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Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety 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.
Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety starts at $55,779 a year — about $26.82 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $12,611 below the median of the 1,681 agencies on this list, and $15,485 below the median for municipal agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in Kalamazoo-Portage, MI run about 5% below the national average, so this goes about as far as $58,814 would somewhere at average prices — $3,035 more than the headline figure. Most of that is rent, at 82 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 isKalamazoo Department of Public Safety reported 243 sworn officers and 28 civilian staff to the FBI for 2025. That is 3.3 officers per 1,000 residents, over a population of 73,244.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 Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety says about itself
In partnership with the community, the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety is dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for all by providing professional police, fire, and EMS services to the residents and visitors of Kalamazoo.
What Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety does
Kalamazoo Public Safety Officers respond to police, fire and medical emergencies; police duties include patrol, traffic enforcement, criminal investigation and lawful arrests.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 10 August 2026. City of Kalamazoo NEOGOV Public Safety Officer posting/class information — open the source document
Their source is effective 1 January 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 Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety 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. Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety starts at $55,779, so $15,508 below the municipal middle.
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How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety officer make?
Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety starts a new officer on $55,779 a year, about $26.82 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 Kalamazoo NEOGOV Public Safety Officer posting/class information.
Is that good pay for a police officer in Michigan?
It ranks #30 of 38 agencies we have verified in Michigan — 8 pay less, 29 pay more in the state — and #1,400 of 1,681 nationally. Against the national median it is $12,611 below, and against other municipal agencies $15,485 below.
Compare with another department
Put Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety 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 MI
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Kalamazoo | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Troy Police Department | Municipal | 110 | $78,224 | +$22,445 | #452 |
| 2 | Grand Rapids Police Department | Municipal | 299 | $77,467 | +$21,688 | #471 |
| 3 | Wyoming Police Department | Municipal | 97 | $75,400 | +$19,621 | #539 |
| 4 | Sumpter Township Police Department | Municipal | 18 | $71,732 | +$15,953 | #684 |
| 5 | Lincoln Charter Township Police Department | Municipal | — | $71,696 | +$15,917 | #686 |
| 6 | Macomb County Sheriff's Office | County | 274 | $71,098 | +$15,319 | #718 |
| 7 | Muskegon Police Department | Municipal | 70 | $69,888 | +$14,109 | #781 |
| 8 | Livonia Police Department | Municipal | 117 | $69,784 | +$14,005 | #783 |
| 9 | Dearborn Police Department | Municipal | 186 | $69,080 | +$13,301 | #810 |
| 10 | Plymouth Township Police Department | Municipal | 33 | $68,140 | +$12,361 | #852 |
| 11 | Oscoda Township Police Department | Municipal | 12 | $68,140 | +$12,361 | #853 |
| 12 | Northville Police Department | Municipal | 12 | $65,956 | +$10,177 | #969 |
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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