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Elizabethtown 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.
Elizabethtown Police Department starts at $57,200 a year — about $27.50 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $10,067 below the median of the 2,053 agencies on this list, and $11,586 below the median for municipal agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in Kentucky run about 10% below the national average, so this goes about as far as $63,443 would somewhere at average prices — $6,243 more than the headline figure. Most of that is rent, at 64 against a national average of 100, where goods are 96. 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 isElizabethtown Police Department reported 77 sworn officers and 23 civilian staff to the FBI for 2025. That is 2.2 officers per 1,000 residents, over a population of 35,407.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 Elizabethtown says about itself
The Elizabethtown Police Department is committed to protecting and serving the community through professionalism, integrity, and respect.
What Elizabethtown does
The Elizabethtown Police Department serves the City of Elizabethtown in Hardin County, Kentucky.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 20 September 2026. Elizabethtown Police Department salary and benefits sheet, starting pay for new uncertified officers — open the source document
No date in the document, read 20 September 2026. Base pay only: the $4,429 Kentucky state incentive is stated separately and excluded, as is the lateral credit that runs to $63,145.
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 Elizabethtown 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 | $68,786 | $163,619 | 1372 |
| County | $35,000 | $64,438 | $132,263 | 459 |
| Special jurisdiction | $31,200 | $60,204 | $107,954 | 71 |
| State | $33,994 | $65,400 | $110,916 | 144 |
| 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 $4,700 more than the middle municipal agency and about $9,100 more than the middle county agency and about $13,300 more than the middle special jurisdiction agency and about $8,100 more than the middle state agency and about $45,300 more than the middle territory agency. Elizabethtown starts at $57,200, so $11,586 below the municipal middle.
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How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Elizabethtown Police Department officer make?
Elizabethtown Police Department starts a new officer on $57,200 a year, about $27.50 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 Elizabethtown Police Department salary and benefits sheet, starting pay for new uncertified officers.
Is that good pay for a police officer in Kentucky?
It ranks #9 of 14 agencies we have verified in Kentucky — 5 pay less, 8 pay more in the state — and #1,585 of 2,053 nationally. Against the national median it is $10,067 below, and against other municipal agencies $11,586 below.
Compare with another department
Put Elizabethtown 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 KY
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Elizabethtown | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kentucky State Police | State | 1,078 | $71,000 | +$13,800 | #808 |
| 2 | Louisville Metro Police Department | Municipal | 1,013 | $66,760 | +$9,560 | #1,054 |
| 3 | Paducah Police Department | Municipal | 68 | $65,146 | +$7,946 | #1,148 |
| 4 | Lexington Police Department | Municipal | 541 | $64,424 | +$7,224 | #1,190 |
| 5 | Richmond Police Department | Municipal | 65 | $63,988 | +$6,788 | #1,211 |
| 6 | Bowling Green Police Department | Municipal | 140 | $63,839 | +$6,639 | #1,220 |
| 7 | University of Kentucky Police Department | Special jurisdiction | 76 | $63,200 | +$6,000 | #1,260 |
| 8 | Owensboro Police Department | Municipal | 101 | $62,254 | +$5,054 | #1,311 |
| 10 | Georgetown Police Department | Municipal | 75 | $55,345 | −$1,855 | #1,656 |
| 11 | Henderson Police Department | Municipal | 58 | $51,778 | −$5,422 | #1,806 |
| 12 | Hopkinsville Police Department | Municipal | 72 | $51,239 | −$5,961 | #1,821 |
| 13 | Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources — Law Enforcement Division | State | — | $47,794 | −$9,406 | #1,934 |
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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