Buckeye Police Department entry pay

What Buckeye says about itself

Serving the community with courage, commitment and excellence.

What Buckeye does

The Buckeye Police Department is the municipal police agency for Buckeye, Arizona, a rapidly growing city on the western edge of the Phoenix metropolitan area in Maricopa County. It employs sworn officers and professional civilian staff across patrol, investigations, victim services, records, property and evidence, and traffic functions. The department also runs community programs including a Citizens Academy, volunteer opportunities, a false alarm reduction program and an officer memorial. It is an accredited law enforcement agency and publishes annual reports and crime statistics.

Where the figure comes from

Checked 21 September 2026. Buckeye Police Department "Join Our Team" recruiting page, FAQ "What is the pay scale?", and its posted step-plan graphic headed "What is the step plan?" with columns "STEP / ANNUALLY / HOURLY", row "1 $76,003 $36.54". — open the source document
The figure is Step 1 of the Buckeye Police Department's published police officer step plan — the base annual salary of a sworn Buckeye police officer at the bottom of the scale. The City of Buckeye posts the scale on the police department's own "Join Our Team" page, under the FAQ heading "What is the pay scale?", where the text reads: "The pay scale for police officers follows this step plan beginning with recruit level. Lateral officers are hired up to step seven." The scale itself is a graphic headed "What is the step plan?" with three column headings — "STEP", "ANNUALLY" and "HOURLY" — and nine rows: RECRUIT $72,196 / $34.71, then Step 1 $76,003 / $36.54, Step 2 $79,809 / $38.37, Step 3 $83,803 / $40.29, Step 4 $87,984 / $42.30, Step 5 $92,393 / $44.42, Step 6 $97,011 / $46.64, Step 7 $101,857 / $48.97 and Step 8 $106,953 / $51.42. Because the graphic labels its own columns "ANNUALLY" and "HOURLY", the pay basis is stated on the document and the figure is publishable on that count; the two columns reconcile at a 2,080-hour year. On the effective date: the document does not state one, and neither does the page that carries it. There is no "effective", "adopted" or fiscal-year line anywhere on the graphic or in the FAQ, and the City of Buckeye's Human Resources section publishes no pay plan or classification-and-compensation document that would supply a date. The only dating evidence available is indirect — the image file was published to the city's content system on July 21, 2026 (the timestamp embedded in its URL), which places it in fiscal year 2026-27 — but that is a file publish timestamp, not a stated effective date, and it should not be reported as one. The honest statement is that this figure carries no stated effective date; it was confirmed live on the city's site on September 21, 2026. On the gate question, the gate below Step 1 is the RECRUIT row at $72,196, and the gate between them is academy completion, not prior sworn service. The same page states it plainly in the benefits list: "RECRUITS earn $76,000 post academy plus all required equipment and uniform costs covered." A recruit is paid $72,196 while in training and moves to the Step 1 rate of $76,003 on finishing the academy, so $76,003 is the correct entry rate for a sworn officer with no prior service, and the recruit rate is correctly excluded. The gate above Step 1 is ordinary step progression through Steps 2 to 8. Three things could mislead a reader. First, the FAQ's rounded "$76,000" figure is the same rate as the precise $76,003 in the graphic — they are not two different numbers, and the graphic's exact figure is the one to publish. Second, the sentence "Lateral officers are hired up to step seven" means experienced hires can enter as high as $101,857; that is a lateral placement ceiling and is not the entry rate. Third, the benefits list advertises "Bilingual compensation program" and "Shift differential pay" — both are separate add-ons listed alongside the base scale rather than components folded into it, so the $76,003 is uncontaminated base pay.
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 Buckeye sits is partly about the agency and partly about which level of policing it belongs to. The three levels do not pay the same.

How it ranks

Common questions

How much does a Buckeye Police Department officer make?

Buckeye Police Department starts a new officer on $76,003 a year, about $36.54 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 Buckeye Police Department "Join Our Team" recruiting page, FAQ "What is the pay scale?", and its posted step-plan graphic headed "What is the step plan?" with columns "STEP / ANNUALLY / HOURLY", row "1 $76,003 $36.54"..

Is that good pay for a police officer in Arizona?

It ranks #4 of 36 agencies we have verified in Arizona — 32 pay less, 3 pay more in the state — and #626 of 2,288 nationally. Against the national median it is $9,318 above, and against other municipal agencies $7,863 above.

The agencies either side of it