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Cobb County 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.
Cobb County Police Department starts at $54,000 a year — about $25.96 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $12,685 below the median of the 2,288 agencies on this list, and $14,140 below the median for municipal agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in Georgia run about 4% below the national average, so this goes about as far as $56,079 would somewhere at average prices — $2,079 more than the headline figure. Most of that is rent, at 89 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 isCobb County Police Department reported 639 sworn officers and 107 civilian staff to the FBI for 2025.No rate is shown: this agency does not police a single population the FBI publishes a figure for. 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 Cobb County says about itself
The Cobb County Police Department is committed to serving our community. We will demonstrate professional excellence in our Department by utilizing proven police methodology, new technology, and superb training.
What Cobb County does
Cobb County Police Department polices a large metropolitan Atlanta county from headquarters on South Fairground Street in Marietta, under a chief and three deputy chiefs. The county is divided into precincts covering the north-west, south-west, south-east, north-east, west and north, each with its own commander and its own criminal investigations unit handling property crime in that area, grouped into districts under majors. Beyond patrol the department runs a ranger unit enforcing state law and county ordinances on Cobb's park properties, a code enforcement division pairing code officers with police officers, and a reserve unit of volunteers and former full-time Cobb officers who retired or resigned in good standing with at least fifteen years' service. It is CALEA accredited and runs its own public safety police academy.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 13 August 2026. $54,000 annual entry-level base pay. Current official Cobb County January 2026 Police Officer Entry Level and Lateral recruitment explicitly states Entry Level Police Officer base pay of $54,000; lateral credit is separately handled. — open the source document
$54,000 annual entry-level base pay. Current official Cobb County January 2026 Police Officer Entry Level and Lateral recruitment explicitly states Entry Level Police Officer base pay of $54,000; lateral credit is separately handled.
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 Cobb County 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. Cobb County starts at $54,000, so $14,140 below the municipal middle.
How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Cobb County Police Department officer make?
Cobb County Police Department starts a new officer on $54,000 a year, about $25.96 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 $54,000 annual entry-level base pay. Current official Cobb County January 2026 Police Officer Entry Level and Lateral recruitment explicitly states Entry Level Police Officer base pay of $54,000; lateral credit is separately handled..
Is that good pay for a police officer in Georgia?
It ranks #50 of 80 agencies we have verified in Georgia — 30 pay less, 49 pay more in the state — and #1,913 of 2,288 nationally. Against the national median it is $12,685 below, and against other municipal agencies $14,140 below.
Compare with another department
Put Cobb County 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 GA
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Cobb | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chamblee Police Department | Municipal | 68 | $73,733 | +$19,733 | #729 |
| 2 | Sandy Springs Police Department | Municipal | 149 | $71,686 | +$17,686 | #836 |
| 3 | Georgia Bureau of Investigation | State | 338 | $64,977 | +$10,977 | #1,265 |
| 4 | Duluth Police Department | Municipal | 57 | $64,755 | +$10,755 | #1,279 |
| 5 | Garden City Police Department | Municipal | 35 | $64,072 | +$10,072 | #1,314 |
| 6 | Georgia State Patrol | State | — | $63,684 | +$9,684 | #1,336 |
| 7 | South Fulton Police Department | Municipal | 213 | $63,440 | +$9,440 | #1,354 |
| 8 | Hall County Sheriff's Office | County | 283 | $63,365 | +$9,365 | #1,359 |
| 9 | Roswell Police Department | Municipal | 154 | $62,462 | +$8,462 | #1,413 |
| 10 | Dunwoody Police Department | Municipal | 66 | $62,301 | +$8,301 | #1,428 |
| 11 | Savannah Police Department | Municipal | 425 | $61,989 | +$7,989 | #1,450 |
| 12 | Alpharetta Police Department | Municipal | 105 | $61,100 | +$7,100 | #1,495 |
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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