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Forest Grove 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.
Forest Grove Police Department starts at $74,724 a year — about $35.92 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $6,334 above the median of the 1,681 agencies on this list, and $3,460 above the median for municipal agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in Oregon run about 3% above the national average, so this is worth roughly $72,294 somewhere at average prices — $2,430 less than the headline figure. Most of that is rent, at 109 against a national average of 100, where goods are 105. 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 isForest Grove Police Department reported 31 sworn officers and 6 civilian staff to the FBI for 2025. That is 1.1 officers per 1,000 residents, over a population of 27,331.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 Forest Grove says about itself
The Forest Grove Police Department is guided by the inputs of our citizens, the Forest Grove Vision Statement, and the goals of the Forest Grove City Council as we strive to meet our community's public safety needs.
What Forest Grove does
Forest Grove Police Officers enforce laws and prevent crime, conduct investigations and protect citizens' lives and property. Officers patrol, respond to calls, investigate criminal activity, make arrests and maintain community relationships.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 10 August 2026. employer-controlled NEOGOV entry-level Police Officer informational posting — open the source document
Their source is effective 18 November 2025.
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 Forest Grove 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 | $35,006 | $71,287 | $163,619 | 1046 |
| County | $36,492 | $65,374 | $132,263 | 416 |
| Special jurisdiction | $31,200 | $60,195 | $107,954 | 69 |
| State | $33,994 | $64,998 | $102,692 | 143 |
| 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 $2,200 more than the middle municipal agency and about $8,100 more than the middle county agency and about $13,300 more than the middle special jurisdiction agency and about $8,500 more than the middle state agency and about $45,300 more than the middle territory agency. Forest Grove starts at $74,724, so $3,437 above the municipal middle.
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How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Forest Grove Police Department officer make?
Forest Grove Police Department starts a new officer on $74,724 a year, about $35.92 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 NEOGOV entry-level Police Officer informational posting.
Is that good pay for a police officer in Oregon?
It ranks #26 of 46 agencies we have verified in Oregon — 20 pay less, 25 pay more in the state — and #565 of 1,681 nationally. Against the national median it is $6,334 above, and against other municipal agencies $3,460 above.
Compare with another department
Put Forest Grove 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 OR
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Forest | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tigard Police Department | Municipal | 71 | $86,596 | +$11,872 | #271 |
| 2 | Bend Police Department | Municipal | 107 | $86,432 | +$11,708 | #273 |
| 3 | Washington County Sheriff's Office | County | 219 | $85,738 | +$11,014 | #280 |
| 4 | Gresham Police Department | Municipal | 123 | $84,968 | +$10,244 | #292 |
| 5 | Portland Police Bureau | Municipal | 809 | $84,000 | +$9,276 | #308 |
| 6 | Hillsboro Police Department | Municipal | 144 | $83,988 | +$9,264 | #311 |
| 7 | Corvallis Police Department | Municipal | 67 | $82,747 | +$8,023 | #337 |
| 8 | Lane County Sheriff's Office | County | 75 | $82,181 | +$7,457 | #344 |
| 9 | Multnomah County Sheriff's Office | County | 132 | $82,035 | +$7,311 | #348 |
| 10 | Tualatin Police Department | Municipal | 38 | $81,973 | +$7,249 | #349 |
| 11 | Oregon City Police Department | Municipal | 38 | $81,564 | +$6,840 | #359 |
| 12 | Salem Police Department | Municipal | 185 | $81,349 | +$6,625 | #366 |
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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