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Colorado State Patrol 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.
Colorado State Patrol starts at $91,620 a year — about $44.05 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $23,230 above the median of the 1,681 agencies on this list, and $26,622 above the median for state agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in Colorado run about 3% above the national average, so this is worth roughly $88,907 somewhere at average prices — $2,713 less than the headline figure. Most of that is rent, at 127 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 isColorado State Patrol reported 706 sworn officers 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 Colorado State Patrol says about itself
The mission of the Colorado State Patrol is to ensure a safe and secure environment for all persons by utilizing the strengths of our members to provide professional law enforcement services that reflect our Core Values of Honor, Duty, and Respect.
What Colorado State Patrol does
The Colorado State Patrol has about 1,100 members and, alongside motor-vehicle safety on the state's roadways, is responsible for protecting the Governor and other dignitaries, commercial motor vehicle enforcement, hazardous materials, homeland security, communications, investigative services, criminal interdiction and aviation operations.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 8 August 2026. Colorado State Patrol official — Pay and Benefits — open the source document
$91,620. Official page states this reflects the most current pay-rate raise in 2024; verified 8 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 Colorado State Patrol 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. Colorado State Patrol starts at $91,620, so $26,622 above the state middle.
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How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Colorado State Patrol officer make?
Colorado State Patrol starts a new officer on $91,620 a year, about $44.05 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 Colorado State Patrol official — Pay and Benefits.
Is that good pay for a police officer in Colorado?
It ranks #1 of 35 agencies we have verified in Colorado — the highest in the state in the state — and #184 of 1,681 nationally. Against the national median it is $23,230 above, and against other state agencies $26,622 above.
Compare with another department
Put Colorado State Patrol 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 CO
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Colorado | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Parker Police Department | Municipal | 89 | $89,898 | −$1,722 | #217 |
| 3 | Johnstown Police Department | Municipal | 26 | $86,944 | −$4,676 | #266 |
| 4 | Broomfield Police Department | Municipal | 135 | $86,029 | −$5,591 | #278 |
| 5 | Golden Police Department | Municipal | 53 | $85,321 | −$6,299 | #287 |
| 6 | Lakewood Police Department | Municipal | 274 | $85,093 | −$6,527 | #291 |
| 7 | Breckenridge Police Department | Municipal | 25 | $83,990 | −$7,630 | #310 |
| 8 | Thornton Police Department | Municipal | 243 | $82,992 | −$8,628 | #332 |
| 9 | Commerce City Police Department | Municipal | 109 | $82,327 | −$9,293 | #341 |
| 10 | Larimer County Sheriff's Office | County | 228 | $81,765 | −$9,855 | #353 |
| 11 | Westminster Police Department | Municipal | 187 | $80,746 | −$10,874 | #387 |
| 12 | Boulder County Sheriff's Office | County | 106 | $80,496 | −$11,124 | #395 |
| 13 | Arapahoe County Sheriff's Office | County | 560 | $79,539 | −$12,081 | #418 |
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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