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Home › Police pay › New Hampshire › Derry Police Department

Derry 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.

Derry Police Department starts at $64,314 a year — about $30.92 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $2,371 below the median of the 2,288 agencies on this list, and $3,826 below the median for municipal agencies.

Cost of livingPrices in New Hampshire run about 4% above the national average, so this is worth roughly $61,742 somewhere at average prices — $2,572 less than the headline figure. Most of that is utilities, at 134 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 isDerry Police Department reported 59 sworn officers and 13 civilian staff to the FBI for 2025. That is 1.7 officers per 1,000 residents, over a population of 34,024.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 Derry says about itself

The mission of the Derry Police Department is to enforce the laws of society, maintain order in the community, protect life and property, and to assist the public at large in a manner consistent with the rights and dignity of all persons as provided for by law and under the Constitutions of the United States of America and the State of New Hampshire.

What Derry does

The Derry Police Department is the municipal force for the Town of Derry in Rockingham County, southern New Hampshire, working from 1 Municipal Drive. Its divisions include patrol, crime prevention, animal control, records and special operations.

Where the figure comes from

Checked 25 September 2026. Town of Derry, Police Patrolman's Association "APPENDIX A-4 - FY27 WAGE SCALE WITH 3.3% COLA": Patrol Officer Step 1, "July 1, 2026 30.92". — open the source document
Step 1 of the Patrol Officer scale, $30.92 an hour from 1 July 2026, under the Town's contract with its patrol officers for July 2024 to June 2027; the contract has no separate recruit or academy rate below it. Hourly only, converted at 2,080 hours ($30.92 x 2,080 = $64,313.60); the contract puts patrol on eight-hour days and states no annual hours. Excluded: the Master and Senior Master Patrol Officer steps, overtime, details and incentives.
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.

Entry pay, 2024–2026

Every point is the entry-class annual base printed in the agency’s own pay document. Base pay only — no shift differential, incentives or allowances.

$58k$60k$62k$64k$60,154Jul 2024$62,254Jul 2025$64,314Jul 2026current rate+3.5%+3.3%
In effect
Town of Derry wage scales: Appendix A-2 (contract 2024-2027) $28.92; FY26 scale $29.93; FY27 scale $30.92 - Patrol Officer Step 1, hourly, x 2,080. — open the source document.
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How this level compares

Where Derry sits is partly about the agency and partly about which level of policing it belongs to. The three levels do not pay the same.

LevelLowestMedianHighestAgencies
Municipal$33,280$68,140$163,6191549
County$35,000$63,565$132,263516
Special jurisdiction$31,200$60,204$107,95471
State$33,994$65,166$110,916145
Federal$70,477$73,502$86,5305
Territory$16,640$28,236$43,3549
What this shows

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. Derry starts at $64,314, so $3,826 below the municipal middle.

How it ranks

Nationally #1,304of 2,288 agencies Top 57% of everything we have verified
In NH #10of 17 agencies 7 pay less, 9 pay more
Hourly to start $31on a 2,080-hour year Base pay only, before overtime or any differential

Common questions

How much does a Derry Police Department officer make?

Derry Police Department starts a new officer on $64,314 a year, about $30.92 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 Town of Derry, Police Patrolman's Association "APPENDIX A-4 - FY27 WAGE SCALE WITH 3.3% COLA": Patrol Officer Step 1, "July 1, 2026 30.92"..

Is that good pay for a police officer in New Hampshire?

It ranks #10 of 17 agencies we have verified in New Hampshire — 7 pay less, 9 pay more in the state — and #1,304 of 2,288 nationally. Against the national median it is $2,371 below, and against other municipal agencies $3,826 below.

Compare with another department

Put Derry 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.

Compare Derry

The agencies either side of it

Other agencies in NH

Go
#AgencyLevelSworn #Entry payVs DerryNational
1Keene Police DepartmentMunicipal36$70,956+$6,642#883
2Portsmouth Police DepartmentMunicipal64$70,060+$5,747#933
3Manchester Police DepartmentMunicipal250$68,016+$3,702#1,052
4Concord Police DepartmentMunicipal79$67,995+$3,682#1,057
5Greenland Police DepartmentMunicipal8$67,700+$3,386#1,076
6New Hampshire State PoliceState350$66,872+$2,558#1,129
7Londonderry Police DepartmentMunicipal59$66,664+$2,350#1,145
8Jaffrey Police DepartmentMunicipal10$65,850+$1,537#1,197
9Hampton Police DepartmentMunicipal37$64,896+$582#1,273
11Durham Police DepartmentMunicipal21$64,268−$46#1,305
12Rochester Police DepartmentMunicipal59$63,960−$354#1,322
13Chesterfield Police DepartmentMunicipal4$61,776−$2,538#1,464

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