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Delray Beach 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.
Delray Beach Police Department starts at $72,000 a year — about $34.62 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $5,315 above the median of the 2,288 agencies on this list, and $3,860 above the median for municipal agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL run about 14% above the national average, so this is worth roughly $63,072 somewhere at average prices — $8,928 less than the headline figure. Most of that is rent, at 156 against a national average of 100, where goods are 104. Based on price levels for this metropolitan 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 isDelray Beach Police Department reported 147 sworn officers and 79 civilian staff to the FBI for 2025. That is 2.1 officers per 1,000 residents, over a population of 71,000.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 Delray Beach says about itself
Our mission statement is ensuring public safety.
What Delray Beach does
The City says this position sponsors non-certified applicants to attend the Police Academy, and that after successful academy completion and swearing-in by the Chief of Police the employee advances from the training rate to the sworn Police Officer salary.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 10 August 2026. City of Delray Beach official Police Officer in Training posting — open the source document
Posting effective 1 January 2026; academy minimum $55,000, rising on academy graduation and swearing-in to $72,000 for a high-school diploma through associate degree. The $74,836.80 rate for a bachelor's degree is an education step and is excluded from base pay.
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 Delray Beach 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. Delray Beach starts at $72,000, so $3,860 above the municipal middle.
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How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Delray Beach Police Department officer make?
Delray Beach Police Department starts a new officer on $72,000 a year, about $34.62 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 Delray Beach official Police Officer in Training posting.
Is that good pay for a police officer in Florida?
It ranks #45 of 303 agencies we have verified in Florida — 258 pay less, 44 pay more in the state — and #815 of 2,288 nationally. Against the national median it is $5,315 above, and against other municipal agencies $3,860 above.
Compare with another department
Put Delray Beach 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 FL
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Delray | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Boca Raton Police Services Department | Municipal | 195 | $91,007 | +$19,007 | #244 |
| 2 | Fort Lauderdale Police Department | Municipal | 565 | $81,723 | +$9,723 | #433 |
| 3 | Plantation Police Department | Municipal | 164 | $81,000 | +$9,000 | #459 |
| 4 | Hillsboro Beach Police Department | Municipal | 15 | $80,954 | +$8,954 | #461 |
| 5 | Pinecrest Police Department | Municipal | 47 | $80,912 | +$8,912 | #464 |
| 6 | Sunny Isles Beach Police Department | Municipal | 65 | $80,000 | +$8,000 | #496 |
| 7 | Indian Creek Village Public Safety Department | Municipal | 10 | $79,850 | +$7,850 | #500 |
| 8 | Sunrise Police Department | Municipal | 190 | $79,071 | +$7,071 | #520 |
| 9 | Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office | County | 1,720 | $78,828 | +$6,828 | #526 |
| 10 | Aventura Police Department | Municipal | 91 | $78,556 | +$6,556 | #536 |
| 11 | Longboat Key Police Department | Municipal | 19 | $78,430 | +$6,430 | #543 |
| 12 | Manalapan Police Department | Municipal | 13 | $78,280 | +$6,280 | #549 |
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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