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Evanston 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.
Evanston Police Department starts at $88,656 a year — about $42.62 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $21,971 above the median of the 2,288 agencies on this list, and $20,516 above the median for municipal agencies.
How big the department isEvanston Police Department reported 140 sworn officers and 51 civilian staff to the FBI for 2025. That is 1.9 officers per 1,000 residents, over a population of 75,562.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 Evanston says about itself
Our mission reflects a balance of traditional and innovative policing methods, supporting our view that crime and disorder problems are most successfully addressed by police working in partnership with the community.
What Evanston does
The Evanston Police Department serves the City of Evanston, Illinois, working in partnership with the community on crime and disorder.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 19 September 2026. City of Evanston / Illinois FOP patrol agreement 2023-2026, Appendix B salary schedule, Police Officer Step A — open the source document
Effective 1 January 2026 (3% increase); $42.623/hr. Contract runs to 31 December 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.
How this level compares
Where Evanston 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. Evanston starts at $88,656, so $20,516 above the municipal middle.
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How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Evanston Police Department officer make?
Evanston Police Department starts a new officer on $88,656 a year, about $42.62 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 Evanston / Illinois FOP patrol agreement 2023-2026, Appendix B salary schedule, Police Officer Step A.
Is that good pay for a police officer in Illinois?
It ranks #11 of 43 agencies we have verified in Illinois — 32 pay less, 10 pay more in the state — and #292 of 2,288 nationally. Against the national median it is $21,971 above, and against other municipal agencies $20,516 above.
Compare with another department
Put Evanston 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 IL
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Evanston | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vernon Hills Police Department | Municipal | 44 | $94,460 | +$5,804 | #192 |
| 2 | Wilmette Police Department | Municipal | 45 | $93,156 | +$4,500 | #207 |
| 3 | Oak Park Police Department | Municipal | 91 | $92,716 | +$4,060 | #214 |
| 4 | Skokie Police Department | Municipal | 102 | $92,405 | +$3,749 | #219 |
| 5 | Aurora Police Department | Municipal | 328 | $92,248 | +$3,592 | #223 |
| 6 | Des Plaines Police Department | Municipal | 97 | $91,440 | +$2,784 | #235 |
| 7 | Highland Park Police Department | Municipal | 60 | $91,158 | +$2,502 | #240 |
| 8 | Naperville Police Department | Municipal | 186 | $90,965 | +$2,308 | #246 |
| 9 | Illinois State Police | State | 1,821 | $90,828 | +$2,172 | #251 |
| 10 | River Forest Police Department | Municipal | 26 | $90,106 | +$1,450 | #267 |
| 12 | Elgin Police Department | Municipal | 203 | $88,274 | −$382 | #301 |
| 13 | Lake County Sheriff's Office | County | 113 | $87,297 | −$1,359 | #318 |
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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