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Beckley 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.
Beckley Police Department starts at $50,530 a year — about $24.29 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $16,155 below the median of the 2,288 agencies on this list, and $17,610 below the median for municipal agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in West Virginia run about 11% below the national average, so this goes about as far as $56,460 would somewhere at average prices — $5,930 more than the headline figure. Most of that is rent, at 54 against a national average of 100, where goods are 97. 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 isBeckley Police Department reported 49 sworn officers and 16 civilian staff to the FBI for 2025. That is 3.0 officers per 1,000 residents, over a population of 16,345.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.
About Beckley
The Beckley Police Department polices the city of Beckley, the seat of Raleigh County in southern West Virginia, from headquarters at 501 Neville Street completed in 2018. It runs a patrol division, an investigative division holding the detective bureau, narcotics enforcement unit and crime scene unit, and a records division staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Specialist assignments include K-9, a domestic violence officer, community resource officers, parking enforcement and training, and the department also hosts the coordinator of the West Virginia Southern Regional Highway Safety Program, which directs alcohol and traffic enforcement funding for up to 36 agencies across Raleigh, Fayette, Greenbrier, Nicholas, Braxton, Pocahontas and Webster Counties.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 8 September 2026. Beckley Police Department, Police Officer Recruitment page (City of Beckley official department site) — open the source document
Read 8 September 2026 from the department's own recruitment page, which states a base salary of $50,530 and adds that a recruit is paid in full while at the academy with all equipment and transportation provided. The page dates the figure to August 2023, which is when the Beckley Common Council voted an $8,000 across-the-board raise for all sworn officers: the starting salary before that vote was $42,530, and $42,530 plus $8,000 is the $50,530 the department now publishes. No prior certification is required - Beckley pays its recruits through West Virginia Law Enforcement certification training, and the certification bonuses it offers ($5,000 for an officer already certified in West Virginia after one year, $2,500 for an accepted out-of-state certification) sit on top of the base and are excluded here, as is the $1,000 increase on completion of the first year. Hiring runs through the City's Police Civil Service Commission and applications are accepted continuously.
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.
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How this level compares
Where Beckley 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. Beckley starts at $50,530, so $17,610 below the municipal middle.
How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Beckley Police Department officer make?
Beckley Police Department starts a new officer on $50,530 a year, about $24.29 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 Beckley Police Department, Police Officer Recruitment page (City of Beckley official department site).
Is that good pay for a police officer in West Virginia?
It ranks #14 of 16 agencies we have verified in West Virginia — 2 pay less, 13 pay more in the state — and #2,056 of 2,288 nationally. Against the national median it is $16,155 below, and against other municipal agencies $17,610 below.
Compare with another department
Put Beckley 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 WV
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Beckley | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Virginia State Police | State | 440 | $60,984 | +$10,454 | #1,507 |
| 2 | Berkeley County Sheriff's Office | County | 64 | $59,187 | +$8,657 | #1,621 |
| 3 | Morgantown Police Department | Municipal | 57 | $58,157 | +$7,627 | #1,666 |
| 4 | Huntington Police Department | Municipal | 95 | $57,787 | +$7,257 | #1,702 |
| 5 | Charleston Police Department | Municipal | 152 | $57,485 | +$6,955 | #1,730 |
| 6 | Charles Town Police Department | Municipal | 16 | $57,462 | +$6,932 | #1,732 |
| 7 | Kanawha County Sheriff's Office | County | 95 | $57,054 | +$6,524 | #1,747 |
| 8 | Monongalia County Sheriff's Office | County | 35 | $56,300 | +$5,770 | #1,781 |
| 9 | Martinsburg Police Department | Municipal | 34 | $55,710 | +$5,180 | #1,809 |
| 10 | Wheeling Police Department | Municipal | 68 | $55,161 | +$4,631 | #1,842 |
| 11 | Jefferson County Sheriff's Office | County | 34 | $55,125 | +$4,595 | #1,844 |
| 12 | Moundsville Police Department | Municipal | 15 | $54,621 | +$4,091 | #1,882 |
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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