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Champaign 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.
Champaign Police Department starts at $80,925 a year — about $38.91 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $12,535 above the median of the 1,681 agencies on this list, and $9,661 above the median for municipal agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in Champaign-Urbana, IL run about 7% below the national average, so this goes about as far as $87,294 would somewhere at average prices — $6,369 more than the headline figure. Most of that is rent, at 72 against a national average of 100, where goods are 94. 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 isChampaign Police Department reported 120 sworn officers and 31 civilian staff to the FBI for 2025. That is 1.3 officers per 1,000 residents, over a population of 92,875.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 Champaign says about itself
The mission of the Champaign Police Department is to protect and serve all. We do so with dedication, respect, and collaboration with our community. We are honest, transparent, and inclusive. We work to provide the highest level of professional service and protection.
What Champaign does
Champaign Police Department says its mission is to protect and serve all with dedication, respect and collaboration with the community. It describes itself as honest, transparent and inclusive and seeks to provide professional service and protection, use progressive practices, build strong police-community relationships, promote safety, reduce crime and improve quality of life. Its guiding principles emphasize service, trust, integrity and respect
Where the figure comes from
Checked 15 August 2026. City of Champaign Police Department official Recruitment page (entry-level figure via the City's National Testing Network posting) — open the source document
Entry-level probationary Police Officer starting salary $80,925. The City's own recruitment page separately advertises a beginning annual salary of $86,132.28-$91,339.82 'commensurate with experience' for LATERAL officers, plus a $20,000 incentive for experienced laterals joining before 31 December 2026.
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 Champaign 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. Champaign starts at $80,925, so $9,638 above the municipal middle.
How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Champaign Police Department officer make?
Champaign Police Department starts a new officer on $80,925 a year, about $38.91 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 Champaign Police Department official Recruitment page (entry-level figure via the City's National Testing Network posting).
Is that good pay for a police officer in Illinois?
It ranks #15 of 35 agencies we have verified in Illinois — 20 pay less, 14 pay more in the state — and #381 of 1,681 nationally. Against the national median it is $12,535 above, and against other municipal agencies $9,661 above.
Compare with another department
Put Champaign 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 IL
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Champaign | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vernon Hills Police Department | Municipal | 44 | $94,460 | +$13,535 | #151 |
| 2 | Wilmette Police Department | Municipal | 45 | $93,156 | +$12,231 | #165 |
| 3 | Aurora Police Department | Municipal | 328 | $92,248 | +$11,323 | #176 |
| 4 | Des Plaines Police Department | Municipal | 97 | $91,440 | +$10,515 | #186 |
| 5 | Highland Park Police Department | Municipal | 60 | $91,158 | +$10,233 | #191 |
| 6 | Illinois State Police | State | 1,821 | $90,828 | +$9,903 | #199 |
| 7 | River Forest Police Department | Municipal | 26 | $90,106 | +$9,181 | #213 |
| 8 | Elgin Police Department | Municipal | 203 | $88,274 | +$7,349 | #245 |
| 9 | Lake County Sheriff's Office | County | 113 | $87,297 | +$6,372 | #259 |
| 10 | Woodridge Police Department | Municipal | 47 | $84,781 | +$3,856 | #294 |
| 11 | DeKalb Police Department | Municipal | 72 | $83,449 | +$2,524 | #326 |
| 12 | Rolling Meadows Police Department | Municipal | 49 | $81,439 | +$514 | #362 |
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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