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Avon Lake 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.
Avon Lake Police Department starts at $72,426 a year — about $34.82 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $5,741 above the median of the 2,288 agencies on this list, and $4,286 above the median for municipal agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in Ohio run about 7% below the national average, so this goes about as far as $78,067 would somewhere at average prices — $5,641 more than the headline figure. Most of that is rent, at 73 against a national average of 100, where goods are 94. 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 Avon Lake says about itself
Protecting the public and providing a safe community is our primary objective.
What Avon Lake does
Avon Lake Police Department is the City's municipal police department, hiring both entry-level and lateral Police Officers.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 13 August 2026. $34.82/hour starting salary Current 2026 official Civil Service examination for original appointment to full-time Police Officer publishes a starting salary of $34. — open the source document
$34.82/hour starting salary Current 2026 official Civil Service examination for original appointment to full-time Police Officer publishes a starting salary of $34.82/hour.
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 Avon Lake 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 | $68,140 | $163,619 | 1549 |
| County | $35,000 | $63,565 | $132,263 | 516 |
| Special jurisdiction | $31,200 | $60,204 | $107,954 | 71 |
| State | $33,994 | $65,166 | $110,916 | 145 |
| 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 $5,400 more than the middle municipal agency and about $9,900 more than the middle county agency and about $13,300 more than the middle special jurisdiction agency and about $8,300 more than the middle state agency and about $45,300 more than the middle territory agency. Avon Lake starts at $72,426, so $4,286 above the municipal middle.
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How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Avon Lake Police Department officer make?
Avon Lake Police Department starts a new officer on $72,426 a year, about $34.82 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 $34.82/hour starting salary Current 2026 official Civil Service examination for original appointment to full-time Police Officer publishes a starting salary of $34..
Is that good pay for a police officer in Ohio?
It ranks #24 of 53 agencies we have verified in Ohio — 29 pay less, 23 pay more in the state — and #791 of 2,288 nationally. Against the national median it is $5,741 above, and against other municipal agencies $4,286 above.
Compare with another department
Put Avon Lake 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 OH
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Avon | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Westlake Police Department | Municipal | — | $88,712 | +$16,286 | #291 |
| 2 | University Heights Police Department | Municipal | 29 | $82,259 | +$9,833 | #421 |
| 3 | Powell Police Department | Municipal | 21 | $81,426 | +$9,001 | #444 |
| 4 | Springfield Police Department | Municipal | 123 | $80,764 | +$8,338 | #468 |
| 5 | Stow Police Department | Municipal | 45 | $80,288 | +$7,862 | #486 |
| 6 | Cincinnati Police Department | Municipal | 971 | $79,359 | +$6,934 | #513 |
| 7 | Hilliard Police Department | Municipal | 63 | $79,248 | +$6,822 | #515 |
| 8 | Kettering Police Department | Municipal | 79 | $79,227 | +$6,801 | #517 |
| 9 | Canfield Police Department | Municipal | 21 | $79,002 | +$6,576 | #522 |
| 10 | Mentor Police Department | Municipal | — | $77,849 | +$5,423 | #563 |
| 11 | Dayton Police Department | Municipal | 342 | $77,411 | +$4,986 | #575 |
| 12 | West Chester Township Police Department | Municipal | 92 | $77,027 | +$4,601 | #584 |
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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