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The purpose of this paper is to compare the job satisfaction of police officers in metropolitan cities with that of officers in smaller areas in a rapidly developing nation. It also assesses the difference in the factors that affect the job satisfaction of officers in metropolitan cities and smaller areas.

The research used survey data collected from 1,500 police officers throughout South Korea. Ordinal logistic (ordered logit) regression was the main method of analysis considering the ordinal response in the dependent variable.

The findings revealed no difference in job satisfaction between officers in metropolitan cities and those in smaller cities and rural areas, but certain factors, especially length of service and rank, negatively affected officers' job satisfaction in metropolitan cities; this was not the case in smaller cities and rural areas.

Although findings from police survey data of a non‐random sample of officers should be generalized with caution, the findings provide police administrators with some evidence that certain factors are necessary to minimize the likelihood of job dissatisfaction among senior and supervisory officers in metropolitan cities.

Few researchers have compared the level of and predictors of officers' job satisfaction in large and small cities, especially in non‐Western contexts. The study intends to fill this void.