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Harrisburg Bureau of Police 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.
Harrisburg Bureau of Police starts at $58,100 a year — about $27.93 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $10,290 below the median of the 1,681 agencies on this list, and $13,164 below the median for municipal agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in Pennsylvania run about 2% below the national average, so this goes about as far as $59,546 would somewhere at average prices — $1,446 more than the headline figure. That average hides a wide spread: rent at 85, 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.
What Harrisburg Bureau of says about itself
The mission of the City of Harrisburg Bureau of Police is to protect and serve the public with honor, integrity, and professionalism. We work together in partnership with our citizens, community partners, and other law enforcement agencies to protect the City and ensure citizens feel safe.
What Harrisburg Bureau of does
The Harrisburg Bureau of Police is the municipal police force of Pennsylvania's capital city, a state-accredited PLEAC agency policing 11.4 square miles from headquarters on Walnut Street and a substation on Allison Hill. Beyond patrol it fields a Criminal Investigation Division, an Organized Crime and Narcotics Unit, Forensic, Community Policing, Street Crimes, Traffic Safety, Motorcycle, Bicycle, K-9, Honor Guard and Critical Response teams, and works alongside the U.S. Marshals, ATF, FBI and HUD on joint task forces.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 18 August 2026. City of Harrisburg — Bureau of Police, Police Recruitment page, "Competitive Starting Salary & Benefits" — open the source document
The City publishes two figures on its own recruitment page: an academy salary of $53,800, increasing to $58,100 on completion of the Academy and Field Training Officer programme. The $58,100 is the figure recorded here, because a Pennsylvania recruit is not a sworn police officer until the Act 120 course is passed - the $53,800 is paid while training, in the same way a trainee rate is excluded elsewhere on this site. THIS IS A DEPARTMENT THAT TRAINS ITS OWN: the Bureau states plainly that Act 120 certification is NOT required before hiring, and that it sends recruits to Harrisburg Area Community College for the Municipal Police Officers Education and Training course on full salary and benefits. That makes it open to candidates with no prior law enforcement experience - 21 years of age, a high school diploma or GED, a valid license and good health are the general requirements, and there is no residency requirement. Excluded as add-ons: the annual clothing allowance, college credit compensation, paid holidays and the birthday holiday.
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 Harrisburg Bureau of 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. Harrisburg Bureau of starts at $58,100, so $13,187 below the municipal middle.
How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Harrisburg Bureau of Police officer make?
Harrisburg Bureau of Police starts a new officer on $58,100 a year, about $27.93 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 Harrisburg — Bureau of Police, Police Recruitment page, "Competitive Starting Salary & Benefits".
Is that good pay for a police officer in Pennsylvania?
It ranks #11 of 23 agencies we have verified in Pennsylvania — 12 pay less, 10 pay more in the state — and #1,316 of 1,681 nationally. Against the national median it is $10,290 below, and against other municipal agencies $13,164 below.
Compare with another department
Put Harrisburg Bureau of Police 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 PA
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Harrisburg | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Abington Township Police Department | Municipal | — | $103,421 | +$45,321 | #71 |
| 2 | Lower Merion Township Police Department | Municipal | 118 | $90,162 | +$32,062 | #212 |
| 3 | Pennsylvania State Police | State | 4,634 | $73,087 | +$14,987 | #624 |
| 4 | Philadelphia Police Department | Municipal | 5,065 | $72,651 | +$14,551 | #643 |
| 5 | Allentown Police Department | Municipal | 215 | $72,607 | +$14,507 | #645 |
| 6 | Manheim Township Police Department | Municipal | 63 | $72,334 | +$14,234 | #651 |
| 7 | Pittsburgh Bureau of Police | Municipal | — | $68,952 | +$10,852 | #817 |
| 8 | Gettysburg Borough Police Department | Municipal | — | $63,232 | +$5,132 | #1,101 |
| 9 | Northampton County Sheriff's Department | County | 59 | $60,606 | +$2,506 | #1,209 |
| 10 | York County Sheriff's Office | County | 107 | $58,344 | +$244 | #1,303 |
| 12 | Lancaster County Sheriff's Office | County | 55 | $57,803 | −$297 | #1,338 |
| 13 | Chester County Sheriff's Office | County | 59 | $57,720 | −$380 | #1,344 |
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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