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Charlottesville 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.
Charlottesville Police Department starts at $56,680 a year — about $27.25 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $11,710 below the median of the 1,681 agencies on this list, and $14,584 below the median for municipal agencies.
How big the department isCharlottesville Police Department reported 105 sworn officers and 31 civilian staff to the FBI for 2025. That is 2.4 officers per 1,000 residents, over a population of 44,478.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 Charlottesville says about itself
In partnership with the community, we strive to improve the quality of life of those who live, work, and visit our city. We will do this by creating a safe and secure environment through professional, empathetic, relational, and accountable policing practices.
What Charlottesville does
Charlottesville Police Officers are sworn members of the department who protect and serve citizens through enforcement of laws and ordinances, routine patrol, preliminary investigation and traffic enforcement.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 10 August 2026. employer-controlled City of Charlottesville NEOGOV Police Officer class specification and Police Officer Recruit posting — open the source document
Their source is effective 10 August 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.
How this level compares
Where Charlottesville 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. Charlottesville starts at $56,680, so $14,607 below the municipal middle.
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How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Charlottesville Police Department officer make?
Charlottesville Police Department starts a new officer on $56,680 a year, about $27.25 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 employer-controlled City of Charlottesville NEOGOV Police Officer class specification and Police Officer Recruit posting.
Is that good pay for a police officer in Virginia?
It ranks #25 of 36 agencies we have verified in Virginia — 11 pay less, 24 pay more in the state — and #1,380 of 1,681 nationally. Against the national median it is $11,710 below, and against other municipal agencies $14,584 below.
Compare with another department
Put Charlottesville 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 VA
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Charlottesville | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arlington County Police Department | County | 299 | $90,012 | +$33,332 | #215 |
| 2 | Falls Church Police Department | Municipal | 32 | $76,400 | +$19,720 | #496 |
| 3 | Alexandria Police Department | Municipal | 264 | $75,000 | +$18,320 | #560 |
| 4 | Fairfax County Police Department | County | 1,390 | $74,035 | +$17,355 | #593 |
| 5 | Prince William County Police Department | County | 656 | $74,000 | +$17,320 | #595 |
| 6 | Loudoun County Sheriff's Office | County | 648 | $70,955 | +$14,275 | #727 |
| 7 | Leesburg Police Department | Municipal | 74 | $68,500 | +$11,820 | #834 |
| 8 | Prince William County Sheriff's Office | County | 656 | $66,596 | +$9,916 | #941 |
| 9 | Henrico County Police Division | County | 628 | $65,959 | +$9,279 | #968 |
| 10 | Fairfax County Sheriff's Office | County | 433 | $64,997 | +$8,317 | #1,025 |
| 11 | Richmond Police Department | Municipal | 608 | $63,360 | +$6,680 | #1,091 |
| 12 | Hanover County Sheriff's Office | County | 247 | $63,345 | +$6,665 | #1,093 |
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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