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Columbia Falls 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.
Columbia Falls Police Department starts at $57,366 a year — about $27.58 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $9,318 below the median of the 2,288 agencies on this list, and $10,774 below the median for municipal agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in Montana run about 5% below the national average, so this goes about as far as $60,612 would somewhere at average prices — $3,246 more than the headline figure. Most of that is utilities, at 72 against a national average of 100, where goods are 96. 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 isColumbia Falls Police Department reported 11 sworn officers and 1 civilian staff to the FBI for 2025. That is 1.9 officers per 1,000 residents, over a population of 5,796.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 Columbia Falls says about itself
Officers respond to calls for service, enhance public safety, provide traffic enforcement, investigate all major and minor crimes, transport prisoners to jail and testify in court.
What Columbia Falls does
The Columbia Falls Police Department is the municipal force for the City of Columbia Falls in Flathead County, north-west Montana. The City lists calls for service, traffic enforcement, criminal investigations, prisoner transport and court testimony among its officers' work.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 26 September 2026. City of Columbia Falls, "Join the Columbia Falls Police Department" Patrol Officer notice: "Starting wage is $27.58 per hour without prior experience or a degree." — open the source document
The City labels $27.58 an hour the starting wage for a hire with no prior experience or degree, converted at 2,080 hours ($57,366.40). The notice is the City's own - applications go to the City Clerk at 130 6th Street W. - held in its CivicPlus media library, with the first review of applications on 17 February 2026. The City has since ratified a new police contract that was not found on its site, so a July 2026 rise is possible. Excluded: the uniform allowance, step increases and stipends under the contract.
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 Columbia Falls 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. Columbia Falls starts at $57,366, so $10,774 below the municipal middle.
How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Columbia Falls Police Department officer make?
Columbia Falls Police Department starts a new officer on $57,366 a year, about $27.58 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 Columbia Falls, "Join the Columbia Falls Police Department" Patrol Officer notice: "Starting wage is $27.58 per hour without prior experience or a degree.".
Is that good pay for a police officer in Montana?
It ranks #20 of 25 agencies we have verified in Montana — 5 pay less, 19 pay more in the state — and #1,737 of 2,288 nationally. Against the national median it is $9,318 below, and against other municipal agencies $10,774 below.
Compare with another department
Put Columbia Falls 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 MT
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Columbia | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Missoula Police Department | Municipal | 117 | $95,326 | +$37,960 | #180 |
| 2 | Bozeman Police Department | Municipal | 73 | $79,581 | +$22,214 | #504 |
| 3 | Gallatin County Sheriff's Office | County | 72 | $79,456 | +$22,090 | #511 |
| 4 | Kalispell Police Department | Municipal | 52 | $79,334 | +$21,968 | #514 |
| 5 | Missoula County Sheriff's Office | County | 59 | $77,563 | +$20,197 | #570 |
| 6 | Great Falls Police Department | Municipal | 90 | $76,253 | +$18,886 | #613 |
| 7 | Cascade County Sheriff's Office | County | 43 | $73,778 | +$16,411 | #727 |
| 8 | Yellowstone County Sheriff's Office | County | 65 | $72,800 | +$15,434 | #774 |
| 9 | Belgrade Police Department | Municipal | 26 | $71,761 | +$14,395 | #831 |
| 10 | Montana Highway Patrol | State | 225 | $71,240 | +$13,874 | #862 |
| 11 | Lewis and Clark County Sheriff's Office | County | 54 | $69,285 | +$11,918 | #973 |
| 12 | Billings Police Department | Municipal | 164 | $69,056 | +$11,690 | #988 |
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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