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Hailey 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.
Hailey Police Department starts at $72,280 a year — about $34.75 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $5,595 above the median of the 2,288 agencies on this list, and $4,140 above the median for municipal agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in Idaho run about 5% below the national average, so this goes about as far as $75,691 would somewhere at average prices — $3,411 more than the headline figure. Most of that is utilities, at 70 against a national average of 100, where goods are 96. 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.
What Hailey says about itself
The mission of the Hailey Police Department is to provide a safe community and environment for the people of our city. The Hailey Police Department strives for and supports the highest quality of life through dedicated and professional service. The members of this department act in partnership with our community, treating all residents with dignity and respect.
What Hailey does
The Hailey Police Department is an accredited municipal agency policing the town of Hailey in Idaho's Wood River Valley, downvalley from Ketchum and Sun Valley. It employs sixteen full-time staff, among them three command staff, two school resource officers, a community service officer and an administrative assistant, and serves a population of about 10,000.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 22 September 2026. City of Hailey Employment page, Hailey Police Patrol Officer: "Beginning October 1, 2025, starting patrol pay will be $72,280/yr ($34.75/hr), and beginning wage can start much higher DOE with overtime and compensatory opportunities available." — open the source document
$72,280 is the City's OWN annual figure and no arithmetic has been applied to it; it is $34.75 an hour, which the City prints beside it, and the two agree at 2,080 hours. THE POSTING IS EXPLICITLY OPEN TO SOMEONE WITH NO EXPERIENCE AND THE CITY PAYS FOR THE ACADEMY: "Prior law enforcement experience is encouraged to come in as a lateral and at a higher starting wage, but not required. If selected to join our team with no previous experience, we will provide extensive on-the-job training and send you to the academy while you are a paid employee." So the lateral premium is named and excluded, the academy is attended on this wage rather than at a lower one, and $72,280 is what a candidate with no prior sworn service is offered. Excluded from the figure: the "much higher DOE" a lateral may be started at; overtime and compensatory time; and the benefits the City lists, including thirteen paid holidays, at least two weeks' paid vacation in the first year, a minimum $2,500 a year into a Health Savings Account and PERSI. THE STATE PORTAL AND THE CITY DISAGREE AND THE CITY IS THE ONE CITED. Idaho POST's Law Enforcement Job Postings board lists this same recruitment - Hailey Police Department, Patrol Officer, closing 30 September 2026 - at "$37.00/hr or Higher (DOE)", which is $76,960 a year and 6.5% above the City's figure. The City's page is dated on its face and gives both an hourly and an annual rate; the portal listing gives neither a date nor a basis. The City's rate runs from 1 October 2025, and the portal's recruitment closes 30 September 2026, so the likeliest explanation is that the portal already carries the rate for the fiscal year beginning 1 October 2026. RE-READ THE CITY PAGE AFTER 1 OCTOBER 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.
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How this level compares
Where Hailey 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. Hailey starts at $72,280, so $4,140 above the municipal middle.
How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Hailey Police Department officer make?
Hailey Police Department starts a new officer on $72,280 a year, about $34.75 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 Hailey Employment page, Hailey Police Patrol Officer: "Beginning October 1, 2025, starting patrol pay will be $72,280/yr ($34.75/hr), and beginning wage can start much higher DOE with overtime and compensatory opportunities available.".
Is that good pay for a police officer in Idaho?
It ranks #3 of 54 agencies we have verified in Idaho — 51 pay less, 2 pay more in the state — and #797 of 2,288 nationally. Against the national median it is $5,595 above, and against other municipal agencies $4,140 above.
Compare with another department
Put Hailey 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 ID
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Hailey | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sun Valley Police Department | Municipal | 12 | $75,005 | +$2,725 | #675 |
| 2 | Blaine County Sheriff's Office | County | 20 | $74,526 | +$2,246 | #697 |
| 4 | Boise Police Department | Municipal | 326 | $69,514 | −$2,766 | #965 |
| 5 | Meridian Police Department | Municipal | 109 | $67,621 | −$4,659 | #1,085 |
| 6 | Post Falls Police Department | Municipal | 52 | $67,330 | −$4,950 | #1,106 |
| 7 | Coeur d'Alene Police Department | Municipal | 94 | $66,872 | −$5,408 | #1,130 |
| 8 | Kootenai County Sheriff's Office | County | 104 | $65,291 | −$6,989 | #1,239 |
| 9 | Ada County Sheriff's Office | County | 220 | $64,896 | −$7,384 | #1,270 |
| 10 | Nampa Police Department | Municipal | 154 | $64,626 | −$7,654 | #1,286 |
| 11 | McCall Police Department | Municipal | 12 | $63,773 | −$8,507 | #1,332 |
| 12 | Moscow Police Department | Municipal | 30 | $63,544 | −$8,736 | #1,344 |
| 13 | Lewiston Police Department | Municipal | 46 | $63,321 | −$8,959 | #1,363 |
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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