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Illinois Department of Natural Resources — Conservation 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.
Illinois Department of Natural Resources — Conservation Police starts at $64,344 a year — about $30.93 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $4,046 below the median of the 1,681 agencies on this list, and $654 below the median for state agencies.
What Illinois Department of Natural Resources — Conservation says about itself
To serve, protect, and educate the citizens of, and visitors to, the state of Illinois in their outdoor recreational endeavors. To be a vigilant guardian of the natural resources, public safety, and homeland security of Illinois. Conservation Police Officers are vested with full state-wide police authority and are trained to the highest standards for law enforcement professionals in Illinois.
What Illinois Department of Natural Resources — Conservation does
Illinois Conservation Police Officers are sworn state law-enforcement officers assigned to the Department of Natural Resources Office of Law Enforcement. They enforce Illinois conservation, boating and related laws and perform public-safety and investigative duties throughout the state.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 8 August 2026. State of Illinois CMS / Illinois FOP Labor Council RC-061 salary schedule — open the source document
Their source is effective 1 July 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.
How this level compares
Where Illinois Department of Natural Resources — Conservation 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. Illinois Department of Natural Resources — Conservation starts at $64,344, so $654 below the state middle.
How it ranks
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Common questions
How much does a Illinois Department of Natural Resources — Conservation Police officer make?
Illinois Department of Natural Resources — Conservation Police starts a new officer on $64,344 a year, about $30.93 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 State of Illinois CMS / Illinois FOP Labor Council RC-061 salary schedule.
Is that good pay for a police officer in Illinois?
It ranks #30 of 35 agencies we have verified in Illinois — 5 pay less, 29 pay more in the state — and #1,049 of 1,681 nationally. Against the national median it is $4,046 below, and against other state agencies $654 below.
Compare with another department
Put Illinois Department of Natural Resources — Conservation 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 IL
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Illinois | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vernon Hills Police Department | Municipal | 44 | $94,460 | +$30,116 | #151 |
| 2 | Wilmette Police Department | Municipal | 45 | $93,156 | +$28,812 | #165 |
| 3 | Aurora Police Department | Municipal | 328 | $92,248 | +$27,904 | #176 |
| 4 | Des Plaines Police Department | Municipal | 97 | $91,440 | +$27,096 | #186 |
| 5 | Highland Park Police Department | Municipal | 60 | $91,158 | +$26,814 | #191 |
| 6 | Illinois State Police | State | 1,821 | $90,828 | +$26,484 | #199 |
| 7 | River Forest Police Department | Municipal | 26 | $90,106 | +$25,762 | #213 |
| 8 | Elgin Police Department | Municipal | 203 | $88,274 | +$23,930 | #245 |
| 9 | Lake County Sheriff's Office | County | 113 | $87,297 | +$22,953 | #259 |
| 10 | Woodridge Police Department | Municipal | 47 | $84,781 | +$20,437 | #294 |
| 11 | DeKalb Police Department | Municipal | 72 | $83,449 | +$19,105 | #326 |
| 12 | Rolling Meadows Police Department | Municipal | 49 | $81,439 | +$17,095 | #362 |
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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