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Castle Rock 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.
Castle Rock Police Department starts at $85,488 a year — about $41.10 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $18,221 above the median of the 2,053 agencies on this list, and $16,702 above the median for municipal agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in Colorado run about 3% above the national average, so this is worth roughly $82,956 somewhere at average prices — $2,532 less than the headline figure. Most of that is rent, at 127 against a national average of 100, where goods are 99. 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 isCastle Rock Police Department reported 94 sworn officers and 39 civilian staff to the FBI for 2025. That is 1.1 officers per 1,000 residents, over a population of 85,729.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 Castle Rock says about itself
The Castle Rock Police Department is one of the premier policing agencies in Colorado.
What Castle Rock does
The Castle Rock Police Department serves the Town of Castle Rock in Douglas County, Colorado.
Castle Rock’s rotation, in BlueShifts
"Most patrol officers work four 10-hour shifts per week. Officers bid for shifts annually."
The rotation template screen — enter the cycle and the start date, and you are done.
DayNight24 hrsOff
Every month, already filled in — no typing, however far ahead you look.
September 2026
This cycle has its own page: how it works, and how to build it.
Four tens and three off is a seven-day week, and which four days you hold comes out of the annual bid. BlueShifts builds your week once from the bid and fills in every month ahead.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 20 September 2026. Town of Castle Rock, Becoming a Police Officer, 2026 starting salary at under one year of experience — open the source document
2026 rate. The Town pays cadets sent to the academy the same 'Under 1 year of experience' tier; the range runs to $119,516 at six years.
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.
BlueShifts. Plan Your Year. Own Your Time.
The shift calendar built for your rotation, off-duty work, and life on and off the clock.
Save your shift schedule once and BlueShifts fills the rest of the year in.
How this level compares
Where Castle Rock 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 | $68,786 | $163,619 | 1372 |
| County | $35,000 | $64,438 | $132,263 | 459 |
| Special jurisdiction | $31,200 | $60,204 | $107,954 | 71 |
| State | $33,994 | $65,400 | $110,916 | 144 |
| 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 $4,700 more than the middle municipal agency and about $9,100 more than the middle county agency and about $13,300 more than the middle special jurisdiction agency and about $8,100 more than the middle state agency and about $45,300 more than the middle territory agency. Castle Rock starts at $85,488, so $16,702 above the municipal middle.
How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Castle Rock Police Department officer make?
Castle Rock Police Department starts a new officer on $85,488 a year, about $41.10 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 Town of Castle Rock, Becoming a Police Officer, 2026 starting salary at under one year of experience.
Is that good pay for a police officer in Colorado?
It ranks #8 of 44 agencies we have verified in Colorado — 36 pay less, 7 pay more in the state — and #312 of 2,053 nationally. Against the national median it is $18,221 above, and against other municipal agencies $16,702 above.
What shifts do Castle Rock Police Department officers work?
"Most patrol officers work four 10-hour shifts per week. Officers bid for shifts annually." That is the agency's own published wording; the pattern is drawn on this page.
Compare with another department
Put Castle Rock 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 CO
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Castle | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fort Collins Police Services | Municipal | 241 | $103,544 | +$18,056 | #79 |
| 2 | Colorado State Patrol | State | 706 | $91,620 | +$6,132 | #201 |
| 3 | Arvada Police Department | Municipal | 159 | $90,555 | +$5,067 | #226 |
| 4 | Parker Police Department | Municipal | 89 | $89,898 | +$4,410 | #239 |
| 5 | Longmont Police Department | Municipal | 150 | $87,312 | +$1,824 | #285 |
| 6 | Johnstown Police Department | Municipal | 26 | $86,944 | +$1,456 | #292 |
| 7 | Broomfield Police Department | Municipal | 135 | $86,029 | +$541 | #304 |
| 9 | Golden Police Department | Municipal | 53 | $85,321 | −$167 | #316 |
| 10 | Lakewood Police Department | Municipal | 274 | $85,093 | −$395 | #319 |
| 11 | Breckenridge Police Department | Municipal | 25 | $83,990 | −$1,498 | #340 |
| 12 | Littleton Police Department | Municipal | 86 | $83,280 | −$2,208 | #360 |
| 13 | Thornton Police Department | Municipal | 243 | $82,992 | −$2,496 | #364 |
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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