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Auraria Campus 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.
Auraria Campus Police Department starts at $63,396 a year — about $30.48 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $4,994 below the median of the 1,681 agencies on this list, and $3,201 above the median for special jurisdiction agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in Colorado run about 3% above the national average, so this is worth roughly $61,518 somewhere at average prices — $1,878 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.
What Auraria Campus says about itself
The Auraria Campus Police Department (ACPD) is committed to enhancing the quality of life on the Auraria Campus and for the institutions it serves: Community College of Denver, Metropolitan State University of Denver, University of Colorado Denver, as well as the employees of the Auraria Campus.
What Auraria Campus does
Auraria Campus Police are Colorado peace officers providing full-spectrum emergency, non-emergency, technical and law-enforcement services to the Auraria Campus community.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 13 August 2026. $5,283/month Police Officer I base. Official State of Colorado February 2026 Auraria Police Officer I recruitment publishes $5,283 monthly. — open the source document
$5,283/month Police Officer I base. Official State of Colorado February 2026 Auraria Police Officer I recruitment publishes $5,283 monthly.
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 Auraria Campus 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 | $35,006 | $71,287 | $163,619 | 1046 |
| County | $36,492 | $65,374 | $132,263 | 416 |
| Special jurisdiction | $31,200 | $60,195 | $107,954 | 69 |
| State | $33,994 | $64,998 | $102,692 | 143 |
| 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 $2,200 more than the middle municipal agency and about $8,100 more than the middle county agency and about $13,300 more than the middle special jurisdiction agency and about $8,500 more than the middle state agency and about $45,300 more than the middle territory agency. Auraria Campus starts at $63,396, so $3,201 above the special jurisdiction middle.
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How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Auraria Campus Police Department officer make?
Auraria Campus Police Department starts a new officer on $63,396 a year, about $30.48 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 $5,283/month Police Officer I base. Official State of Colorado February 2026 Auraria Police Officer I recruitment publishes $5,283 monthly..
Is that good pay for a police officer in Colorado?
It ranks #28 of 35 agencies we have verified in Colorado — 7 pay less, 27 pay more in the state — and #1,088 of 1,681 nationally. Against the national median it is $4,994 below, and against other special jurisdiction agencies $3,201 above.
Compare with another department
Put Auraria Campus 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 Auraria | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Colorado State Patrol | State | 706 | $91,620 | +$28,224 | #184 |
| 2 | Parker Police Department | Municipal | 89 | $89,898 | +$26,502 | #217 |
| 3 | Johnstown Police Department | Municipal | 26 | $86,944 | +$23,548 | #266 |
| 4 | Broomfield Police Department | Municipal | 135 | $86,029 | +$22,633 | #278 |
| 5 | Golden Police Department | Municipal | 53 | $85,321 | +$21,925 | #287 |
| 6 | Lakewood Police Department | Municipal | 274 | $85,093 | +$21,697 | #291 |
| 7 | Breckenridge Police Department | Municipal | 25 | $83,990 | +$20,594 | #310 |
| 8 | Thornton Police Department | Municipal | 243 | $82,992 | +$19,596 | #332 |
| 9 | Commerce City Police Department | Municipal | 109 | $82,327 | +$18,931 | #341 |
| 10 | Larimer County Sheriff's Office | County | 228 | $81,765 | +$18,369 | #353 |
| 11 | Westminster Police Department | Municipal | 187 | $80,746 | +$17,350 | #387 |
| 12 | Boulder County Sheriff's Office | County | 106 | $80,496 | +$17,100 | #395 |
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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