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Crystal Lake 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.
Crystal Lake Police Department starts at $78,083 a year — about $37.54 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $9,693 above the median of the 1,681 agencies on this list, and $6,819 above the median for municipal agencies.
How big the department isCrystal Lake Police Department reported 71 sworn officers and 12 civilian staff to the FBI for 2025. That is 1.7 officers per 1,000 residents, over a population of 41,838.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 Crystal Lake says about itself
The Crystal Lake Police Department is comprised of 77 sworn officers and 13 civilian employees who strive on a daily basis to provide professional, courteous and uncompromised service to the community. The Department builds community partnership by upholding public trust, fostering mutual respect, and providing services to enhance Crystal Lake residents' quality of life.
What Crystal Lake does
Crystal Lake Police Department is a CALEA-accredited agency serving a McHenry County city north-west of Chicago, organised into two divisions. Operations covers initial response, motor vehicle enforcement, criminal investigations and special event planning: its patrol unit runs forty-nine patrol officers, nine sergeants and two patrol commanders, while its criminal investigations unit holds six detectives, three school resource officers, two officers in a targeted response unit and a task force officer assigned to the Drug Enforcement Administration. The Administration Division, under a deputy chief, covers records, training, property control and community relations. Since 1997 the department has been a member of the McHenry County Major Investigation Assistance Team, which supports member agencies investigating homicides and other exceptionally serious crimes.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 8 August 2026. City of Crystal Lake official Police — open the source document
Opened 23 January 2026; official entry-level Police Officer minimum $78,083
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 Crystal Lake 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. Crystal Lake starts at $78,083, so $6,796 above the municipal middle.
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How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Crystal Lake Police Department officer make?
Crystal Lake Police Department starts a new officer on $78,083 a year, about $37.54 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 Crystal Lake official Police.
Is that good pay for a police officer in Illinois?
It ranks #18 of 35 agencies we have verified in Illinois — 17 pay less, 17 pay more in the state — and #457 of 1,681 nationally. Against the national median it is $9,693 above, and against other municipal agencies $6,819 above.
Compare with another department
Put Crystal Lake 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 IL
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Crystal | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vernon Hills Police Department | Municipal | 44 | $94,460 | +$16,377 | #151 |
| 2 | Wilmette Police Department | Municipal | 45 | $93,156 | +$15,073 | #165 |
| 3 | Aurora Police Department | Municipal | 328 | $92,248 | +$14,165 | #176 |
| 4 | Des Plaines Police Department | Municipal | 97 | $91,440 | +$13,357 | #186 |
| 5 | Highland Park Police Department | Municipal | 60 | $91,158 | +$13,075 | #191 |
| 6 | Illinois State Police | State | 1,821 | $90,828 | +$12,745 | #199 |
| 7 | River Forest Police Department | Municipal | 26 | $90,106 | +$12,023 | #213 |
| 8 | Elgin Police Department | Municipal | 203 | $88,274 | +$10,191 | #245 |
| 9 | Lake County Sheriff's Office | County | 113 | $87,297 | +$9,214 | #259 |
| 10 | Woodridge Police Department | Municipal | 47 | $84,781 | +$6,698 | #294 |
| 11 | DeKalb Police Department | Municipal | 72 | $83,449 | +$5,366 | #326 |
| 12 | Rolling Meadows Police Department | Municipal | 49 | $81,439 | +$3,356 | #362 |
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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