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Garner 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.
Garner Police Department starts at $54,708 a year — about $26.30 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $11,977 below the median of the 2,288 agencies on this list, and $13,432 below the median for municipal agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in North Carolina run about 6% below the national average, so this goes about as far as $57,999 would somewhere at average prices — $3,291 more than the headline figure. Most of that is rent, at 81 against a national average of 100, where goods are 97. 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 isGarner Police Department reported 74 sworn officers and 11 civilian staff to the FBI for 2025. That is 1.8 officers per 1,000 residents, over a population of 41,639.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 Garner says about itself
The Garner Police Department is dedicated to excellent police service through partnerships that reduce crime, create a safe environment, build trust, and enhance the quality of life in our community.
What Garner does
The Garner Police Department serves the Town of Garner in Wake County, North Carolina.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 20 September 2026. Town of Garner Position Classification Plan, salary grade 16 (police), HIRING RATE for Police Officer I and II — open the source document
Effective 1 July 2024; $24.61/hr as the stated hiring rate, against a minimum rate of $25.83 and a maximum of $39.37. The police grades carry their own annualisation, which is why $54,708.03 is above the hourly rate times 2,080.
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 Garner 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. Garner starts at $54,708, so $13,432 below the municipal middle.
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How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Garner Police Department officer make?
Garner Police Department starts a new officer on $54,708 a year, about $26.30 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 Town of Garner Position Classification Plan, salary grade 16 (police), HIRING RATE for Police Officer I and II.
Is that good pay for a police officer in North Carolina?
It ranks #29 of 53 agencies we have verified in North Carolina — 24 pay less, 28 pay more in the state — and #1,876 of 2,288 nationally. Against the national median it is $11,977 below, and against other municipal agencies $13,432 below.
Compare with another department
Put Garner 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 NC
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Garner | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Knightdale Police Department | Municipal | 45 | $67,363 | +$12,655 | #1,104 |
| 2 | Cary Police Department | Municipal | 194 | $65,104 | +$10,396 | #1,247 |
| 3 | Wake Forest Police Department | Municipal | 96 | $65,093 | +$10,385 | #1,248 |
| 4 | Appalachian State University Police Department | Special jurisdiction | 36 | $64,084 | +$9,376 | #1,312 |
| 5 | North Carolina State Highway Patrol | State | — | $63,250 | +$8,542 | #1,368 |
| 6 | Huntersville Police Department | Municipal | 92 | $62,647 | +$7,939 | #1,400 |
| 7 | Apex Police Department | Municipal | 104 | $62,524 | +$7,816 | #1,408 |
| 8 | Fuquay-Varina Police Department | Municipal | 70 | $62,291 | +$7,583 | #1,430 |
| 9 | Johnston County Sheriff's Office | County | 124 | $62,213 | +$7,505 | #1,436 |
| 10 | Chapel Hill Police Department | Municipal | 82 | $61,451 | +$6,743 | #1,477 |
| 11 | Raleigh Police Department | Municipal | 713 | $61,417 | +$6,709 | #1,478 |
| 12 | Duke University Police Department | Special jurisdiction | 57 | $60,195 | +$5,487 | #1,551 |
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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