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Bowling Green 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.
Bowling Green Police Department starts at $63,839 a year — about $30.69 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $4,551 below the median of the 1,681 agencies on this list, and $7,425 below the median for municipal agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in Bowling Green, KY run about 10% below the national average, so this goes about as far as $70,791 would somewhere at average prices — $6,952 more than the headline figure. Most of that is rent, at 63 against a national average of 100, where goods are 96. Based on price levels for this metropolitan 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 isBowling Green Police Department reported 140 sworn officers and 42 civilian staff to the FBI for 2025. That is 1.7 officers per 1,000 residents, over a population of 80,821.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 Bowling Green says about itself
We, the members of the Bowling Green Police Department, in partnership with the community and on behalf of the City, commit ourselves to maintaining order. DESCRIPTION: The dedicated official Police Mission page describes maintaining order, creating safe and secure neighborhoods, promoting driver safety, quality service, problem-solving partnerships, integrity and respect.
What Bowling Green does
Bowling Green Police Department states that its members, in partnership with the community and on behalf of the City, commit themselves to maintaining order.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 10 August 2026. City of Bowling Green FY2026 Classification Pay Schedules — open the source document
Their source is effective 1 July 2025.
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 Bowling Green 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. Bowling Green starts at $63,839, so $7,448 below the municipal middle.
How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Bowling Green Police Department officer make?
Bowling Green Police Department starts a new officer on $63,839 a year, about $30.69 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 Bowling Green FY2026 Classification Pay Schedules.
Is that good pay for a police officer in Kentucky?
It ranks #3 of 8 agencies we have verified in Kentucky — 5 pay less, 2 pay more in the state — and #1,066 of 1,681 nationally. Against the national median it is $4,551 below, and against other municipal agencies $7,425 below.
Compare with another department
Put Bowling Green 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 KY
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Bowling | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Louisville Metro Police Department | Municipal | 1,013 | $66,760 | +$2,921 | #932 |
| 2 | Kentucky State Police | State | 1,078 | $64,998 | +$1,159 | #1,024 |
| 4 | Owensboro Police Department | Municipal | 101 | $62,254 | −$1,585 | #1,144 |
| 5 | Henderson Police Department | Municipal | 58 | $51,778 | −$12,061 | #1,523 |
| 6 | Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources — Law Enforcement Division | State | — | $47,794 | −$16,045 | #1,603 |
| 7 | University of Kentucky Police Department | Special jurisdiction | 76 | $47,278 | −$16,561 | #1,606 |
| 8 | Shelby County Sheriff's Office | County | — | $39,520 | −$24,319 | #1,657 |
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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