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Colchester 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.
Colchester Police Department starts at $66,560 a year — about $32.00 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $1,830 below the median of the 1,681 agencies on this list, and $4,704 below the median for municipal agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in Vermont run about 2% below the national average, so this goes about as far as $67,947 would somewhere at average prices — $1,387 more than the headline figure. That average hides a wide spread: utilities at 126, where goods are 97. 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 isColchester Police Department reported 27 sworn officers and 12 civilian staff to the FBI for 2025. That is 1.5 officers per 1,000 residents, over a population of 17,884.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.
About Colchester
Colchester Police Department says its officers serve residents, businesses and visitors and that the department supports officers with training, tools and career opportunities. The department offers assignments including investigations, school resource, harbor, detective, motorcycle and bicycle duties.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 15 August 2026. Town of Colchester — Employment — 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 Colchester 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. Colchester starts at $66,560, so $4,727 below the municipal middle.
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How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Colchester Police Department officer make?
Colchester Police Department starts a new officer on $66,560 a year, about $32.00 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 Town of Colchester — Employment.
Is that good pay for a police officer in Vermont?
It ranks #4 of 7 agencies we have verified in Vermont — 3 pay less, 3 pay more in the state — and #946 of 1,681 nationally. Against the national median it is $1,830 below, and against other municipal agencies $4,704 below.
Compare with another department
Put Colchester 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 VT
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Colchester | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Burlington Police Department | Municipal | 59 | $81,653 | +$15,093 | #356 |
| 2 | Montpelier Police Department | Municipal | 15 | $80,870 | +$14,310 | #385 |
| 3 | Vermont State Police | State | 256 | $71,947 | +$5,387 | #670 |
| 5 | South Burlington Police Department | Municipal | 33 | $64,668 | −$1,892 | #1,036 |
| 6 | Winooski Police Department | Municipal | 15 | $63,752 | −$2,808 | #1,070 |
| 7 | Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife — Vermont Warden Service | State | — | $58,344 | −$8,216 | #1,304 |
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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