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Eau Claire 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.
Eau Claire Police Department starts at $68,057 a year — about $32.72 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $1,372 above the median of the 2,288 agencies on this list, and $83 below the median for municipal agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in Eau Claire, WI run about 7% below the national average, so this goes about as far as $73,341 would somewhere at average prices — $5,283 more than the headline figure. Most of that is rent, at 73 against a national average of 100, where goods are 94. 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 isEau Claire Police Department reported 100 sworn officers and 45 civilian staff to the FBI for 2025. That is 1.4 officers per 1,000 residents, over a population of 73,060.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 Eau Claire says about itself
Our mission is to enhance the quality of life in Eau Claire by partnering with the community to solve problems, reduce crime and disorder, safeguard individual rights, and improve public safety. Our values are integrity, dignity, transparency, compassion, commitment, and professionalism: these values represent how we are going to achieve these goals, shape our organisational culture and demonstrate what is important to us. Since 2006 the department has embraced a proactive problem-oriented policing philosophy, and we want to make certain our officers view their role as members of the community.
What Eau Claire does
Eau Claire Police Officers perform general-duty police work protecting life and property, preventing crime, apprehending offenders, enforcing laws and ordinances, patrolling and responding to calls.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 10 August 2026. employer-controlled City of Eau Claire NEOGOV Police Officer posting — open the source document
Their source is effective 30 April 2026.
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 Eau Claire 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. Eau Claire starts at $68,057, so $83 below the municipal middle.
How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Eau Claire Police Department officer make?
Eau Claire Police Department starts a new officer on $68,057 a year, about $32.72 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 employer-controlled City of Eau Claire NEOGOV Police Officer posting.
Is that good pay for a police officer in Wisconsin?
It ranks #37 of 81 agencies we have verified in Wisconsin — 44 pay less, 36 pay more in the state — and #1,051 of 2,288 nationally. Against the national median it is $1,372 above, and against other municipal agencies $83 below.
Compare with another department
Put Eau Claire 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 WI
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Eau | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Menomonee Falls Police Department | Municipal | 59 | $82,618 | +$14,560 | #414 |
| 2 | Fitchburg Police Department | Municipal | 50 | $78,790 | +$10,733 | #527 |
| 3 | Brookfield Police Department | Municipal | 80 | $78,666 | +$10,608 | #533 |
| 4 | Cedarburg Police Department | Municipal | 24 | $77,561 | +$9,504 | #571 |
| 5 | Stoughton Police Department | Municipal | 23 | $76,378 | +$8,320 | #607 |
| 6 | Waukesha County Sheriff's Office | County | 158 | $76,128 | +$8,071 | #614 |
| 7 | River Falls Police Department | Municipal | 27 | $75,525 | +$7,468 | #647 |
| 8 | Wisconsin State Patrol | State | 445 | $75,462 | +$7,405 | #650 |
| 9 | Grafton Police Department | Municipal | 22 | $75,102 | +$7,045 | #672 |
| 10 | Dodge County Sheriff's Office | County | 64 | $75,088 | +$7,031 | #673 |
| 11 | St. Croix County Sheriff's Office | County | 98 | $74,695 | +$6,638 | #688 |
| 12 | Kenosha Police Department | Municipal | 231 | $74,640 | +$6,583 | #692 |
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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