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Florida Highway Patrol 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.
Florida Highway Patrol starts at $62,400 a year — about $30.00 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $4,285 below the median of the 2,288 agencies on this list, and $2,766 below the median for state agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in Florida run about 3% above the national average, so this is worth roughly $60,340 somewhere at average prices — $2,060 less than the headline figure. Most of that is rent, at 122 against a national average of 100, where goods are 98. 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 isFlorida Highway Patrol reported 1,813 sworn officers to the FBI for 2025.No rate is shown: this agency does not police a single population the FBI publishes a figure for. 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 Florida Highway Patrol says about itself
The Criminal Interdiction Unit consists of specially trained troopers that are strategically assigned throughout the state in order to interdict criminal activity.
What Florida Highway Patrol does
The Florida Highway Patrol was established in 1939 and enforces the state's criminal, traffic, motor vehicle and driver-license laws. Beyond patrol operations it runs commercial vehicle enforcement, a criminal interdiction unit, and a Bureau of Criminal Investigations and Intelligence covering organised crime, domestic security, dignitary protection and critical infrastructure.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 27 August 2026. Fiscal Year 2026-27 General Appropriations Act (HB 5001-E, ch. 2026-232) - 4 percent increase for state law enforcement officers, Florida Senate Appropriations Committee summary of the conference report — open the source document
Their source is effective 1 July 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 Florida Highway Patrol 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. Florida Highway Patrol starts at $62,400, so $2,766 below the state middle.
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How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Florida Highway Patrol officer make?
Florida Highway Patrol starts a new officer on $62,400 a year, about $30.00 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 Fiscal Year 2026-27 General Appropriations Act (HB 5001-E, ch. 2026-232) - 4 percent increase for state law enforcement officers, Florida Senate Appropriations Committee summary of the conference report.
Is that good pay for a police officer in Florida?
It ranks #131 of 303 agencies we have verified in Florida — 172 pay less, 130 pay more in the state — and #1,420 of 2,288 nationally. Against the national median it is $4,285 below, and against other state agencies $2,766 below.
Compare with another department
Put Florida Highway Patrol 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 FL
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Florida | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Boca Raton Police Services Department | Municipal | 195 | $91,007 | +$28,607 | #244 |
| 2 | Fort Lauderdale Police Department | Municipal | 565 | $81,723 | +$19,323 | #433 |
| 3 | Plantation Police Department | Municipal | 164 | $81,000 | +$18,600 | #459 |
| 4 | Hillsboro Beach Police Department | Municipal | 15 | $80,954 | +$18,554 | #461 |
| 5 | Pinecrest Police Department | Municipal | 47 | $80,912 | +$18,512 | #464 |
| 6 | Sunny Isles Beach Police Department | Municipal | 65 | $80,000 | +$17,600 | #496 |
| 7 | Indian Creek Village Public Safety Department | Municipal | 10 | $79,850 | +$17,450 | #500 |
| 8 | Sunrise Police Department | Municipal | 190 | $79,071 | +$16,671 | #520 |
| 9 | Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office | County | 1,720 | $78,828 | +$16,428 | #526 |
| 10 | Aventura Police Department | Municipal | 91 | $78,556 | +$16,156 | #536 |
| 11 | Longboat Key Police Department | Municipal | 19 | $78,430 | +$16,030 | #543 |
| 12 | Manalapan Police Department | Municipal | 13 | $78,280 | +$15,880 | #549 |
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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