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Johnston 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.
Johnston Police Department starts at $62,778 a year — about $30.18 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $3,906 below the median of the 2,288 agencies on this list, and $5,362 below the median for municipal agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in Rhode Island run about 2% above the national average, so this is worth roughly $61,379 somewhere at average prices — $1,399 less than the headline figure. That average hides a wide spread: utilities at 147, 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 isJohnston Police Department reported 63 sworn officers and 14 civilian staff to the FBI for 2025. That is 2.1 officers per 1,000 residents, over a population of 30,522.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 Johnston says about itself
The officers of the Johnston Police Department are highly committed to ensuring that our community maintains a level of public safety. DESCRIPTION: The Johnston Police Department is the Town's police/public-safety agency. The Town directly describes its officers as committed to maintaining an exceptionally high level of public safety for the Johnston community.
What Johnston does
Johnston patrol officers serve the community by preventing crime, apprehending violators, enforcing laws, protecting people in danger and preserving the peace. The department trains officers throughout their careers in patrol, traffic, investigations, juvenile operations and community policing.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 10 August 2026. Johnston Police Department Recruitment Information hosted by Rhode Island Municipal Police Training Academy — 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 Johnston 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. Johnston starts at $62,778, so $5,362 below the municipal middle.
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How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Johnston Police Department officer make?
Johnston Police Department starts a new officer on $62,778 a year, about $30.18 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 Johnston Police Department Recruitment Information hosted by Rhode Island Municipal Police Training Academy.
Is that good pay for a police officer in Rhode Island?
It ranks #14 of 17 agencies we have verified in Rhode Island — 3 pay less, 13 pay more in the state — and #1,392 of 2,288 nationally. Against the national median it is $3,906 below, and against other municipal agencies $5,362 below.
Compare with another department
Put Johnston 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 RI
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Johnston | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management — Division of Law Enforcement / Environmental Police | State | 32 | $90,850 | +$28,072 | #249 |
| 2 | Smithfield Police Department | Municipal | 46 | $82,885 | +$20,106 | #407 |
| 3 | Rhode Island State Police | State | 267 | $81,579 | +$18,801 | #437 |
| 4 | Providence Police Department | Municipal | 435 | $81,468 | +$18,690 | #441 |
| 5 | North Providence Police Department | Municipal | — | $71,787 | +$9,009 | #829 |
| 6 | Burrillville Police Department | Municipal | 24 | $70,484 | +$7,706 | #908 |
| 7 | East Providence Police Department | Municipal | 86 | $69,155 | +$6,376 | #983 |
| 8 | Lincoln Police Department | Municipal | 40 | $69,000 | +$6,222 | #991 |
| 9 | Pawtucket Police Department | Municipal | 145 | $66,402 | +$3,623 | #1,167 |
| 10 | Warwick Police Department | Municipal | 169 | $65,739 | +$2,961 | #1,204 |
| 11 | North Kingstown Police Department | Municipal | — | $65,012 | +$2,234 | #1,255 |
| 12 | Portsmouth Police Department | Municipal | 39 | $64,358 | +$1,580 | #1,297 |
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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