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Bozeman 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.
Bozeman Police Department starts at $79,581 a year — about $38.26 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $11,191 above the median of the 1,681 agencies on this list, and $8,317 above the median for municipal agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in Bozeman, MT run about 3% above the national average, so this is worth roughly $77,632 somewhere at average prices — $1,949 less than the headline figure. That average hides a wide spread: rent at 139, 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 isBozeman Police Department reported 73 sworn officers and 16 civilian staff to the FBI for 2025. That is 1.2 officers per 1,000 residents, over a population of 58,949.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 Bozeman says about itself
Our Mission is to keep Bozeman the most livable place through public safety and community partnerships.
What Bozeman does
The Bozeman Police Department says its Police Officers protect life and property, preserve public peace and prevent crime by enforcing federal, state and local laws with integrity and professionalism. Officers perform patrol, investigation, emergency-response and community public-safety duties
Where the figure comes from
Checked 8 August 2026. City of Bozeman official 2026 — open the source document
Opened 8 June 2026; official minimum $38.26/hour = $79,580.80 annually. Prior law-enforcement experience is not required for the standard Police Officer route; experience-based placement and incentives are excluded
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 Bozeman 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. Bozeman starts at $79,581, so $8,294 above the municipal middle.
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How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Bozeman Police Department officer make?
Bozeman Police Department starts a new officer on $79,581 a year, about $38.26 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 Bozeman official 2026.
Is that good pay for a police officer in Montana?
It ranks #2 of 23 agencies we have verified in Montana — 21 pay less, 1 pay more in the state — and #416 of 1,681 nationally. Against the national median it is $11,191 above, and against other municipal agencies $8,317 above.
Compare with another department
Put Bozeman 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 MT
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Bozeman | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Missoula Police Department | Municipal | 117 | $95,326 | +$15,746 | #142 |
| 3 | Gallatin County Sheriff's Office | County | 72 | $79,456 | −$125 | #421 |
| 4 | Kalispell Police Department | Municipal | 52 | $79,334 | −$247 | #424 |
| 5 | Missoula County Sheriff's Office | County | 59 | $77,563 | −$2,018 | #468 |
| 6 | Great Falls Police Department | Municipal | 90 | $76,253 | −$3,328 | #504 |
| 7 | Cascade County Sheriff's Office | County | 43 | $73,778 | −$5,803 | #603 |
| 8 | Yellowstone County Sheriff's Office | County | 65 | $72,800 | −$6,781 | #637 |
| 9 | Belgrade Police Department | Municipal | 26 | $71,761 | −$7,820 | #682 |
| 10 | Montana Highway Patrol | State | 225 | $71,240 | −$8,341 | #712 |
| 11 | Lewis and Clark County Sheriff's Office | County | 54 | $69,285 | −$10,296 | #799 |
| 12 | Billings Police Department | Municipal | 164 | $69,056 | −$10,525 | #812 |
| 13 | Butte-Silver Bow Law Enforcement Department | Municipal | — | $67,648 | −$11,933 | #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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