Based on 3e material, Waterdeep has standing armed forces of nearly 5,000 people
Waterdeep hasn't been examined in great detail by any 5th edition material, but resourcesthere is plenty to draw on from previous editions should still be useful in understanding the city demographics. The 3e sourcebookForgotten Realms Campaign Setting states that the City of Waterdeep has a population of ~133,000 people, and the wider Waterdhavian region of control/influence extends 30-40 miles into the countryside and totals ~1.35M people. The more specifically focused City of Splendors: Waterdeep features (from page 33 on) a description of the various armed forces associated with the city:
The figures given in this book largely agree with those suggested by the 2e City of Splendors, albeit that the prior book also notes that the size of these forces might actually be considerably larger than commonly believed:
So it could easily be the case thatAnother thing to keep in mind when referring to these organisations are actually somewhat larger thanresources is widely believedthat, thanksin the canonical FR timeline, there's a gap of just over a hundred years between the 3rd edition material and the 5th edition (1/2/3e covering the rough period 1357DR to 1376DR, 4e starting at 1385DR but mostly set in 1479-1486DR, and 5e play set beginning in 1489DR), and a lot of things have happened to Waterdeep and Faerun in that time - the shenanigansLord Piergeiron mentioned above, for instance, is long dead. The governance of the city still seems to run on roughly the same lines, though, with the Masked Lords and Guilds in power, so the arrangement of military forces is likely quite similar. If it transpires that the population of the region has significantly changed, the numbers for Waterdeep's military forces can probably be proportionally adjusted to match.