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Cincinnati 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.
Cincinnati Police Department starts at $79,359 a year — about $38.15 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $12,675 above the median of the 2,288 agencies on this list, and $11,219 above the median for municipal agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN run about 5% below the national average, so this goes about as far as $83,212 would somewhere at average prices — $3,853 more than the headline figure. Most of that is rent, at 88 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 isCincinnati Police Department reported 971 sworn officers and 122 civilian staff to the FBI for 2025. That is 3.1 officers per 1,000 residents, over a population of 316,260.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 Cincinnati says about itself
The Cincinnati Police Department will develop personnel and manage resources to promote effective partnerships with the community to improve the quality of life through the delivery of fair and impartial police services while maintaining an atmosphere of respect for human dignity.
What Cincinnati does
Cincinnati Police is the City's primary law-enforcement agency, providing a full range of police services to 52 neighborhoods and using problem solving, collaboration, evidence-based policing and innovation to improve safety and quality of life.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 14 August 2026. City of Cincinnati - FOP Queen City Lodge No. 69 (Non-Supervisors) labor agreement 2024-2027, Appendix A Wages — open the source document
Rates effective 26 April 2026 | Class: Police Officer — first officer rate | Post-academy: yes — 2026 contract separately publishes Recruit and Police Officer rates | 2026 contract supersedes the prior 2025 $77,048 figure: Recruit $60,242.15; Police Officer $79,359.46.
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.
Entry pay, 2024–2026
Every point is the entry-class annual base printed in the agency’s own pay document. Base pay only — no shift differential, incentives or allowances.
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How this level compares
Where Cincinnati 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. Cincinnati starts at $79,359, so $11,219 above the municipal middle.
How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Cincinnati Police Department officer make?
Cincinnati Police Department starts a new officer on $79,359 a year, about $38.15 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 Cincinnati - FOP Queen City Lodge No. 69 (Non-Supervisors) labor agreement 2024-2027, Appendix A Wages.
Is that good pay for a police officer in Ohio?
It ranks #6 of 53 agencies we have verified in Ohio — 47 pay less, 5 pay more in the state — and #513 of 2,288 nationally. Against the national median it is $12,675 above, and against other municipal agencies $11,219 above.
Compare with another department
Put Cincinnati 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 OH
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Cincinnati | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Westlake Police Department | Municipal | — | $88,712 | +$9,353 | #291 |
| 2 | University Heights Police Department | Municipal | 29 | $82,259 | +$2,900 | #421 |
| 3 | Powell Police Department | Municipal | 21 | $81,426 | +$2,067 | #444 |
| 4 | Springfield Police Department | Municipal | 123 | $80,764 | +$1,404 | #468 |
| 5 | Stow Police Department | Municipal | 45 | $80,288 | +$929 | #486 |
| 7 | Hilliard Police Department | Municipal | 63 | $79,248 | −$111 | #515 |
| 8 | Kettering Police Department | Municipal | 79 | $79,227 | −$132 | #517 |
| 9 | Canfield Police Department | Municipal | 21 | $79,002 | −$357 | #522 |
| 10 | Mentor Police Department | Municipal | — | $77,849 | −$1,511 | #563 |
| 11 | Dayton Police Department | Municipal | 342 | $77,411 | −$1,948 | #575 |
| 12 | West Chester Township Police Department | Municipal | 92 | $77,027 | −$2,332 | #584 |
| 13 | Beavercreek Police Department | Municipal | 53 | $76,918 | −$2,441 | #588 |
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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