Nevada·Protective Service Occupations·SOC 33-1012

Best First-Line Supervisors of police officer programs in Nevada, ranked by enrollment

Directly supervise and coordinate activities of members of police.

8 schools in Nevada run programs that feed this job, graduating 742 people a year. The job pays a median of $132,100 in Nevada across about 1,300 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).

Also calledLieutenantPolice CaptainPatrol SergeantPolice SergeantCaptainPort WardenChief DeputyPolice Chief
Graduates / yr
742
in Nevada
Median pay · Nevada
$132,100
BLS OEWS May 2025
Jobs in state
1,300
people employed
Schools
8
with a feeder program
Avg graduation rate
43%
across those schools
Median net price
$15,787
per year, IPEDS

Fields of study in Nevada that lead to this job

Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.

5 programs in Nevada that lead to this job

Ranked by graduates per year in Nevada (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own Nevada page.

Degree programs that lead to this occupation, ranked by graduates per year
#ProgramGraduates / yrShare of pipelineSchoolsGrad earnings (1 yr)Median debt
1
CIP 43.0104In Nevada
470
63.3%
3$37,408$24,069
2
CIP 43.0103In Nevada
173
23.3%
4$37,408$24,069
3
CIP 43.0100In Nevada
81
10.9%
1$37,408$24,069
4
CIP 43.0302In Nevada
17
2.3%
1$46,281$23,250
5
CIP 43.0102In Nevada
1
0.1%
1$37,408$24,069

Top 8 schools in Nevada

Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 3 of the 8 schools in this state.

Schools ranked by graduates per year into this occupation
#SchoolGraduates / yrTop feeder programGrad earnings (1 yr)Grad rateNet priceAcceptance
1University of Nevada - Las Vegas
Las Vegas, NV Public · 1 feeder programs
275Criminal Justice/Safety Studies$37,63951%96%
2College of Southern Nevada
Las Vegas, NV Public · 1 feeder programs
164Criminal Justice/Safety Studies$26,30119%
3University of Nevada - Reno
Reno, NV Public · 1 feeder programs
149Criminal Justice/Law Enforcement Administration61%74%
4Northwest Career College
Las Vegas, NV Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs
81Criminal Justice and Corrections, General68%$15,787
5Truckee Meadows Community College
Reno, NV Public · 2 feeder programs
48Criminal Justice/Safety Studies32%
6Western Nevada College
Carson City, NV Public · 1 feeder programs
14Criminal Justice/Law Enforcement Administration41%
7Nevada State University
Henderson, NV Public · 1 feeder programs
7Criminal Justice/Law Enforcement Administration$36,36334%87%
8Great Basin College
Elko, NV Public · 2 feeder programs
4Criminal Justice/Law Enforcement Administration41%

All 8 schools in Nevada

Every school in Nevada with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.

All schools in Nevada that feed this occupation
SchoolCityControlGraduates / yrFeeder programs
University of Nevada - Las VegasLas VegasPublic2751
College of Southern NevadaLas VegasPublic1641
University of Nevada - RenoRenoPublic1491
Northwest Career CollegeLas VegasPrivate for-profit811
Truckee Meadows Community CollegeRenoPublic482
Western Nevada CollegeCarson CityPublic141
Nevada State UniversityHendersonPublic71
Great Basin CollegeElkoPublic42

What first-line supervisors of police and detectives earn in Nevada

What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.

Median annual in Nevada
$132,100
Mean annual
$130,320
Jobs in state
1,300
What the range looks like
10th pct$94,260Median$132,10090th pct$163,940
Versus the national median
+24.6%

U.S. median $106,040. Nevada pays above the national figure.

Job concentration
0.84×

1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.

Metro areas in Nevada

Las Vegas-Henderson-North Las Vegas, NV
$132,100median
780 jobs
Reno, NV
$132,790median
280 jobs
Carson City, NV
$120,080median
60 jobs

Job outlook

Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.

Projected growth 2024–34
+2.9%
About as fast as average
Openings per year
10,900
new jobs plus replacements
Employment change
4,600
160,800 → 165,400
Typical entry education
High school diploma or equivalent
Plus moderate-term on-the-job training

Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.

How to get in

The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national First-Line Supervisors of Police and Detectives page.

How to become a First-Line Supervisors of police officer

Job zone 2 of 5 · SVP Below 6.0
Typical entry education
High school diploma or equivalent
Work experience needed
Less than 5 years
On-the-job training
Moderate-term on-the-job training

Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not.

Some occupations may need little or no previous experience; others require several months to a year of experience. For example, landscaping and groundskeeping workers might require very little training or previous experience, while agricultural equipment operators can benefit from on-the job training.

Ranges from a few days to one year of on-the-job training.

Top skills

MonitoringActive ListeningCritical ThinkingSpeakingReading ComprehensionActive Learning

The same job in other states

Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.

Related careers in Nevada

Every major mapped to this job

The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.

All 19 majors mapped to First-Line Supervisors of Police and Detectives16 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
  • 03.0208Environmental/Natural Resources Law Enforcement and Protective Services
  • 29.0203Signal/Geospatial Intelligence
  • 43.0100Criminal Justice and Corrections, General
  • 43.0102Corrections
  • 43.0103Criminal Justice/Law Enforcement Administration
  • 43.0104Criminal Justice/Safety Studies
  • 43.0115Law Enforcement Record-Keeping and Evidence Management(no graduates reported)
  • 43.0119Critical Incident Response/Special Police Operations
  • 43.0120Protective Services Operations
  • 43.0122Maritime Law Enforcement(no graduates reported)
  • 43.0123Cultural/Archaelogical Resources Protection(no graduates reported)
  • 43.0301Homeland Security
  • 43.0302Crisis/Emergency/Disaster Management
  • 43.0303Critical Infrastructure Protection
  • 43.0304Terrorism and Counterterrorism Operations
  • 43.0401Security Science and Technology, General
  • 43.0404Cybersecurity Defense Strategy/Policy
  • 43.0407Geospatial Intelligence
  • 43.0499Security Science and Technology, Other

Common questions

Answers for people weighing first-line supervisors of police and detectives programs in Nevada.

What degree do you need to become a First-Line Supervisors of police officer?+

High school diploma or equivalent is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Criminal Justice/Safety Studies, which awarded 470 degrees in Nevada in 2024-25, 63.3% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.

Which college majors lead to becoming a First-Line Supervisors of police officer?+

The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 5 programs to this occupation. The largest are Criminal Justice and Corrections, Homeland Security. Together they graduate about 742 people a year in Nevada.

How much do first-line supervisors of police and detectives earn in Nevada?+

The median is $132,100 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 24.6% above the U.S. median of $106,040. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.

Is demand for first-line supervisors of police and detectives growing?+

BLS projects a +2.9% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, about as fast as average, with roughly 10,900 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.

How many schools offer programs for this career in Nevada?+

8 institutions in Nevada reported graduates from at least one of the 5 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.

What other job titles do first-line supervisors of police and detectives work under?+

Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Lieutenant, Police Captain, Patrol Sergeant, Police Sergeant among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 33-1012.

First-Line Supervisors of Police and Detectives in other statesCaliforniaTexasFloridaArizonaNew YorkVirginiaGeorgiaNorth Carolina

About the data on this page

Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).

  • BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics

    May 2025

    Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.

  • BLS Employment Projections

    2024–34

    Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.

  • IPEDS Completions

    2024-25 (provisional)

    Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.

  • College Scorecard, Field of Study

    2020-21 cohorts

    Median graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.

  • Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes

    latest available

    Graduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.

  • NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk

    CIP 2020 / SOC 2018

    Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.

  • O*NET Database 30.3

    30.3

    Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.

    Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA

All Clema data sources and release dates →

Explore every U.S. college in one conversation

Clema turns plain-language questions into sourced answers across every U.S. institution — earnings, aid, acceptance, graduation, safety, and athletics from IPEDS, College Scorecard, and 10+ federal datasets, built in.

Free for teams up to 3 · No credit card