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Fort Collins Police Services 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.
Fort Collins Police Services starts at $103,544 a year — about $49.78 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $36,277 above the median of the 2,053 agencies on this list, and $34,758 above the median for municipal agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in Colorado run about 3% above the national average, so this is worth roughly $100,477 somewhere at average prices — $3,067 less than the headline figure. Most of that is rent, at 127 against a national average of 100, where goods are 99. 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 isFort Collins Police Services reported 241 sworn officers and 120 civilian staff to the FBI for 2025. That is 1.4 officers per 1,000 residents, over a population of 171,159.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 Fort Collins says about itself
Our vision is to make Fort Collins the safest community in the nation.
What Fort Collins does
Fort Collins Police Services serves a jurisdiction of approximately 176,000 residents in Fort Collins, Colorado, with 236 sworn personnel and 145 professional staff, using community-oriented policing to protect life and property, keep peace and order, and prevent and detect crime.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 18 September 2026. Fort Collins Police Services official recruiting page, POST-certified Police Officer start — open the source document
Current page verified 18 September 2026; no effective date stated. Top step $121,500/yr.
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 Fort Collins 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. Fort Collins starts at $103,544, so $34,758 above the municipal middle.
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How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Fort Collins Police Services officer make?
Fort Collins Police Services starts a new officer on $103,544 a year, about $49.78 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 Fort Collins Police Services official recruiting page, POST-certified Police Officer start.
Is that good pay for a police officer in Colorado?
It ranks #1 of 44 agencies we have verified in Colorado — the highest in the state in the state — and #79 of 2,053 nationally. Against the national median it is $36,277 above, and against other municipal agencies $34,758 above.
Compare with another department
Put Fort Collins Police Services 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 CO
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Fort | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Colorado State Patrol | State | 706 | $91,620 | −$11,924 | #201 |
| 3 | Arvada Police Department | Municipal | 159 | $90,555 | −$12,989 | #226 |
| 4 | Parker Police Department | Municipal | 89 | $89,898 | −$13,646 | #239 |
| 5 | Longmont Police Department | Municipal | 150 | $87,312 | −$16,232 | #285 |
| 6 | Johnstown Police Department | Municipal | 26 | $86,944 | −$16,600 | #292 |
| 7 | Broomfield Police Department | Municipal | 135 | $86,029 | −$17,515 | #304 |
| 8 | Castle Rock Police Department | Municipal | 94 | $85,488 | −$18,056 | #312 |
| 9 | Golden Police Department | Municipal | 53 | $85,321 | −$18,223 | #316 |
| 10 | Lakewood Police Department | Municipal | 274 | $85,093 | −$18,451 | #319 |
| 11 | Breckenridge Police Department | Municipal | 25 | $83,990 | −$19,554 | #340 |
| 12 | Littleton Police Department | Municipal | 86 | $83,280 | −$20,264 | #360 |
| 13 | Thornton Police Department | Municipal | 243 | $82,992 | −$20,552 | #364 |
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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