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Delaware Capitol Police 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.
Delaware Capitol Police starts at $53,807 a year — about $25.87 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $14,583 below the median of the 1,681 agencies on this list, and $11,191 below the median for state agencies.
About Delaware Capitol
The mission of the Delaware Capitol Police is to provide the highest quality of police services utilizing training and technology to create a safe environment for everyone.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 16 August 2026. State of Delaware Department of Human Resources — FY26 40-hour pay table, effective 13 July 2025, with the Capitol Police career path — open the source document
The Delaware Capitol Police career ladder runs from Capitol Police Recruit at pay grade 7 through Officer I at grade 9, Officer II at 10 and Officer III at 11, then Sergeant, Lieutenant and Captain. On the State's FY26 forty-hour pay scale, grade 7 runs to a maximum of $51,482 and grade 9 runs from $38,863 to $58,295. An officer with no experience starts at $53,807, and certified officers may start higher. Officers hold statewide authority, are certified by Delaware's Council on Police Training, and work eight to ten hour shifts with no overnight or evening work. The agency covers Legislative Hall, the Governor's Mansion, the Capitol Complex and more than eighty state buildings and courts under the Department of Safety and Homeland Security.
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 Delaware Capitol 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. Delaware Capitol starts at $53,807, so $11,191 below the state middle.
How it ranks
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Common questions
How much does a Delaware Capitol Police officer make?
Delaware Capitol Police starts a new officer on $53,807 a year, about $25.87 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 State of Delaware Department of Human Resources — FY26 40-hour pay table, effective 13 July 2025, with the Capitol Police career path.
Is that good pay for a police officer in Delaware?
It ranks #13 of 14 agencies we have verified in Delaware — 1 pay less, 12 pay more in the state — and #1,475 of 1,681 nationally. Against the national median it is $14,583 below, and against other state agencies $11,191 below.
Compare with another department
Put Delaware Capitol Police 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 DE
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Delaware | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Delaware State Police | State | 783 | $91,265 | +$37,458 | #189 |
| 2 | New Castle City Police Department | Municipal | — | $75,338 | +$21,531 | #544 |
| 3 | University of Delaware Police Department | Special jurisdiction | 48 | $74,679 | +$20,872 | #570 |
| 4 | Middletown Police Department | Municipal | 38 | $74,550 | +$20,743 | #576 |
| 5 | New Castle County Police | County | 414 | $74,453 | +$20,646 | #582 |
| 6 | Dover Police Department | Municipal | 101 | $72,000 | +$18,193 | #668 |
| 7 | Newark Police Department | Municipal | 72 | $70,000 | +$16,193 | #767 |
| 8 | Selbyville Police Department | Municipal | 10 | $68,788 | +$14,981 | #824 |
| 9 | Seaford Police Department | Municipal | 31 | $68,474 | +$14,667 | #838 |
| 10 | Milford Police Department | Municipal | 35 | $67,971 | +$14,164 | #864 |
| 11 | Wilmington Police Department | Municipal | 279 | $67,600 | +$13,793 | #888 |
| 12 | Cheswold Police Department | Municipal | 4 | $57,500 | +$3,693 | #1,359 |
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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