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Chandler 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.
Chandler Police Department starts at $74,610 a year — about $35.87 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $7,925 above the median of the 2,288 agencies on this list, and $6,470 above the median for municipal agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ run about 3% above the national average, so this is worth roughly $72,215 somewhere at average prices — $2,395 less than the headline figure. Most of that is rent, at 121 against a national average of 100, where goods are 95. 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 isChandler Police Department reported 348 sworn officers and 172 civilian staff to the FBI for 2025. That is 1.2 officers per 1,000 residents, over a population of 282,191.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 Chandler says about itself
The Chandler Police Department's mission is to protect lives and property while fostering a sense of security for all people within the community.
What Chandler does
Chandler Police Department states its mission as providing a safe community where people can live, work and thrive. Its official vision is to be a world-class law-enforcement leader by pursuing highly trained, equipped and committed professionals, high standards of performance and best policing practices in partnership with the community
Where the figure comes from
Checked 10 August 2026. City of Chandler official Police Officer class specification — open the source document
The official Police Officer class specification starts at $35.87/hour, the same $74,609.60 annualized rate used in our record. Although the source recruitment is titled Police Officer Recruit, our figure matches the sworn Police Officer class minimum rather than a lower academy-only rate.
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 Chandler 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 | $68,140 | $163,619 | 1549 |
| County | $35,000 | $63,565 | $132,263 | 516 |
| Special jurisdiction | $31,200 | $60,204 | $107,954 | 71 |
| State | $33,994 | $65,166 | $110,916 | 145 |
| 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 $5,400 more than the middle municipal agency and about $9,900 more than the middle county agency and about $13,300 more than the middle special jurisdiction agency and about $8,300 more than the middle state agency and about $45,300 more than the middle territory agency. Chandler starts at $74,610, so $6,470 above the municipal middle.
How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Chandler Police Department officer make?
Chandler Police Department starts a new officer on $74,610 a year, about $35.87 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 Chandler official Police Officer class specification.
Is that good pay for a police officer in Arizona?
It ranks #7 of 36 agencies we have verified in Arizona — 29 pay less, 6 pay more in the state — and #693 of 2,288 nationally. Against the national median it is $7,925 above, and against other municipal agencies $6,470 above.
Compare with another department
Put Chandler 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 AZ
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Chandler | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Scottsdale Police Department | Municipal | 391 | $81,474 | +$6,864 | #440 |
| 2 | Tempe Police Department | Municipal | 353 | $79,977 | +$5,367 | #497 |
| 3 | Goodyear Police Department | Municipal | 174 | $77,147 | +$2,537 | #580 |
| 4 | Buckeye Police Department | Municipal | 133 | $76,003 | +$1,393 | #626 |
| 5 | Phoenix Police Department | Municipal | 2,490 | $75,847 | +$1,237 | #637 |
| 6 | Queen Creek Police Department | Municipal | 132 | $74,693 | +$83 | #689 |
| 8 | Surprise Police Department | Municipal | 179 | $74,214 | −$395 | #707 |
| 9 | Peoria Police Department | Municipal | 234 | $74,194 | −$416 | #708 |
| 10 | Mesa Police Department | Municipal | 885 | $73,972 | −$638 | #720 |
| 11 | Glendale Police Department | Municipal | 406 | $73,389 | −$1,220 | #742 |
| 12 | Casa Grande Police Department | Municipal | 82 | $72,860 | −$1,750 | #768 |
| 13 | Gilbert Police Department | Municipal | 310 | $71,906 | −$2,704 | #818 |
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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