HITRON member from Jacksonville, Fla., mans an M-240 machine gun on board a Stingray MH-68A helicopter during a homeland security patrol around New York City

I keep hearing that the Coast Guard is smaller than the NYPD. Is it true?

I don’t like hearing this because, it seems to demean the service and may cause some to dismiss it as unimportant.

In fact, for at least the last 30 years the size of the Coast Guard has increased while the size of other armed forces has declined.

The NYPD also has trouble recruiting, but, even so, crime statistics in New York City are way down, so the NYPD is not greatly under strength. An 11 March 2025 report states, “…recruitment has become difficult… NYPD ranks dropping from 37,000 uniformed officers in 2018 to 33,000 today.” According to Wikipedia, “As of October 2023, the NYPD’s current authorized uniformed strength is 33,536. There are also 19,454 civilian employees, including approximately 3,500 traffic enforcement agents, 4,500 auxiliary police officers (unpaid volunteers–Chuck), and 5,500 school safety agents (these are professional peace officers with at least 20 weeks of training, not crossing guards–Chuck) are presently employed by the department as well as being deployed on the streets.” The total work force is over 52,000 of those about 48,000 are paid positions.

By comparison the Coast Guard work force is about 51,000 paid employees, including about 9500 civilian employees. In addition there are over 20,000 in the auxiliary.

Let’s put this old saw to bed. The Coast Guard is not smaller than the NYPD.

So, how big is the U.S. Coast Guard?

Within the Department of Homeland Security

The Department has about 240,000 employees. The Coast Guard is no longer the largest agency in the Department, as I think it was when the Department was initially formed.

Not as large as Customs and Border Protection: CBP has more than 58,000 employes.

Not as large as the Transportation Security Administration: TSA has about 58,600 employees, but the Coast Guard’s budget is larger.

Bigger than Citizenship and Immigration Services: About 24,200 employees. 

Bigger than Immigration and Customs Enforcement: “ICE now has more than 20,000 law enforcement and support personnel…”

Bigger than FEMA but with a smaller budget. about 17,300 employees

Bigger than the Secret Service: Secret Service has about 8,300 employees

Maritime Agencies in the Federal Government

Bigger than NOAA: “In 2021, NOAA had 11,833 civilian employees. Its research and operations are further supported by 321 uniformed service members, who make up the NOAA Commissioned Corps.” The Coast Guard budget is almost twice that of NOAA.

Bigger than Military Sealift Command: Their workforce is less than 10,000 including some US Navy personnel.

Bigger than the US Merchant Marine: The US merchant Marine has about 13,000 mariners  including almost half in Military Sealift Command.

Way bigger than the Maritime Administration: MARAD has about 800 employees. Coast Guards budget is an order of magnitude larger than that of MARAD.

Compared to International Navies

The US Coast Guard has no aircraft carriers, submarines, or well armed aircraft but it does have a relatively large number of ships, aircraft, mariners and air crewmen. There are several medium sized navies that are larger than the US Coast Guard, but the Coast Guard is still a significant force.

Bigger than the French Navy, with more personnel, more ships, and more aircraft.

Bigger than the UK’s Royal Navy, with more personnel, more ships, and more aircraft.

National Security Implications:

“Convoy WS-12: A Vought SB2U Vindicator scout bomber from USS Ranger (CV-4) flies anti-submarine patrol over the convoy, while it was en route to Cape Town, South Africa, 27 November 1941. The convoy appears to be making a formation turn from column to line abreast. Two-stack transports in the first row are USS West Point (AP-23) — left –; USS Mount Vernon (AP-22) and Coast Guard manned transport USS Wakefield (AP-21). Heavy cruisers, on the right side of the first row and middle of the second, are USS Vincennes (CA-44) and USS Quincy (CA-39). Single-stack transports in the second row are Coast Guard manned transports USS Leonard Wood (AP-25) and USS Joseph T. Dickman (AP-26).”

When the President Roosevelt asked Congress to declare war on the Empire of Japan, The Coast Guard was already expanding rapidly, escorting convoys, and manning Transports for the US Navy bound for a combat zone.

The US has a serious shortage of Mariners needed to provide logistics support for any overseas military operation. The Coast Guard is a major reservoir of trained mariners and air crewmen. If there is a major conflict, the Coast Guard will called upon to protect, rescue, and perhaps stand in for the American merchant marine.