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Garden City 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.
Garden City Police Department starts at $64,072 a year — about $30.80 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $2,613 below the median of the 2,288 agencies on this list, and $4,068 below the median for municipal agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in Georgia run about 4% below the national average, so this goes about as far as $66,538 would somewhere at average prices — $2,467 more than the headline figure. Most of that is rent, at 89 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 isGarden City Police Department reported 35 sworn officers and 4 civilian staff to the FBI for 2025. That is 3.3 officers per 1,000 residents, over a population of 10,570.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 Garden City says about itself
The Garden City Police Department operates 24 hours per day, seven days per week.
What Garden City does
The Garden City Police Department is the municipal force for the City of Garden City in Chatham County, beside the Port of Savannah. The City says it was established in 1951 and runs around the clock.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 24 September 2026. City of Garden City, "Police Officer" job posting: "$28.65 / Hourly ($64,071.69)". — open the source document
One rate, printed by the City as both hourly and annual; the annual is used as printed. The posting does not require certification beforehand - applicants must meet the Georgia P.O.S.T. qualifications in O.C.G.A. 35-8-8 and 35-8-9 - so certified and uncertified hires start on the same rate. The City works "86 hours bi-weekly", which is why the annual is about 2,236 hours at $28.65 rather than 2,080. The posting is marked "Ongoing Applications" and carries no date. Excluded: the "$5000 Signing Bonus for Certified Police Officers", military and education incentives, and overtime.
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.
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How this level compares
Where Garden City 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. Garden City starts at $64,072, so $4,068 below the municipal middle.
How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Garden City Police Department officer make?
Garden City Police Department starts a new officer on $64,072 a year, about $30.80 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 Garden City, "Police Officer" job posting: "$28.65 / Hourly ($64,071.69)"..
Is that good pay for a police officer in Georgia?
It ranks #5 of 80 agencies we have verified in Georgia — 75 pay less, 4 pay more in the state — and #1,314 of 2,288 nationally. Against the national median it is $2,613 below, and against other municipal agencies $4,068 below.
Compare with another department
Put Garden City 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 GA
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Garden | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chamblee Police Department | Municipal | 68 | $73,733 | +$9,661 | #729 |
| 2 | Sandy Springs Police Department | Municipal | 149 | $71,686 | +$7,615 | #836 |
| 3 | Georgia Bureau of Investigation | State | 338 | $64,977 | +$905 | #1,265 |
| 4 | Duluth Police Department | Municipal | 57 | $64,755 | +$683 | #1,279 |
| 6 | Georgia State Patrol | State | — | $63,684 | −$388 | #1,336 |
| 7 | South Fulton Police Department | Municipal | 213 | $63,440 | −$632 | #1,354 |
| 8 | Hall County Sheriff's Office | County | 283 | $63,365 | −$707 | #1,359 |
| 9 | Roswell Police Department | Municipal | 154 | $62,462 | −$1,609 | #1,413 |
| 10 | Dunwoody Police Department | Municipal | 66 | $62,301 | −$1,771 | #1,428 |
| 11 | Savannah Police Department | Municipal | 425 | $61,989 | −$2,083 | #1,450 |
| 12 | Alpharetta Police Department | Municipal | 105 | $61,100 | −$2,972 | #1,495 |
| 13 | DeKalb County Police Department | County | 525 | $61,000 | −$3,072 | #1,504 |
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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