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Arvada Police Department entry pay
What this agency pays a new officer to start, and how that compares with the rest of the country.
Entry pay onlyEvery salary here is what an officer is paid on day one, out of the academy — base pay on a 40-hour week, with no overtime, shift differential, specialty or education pay counted. Nobody stays on it.
Arvada Police Department starts at $90,555 a year — about $43.54 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $23,288 above the median of the 2,053 agencies on this list, and $21,769 above the median for municipal agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in Colorado run about 3% above the national average, so this is worth roughly $87,873 somewhere at average prices — $2,682 less than the headline figure. Most of that is rent, at 127 against a national average of 100, where goods are 99. Based on state-wide price levels, because this agency is not tied to a single metro area, from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, 2024. The salary above is what the employer publishes; this line is our arithmetic on it, and nothing on this site is ranked on it.
How big the department isArvada Police Department reported 159 sworn officers and 56 civilian staff to the FBI for 2025. That is 1.3 officers per 1,000 residents, over a population of 121,261.A rate is only meaningful for a city department, where the population served is the city’s own. Reporting to the FBI is voluntary, so a count can reflect a partial return as easily as a small agency, and the FBI asks that agencies not be compared on staffing. Source: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, Full-time Law Enforcement Employees, 2025.
What Arvada says about itself
The Arvada Police Department embraces sector policing, where officers are an integral part of the community they serve.
What Arvada does
The Arvada Police Department serves the City of Arvada, Colorado. It works on a sector-policing model and was the first Colorado law enforcement agency accredited by CALEA, in 1986.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 19 September 2026. City of Arvada Pay Plan, Police Officer I (grade PD1) minimum — open the source document
Current page read 19 September 2026; no effective date printed on the plan. Police Officer I (PD1) runs $90,555 to $119,813.
Entry-level base salary only. Overtime, bonuses, education incentives, shift
differentials, locality pay and lateral rates are excluded, so most officers earn more
than this.
How this level compares
Where Arvada sits is partly about the agency and partly about which level of policing it belongs to. The three levels do not pay the same.
| Level | Lowest | Median | Highest | Agencies |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Municipal | $33,280 | $68,786 | $163,619 | 1372 |
| County | $35,000 | $64,438 | $132,263 | 459 |
| Special jurisdiction | $31,200 | $60,204 | $107,954 | 71 |
| State | $33,994 | $65,400 | $110,916 | 144 |
| Federal | $70,477 | $73,502 | $86,530 | 5 |
| Territory | $16,640 | $28,236 | $43,354 | 9 |
Federal agencies pay the most to start
The middle federal agency starts at $73,502 — about $4,700 more than the middle municipal agency and about $9,100 more than the middle county agency and about $13,300 more than the middle special jurisdiction agency and about $8,100 more than the middle state agency and about $45,300 more than the middle territory agency. Arvada starts at $90,555, so $21,769 above the municipal middle.
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How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Arvada Police Department officer make?
Arvada Police Department starts a new officer on $90,555 a year, about $43.54 an hour on a 2,080-hour year. That is base salary before overtime, bonuses, education incentives, shift differentials and locality pay, so most serving officers earn more. The figure comes from City of Arvada Pay Plan, Police Officer I (grade PD1) minimum.
Is that good pay for a police officer in Colorado?
It ranks #3 of 44 agencies we have verified in Colorado — 41 pay less, 2 pay more in the state — and #226 of 2,053 nationally. Against the national median it is $23,288 above, and against other municipal agencies $21,769 above.
Compare with another department
Put Arvada Police Department side by side with any other agency on the site — the two salaries, what each is worth once local prices are counted, and which comes out ahead.
The agencies either side of it
Other agencies in CO
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Arvada | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fort Collins Police Services | Municipal | 241 | $103,544 | +$12,989 | #79 |
| 2 | Colorado State Patrol | State | 706 | $91,620 | +$1,065 | #201 |
| 4 | Parker Police Department | Municipal | 89 | $89,898 | −$657 | #239 |
| 5 | Longmont Police Department | Municipal | 150 | $87,312 | −$3,243 | #285 |
| 6 | Johnstown Police Department | Municipal | 26 | $86,944 | −$3,611 | #292 |
| 7 | Broomfield Police Department | Municipal | 135 | $86,029 | −$4,526 | #304 |
| 8 | Castle Rock Police Department | Municipal | 94 | $85,488 | −$5,067 | #312 |
| 9 | Golden Police Department | Municipal | 53 | $85,321 | −$5,234 | #316 |
| 10 | Lakewood Police Department | Municipal | 274 | $85,093 | −$5,462 | #319 |
| 11 | Breckenridge Police Department | Municipal | 25 | $83,990 | −$6,565 | #340 |
| 12 | Littleton Police Department | Municipal | 86 | $83,280 | −$7,275 | #360 |
| 13 | Thornton Police Department | Municipal | 243 | $82,992 | −$7,563 | #364 |
Base pay is only part of the year
Whatever the figure above, the rotation is what decides your year — which weekends you lose, when the changeovers land, what you can plan around. Save yours once and BlueShifts shows it a year ahead, with the off-duty jobs you take and what each one paid.
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