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Dover 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.
Dover Police Department starts at $56,888 a year — about $27.35 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $9,797 below the median of the 2,288 agencies on this list, and $11,252 below the median for municipal agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in New Hampshire run about 4% above the national average, so this is worth roughly $54,613 somewhere at average prices — $2,275 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 isDover Police Department reported 49 sworn officers and 36 civilian staff to the FBI for 2025. That is 1.4 officers per 1,000 residents, over a population of 34,157.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 Dover says about itself
The mission of the Dover Police Department is to enforce the laws of society, maintain order, protect life and property, deliver quality service to the community, 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 constitution of the United States and the State of New Hampshire.
What Dover does
Dover Police Officers are the sole providers of emergency and investigative law-enforcement services to the community.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 10 August 2026. City of Dover Police Career Opportunities — open the source document
Current City page publishes the 40-hour Police Officer salary range as $56,888-$95,139.20 based on experience and qualifications. The no-experience minimum $56,888 is used. Class: Police Officer. Trainee class: No lower recruit/cadet salary is stated on the current City career page. City states Dover Police Officers provide emergency and investigative law-enforcement services to the community.
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 Dover 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. Dover starts at $56,888, so $11,252 below the municipal middle.
How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Dover Police Department officer make?
Dover Police Department starts a new officer on $56,888 a year, about $27.35 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 Dover Police Career Opportunities.
Is that good pay for a police officer in New Hampshire?
It ranks #16 of 17 agencies we have verified in New Hampshire — 1 pay less, 15 pay more in the state — and #1,756 of 2,288 nationally. Against the national median it is $9,797 below, and against other municipal agencies $11,252 below.
Compare with another department
Put Dover 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 NH
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Dover | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Keene Police Department | Municipal | 36 | $70,956 | +$14,068 | #883 |
| 2 | Portsmouth Police Department | Municipal | 64 | $70,060 | +$13,172 | #933 |
| 3 | Manchester Police Department | Municipal | 250 | $68,016 | +$11,128 | #1,052 |
| 4 | Concord Police Department | Municipal | 79 | $67,995 | +$11,107 | #1,057 |
| 5 | Greenland Police Department | Municipal | 8 | $67,700 | +$10,812 | #1,076 |
| 6 | New Hampshire State Police | State | 350 | $66,872 | +$9,984 | #1,129 |
| 7 | Londonderry Police Department | Municipal | 59 | $66,664 | +$9,776 | #1,145 |
| 8 | Jaffrey Police Department | Municipal | 10 | $65,850 | +$8,962 | #1,197 |
| 9 | Hampton Police Department | Municipal | 37 | $64,896 | +$8,008 | #1,273 |
| 10 | Derry Police Department | Municipal | 59 | $64,314 | +$7,426 | #1,304 |
| 11 | Durham Police Department | Municipal | 21 | $64,268 | +$7,380 | #1,305 |
| 12 | Rochester Police Department | Municipal | 59 | $63,960 | +$7,072 | #1,322 |
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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