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Joplin 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.
Joplin Police Department starts at $41,617 a year — about $20.01 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $26,773 below the median of the 1,681 agencies on this list, and $29,647 below the median for municipal agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in Joplin, MO-KS run about 14% below the national average, so this goes about as far as $48,551 would somewhere at average prices — $6,934 more than the headline figure. Most of that is rent, at 54 against a national average of 100, where goods are 94. Based on price levels for this metropolitan 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 isJoplin Police Department reported 104 sworn officers and 39 civilian staff to the FBI for 2025. That is 1.9 officers per 1,000 residents, over a population of 54,063.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 Joplin says about itself
The Joplin Police Department is a team of dedicated men and women who are committed to provide professional service, protection, and transparency to our diverse community while creating a positive work environment. Our mission is to provide professional service and protection through leadership and partnership with the community.
What Joplin does
Joplin Police Department employs Police Officers and Police Officer Trainees and provides municipal law-enforcement service.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 10 August 2026. City of Joplin Police Bargaining Unit Salary Administration Plan effective November 1, 2025 — open the source document
Their source is effective 1 November 2025.
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 Joplin 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. Joplin starts at $41,617, so $29,670 below the municipal middle.
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How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Joplin Police Department officer make?
Joplin Police Department starts a new officer on $41,617 a year, about $20.01 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 Joplin Police Bargaining Unit Salary Administration Plan effective November 1, 2025.
Is that good pay for a police officer in Missouri?
It ranks #26 of 27 agencies we have verified in Missouri — 1 pay less, 25 pay more in the state — and #1,648 of 1,681 nationally. Against the national median it is $26,773 below, and against other municipal agencies $29,647 below.
Compare with another department
Put Joplin 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 MO
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Joplin | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Creve Coeur Police Department | Municipal | 47 | $71,329 | +$29,712 | #707 |
| 2 | Liberty Police Department | Municipal | 47 | $70,000 | +$28,383 | #772 |
| 3 | Kansas City Missouri Police Department | Municipal | 1,119 | $68,928 | +$27,311 | #819 |
| 4 | O'Fallon Police Department | Municipal | 118 | $67,454 | +$25,837 | #898 |
| 5 | Brentwood Police Department | Municipal | 31 | $67,418 | +$25,801 | #900 |
| 6 | St. Charles County Police Department | County | 35 | $66,060 | +$24,443 | #962 |
| 7 | Missouri State Highway Patrol | State | 1,134 | $65,400 | +$23,783 | #998 |
| 8 | Riverside Police Department | Municipal | 25 | $65,000 | +$23,383 | #1,022 |
| 9 | Ferguson Police Department | Municipal | 47 | $64,316 | +$22,699 | #1,052 |
| 10 | Gladstone Police Department | Municipal | 31 | $63,560 | +$21,943 | #1,077 |
| 11 | Ballwin Police Department | Municipal | 45 | $63,508 | +$21,891 | #1,081 |
| 12 | St. Louis County Police Department | County | 843 | $63,003 | +$21,386 | #1,110 |
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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