice & Corrections

References

This profile draws on the following authoritative sources:

• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) for employment and wage data by state and industry.
• BLS Employment Projections for total employment and growth forecasts.
• O*NET (Occupational Information Network) for skills, knowledge, tasks, work activities, work context, technology, and education-zone data.

SOC code: 33-3052.00 (Transit and Railroad Police).