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Kansas City Missouri 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.

Kansas City Missouri Police Department starts at $68,928 a year — about $33.14 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $538 above the median of the 1,681 agencies on this list, and $2,336 below the median for municipal agencies.

Cost of livingPrices in Missouri run about 9% below the national average, so this goes about as far as $75,898 would somewhere at average prices — $6,970 more than the headline figure. Most of that is rent, at 70 against a national average of 100, where goods are 96. 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 isKansas City Missouri Police Department reported 1,119 sworn officers and 610 civilian staff to the FBI for 2025. That is 2.2 officers per 1,000 residents, over a population of 518,039.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 Kansas City Missouri says about itself

The mission of the Kansas City Missouri Police Department is to protect and serve with professionalism, honor and integrity. We are the largest police department in our region, offering officers the most specialized units and opportunities.

What Kansas City Missouri does

Kansas City Missouri Police Department provides municipal law-enforcement service through patrol and specialized units and recruits Police Officers through its academy.

Where the figure comes from

Checked 10 August 2026. Kansas City Missouri Police Department Salary & Benefits — open the source document
Their source is effective 10 August 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 Kansas City Missouri sits is partly about the agency and partly about which level of policing it belongs to. The three levels do not pay the same.

LevelLowestMedianHighestAgencies
Municipal$35,006$71,287$163,6191046
County$36,492$65,374$132,263416
Special jurisdiction$31,200$60,195$107,95469
State$33,994$64,998$102,692143
Federal$70,477$73,502$86,5305
Territory$16,640$28,236$43,3549
What this shows

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. Kansas City Missouri starts at $68,928, so $2,359 below the municipal middle.

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How it ranks

Nationally #819of 1,681 agencies Top 49% of everything we have verified
In MO #3of 27 agencies 24 pay less, 2 pay more
Hourly to start $33on a 2,080-hour year Base pay only, before overtime or any differential

Common questions

How much does a Kansas City Missouri Police Department officer make?

Kansas City Missouri Police Department starts a new officer on $68,928 a year, about $33.14 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 Kansas City Missouri Police Department Salary & Benefits.

Is that good pay for a police officer in Missouri?

It ranks #3 of 27 agencies we have verified in Missouri — 24 pay less, 2 pay more in the state — and #819 of 1,681 nationally. Against the national median it is $538 above, and against other municipal agencies $2,336 below.

Compare with another department

Put Kansas City Missouri 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.

Compare Kansas

The agencies either side of it

Other agencies in MO

Go
#AgencyLevelSworn #Entry payVs KansasNational
1Creve Coeur Police DepartmentMunicipal47$71,329+$2,401#707
2Liberty Police DepartmentMunicipal47$70,000+$1,072#772
4O'Fallon Police DepartmentMunicipal118$67,454−$1,474#898
5Brentwood Police DepartmentMunicipal31$67,418−$1,510#900
6St. Charles County Police DepartmentCounty35$66,060−$2,868#962
7Missouri State Highway PatrolState1,134$65,400−$3,528#998
8Riverside Police DepartmentMunicipal25$65,000−$3,928#1,022
9Ferguson Police DepartmentMunicipal47$64,316−$4,612#1,052
10Gladstone Police DepartmentMunicipal31$63,560−$5,368#1,077
11Ballwin Police DepartmentMunicipal45$63,508−$5,420#1,081
12St. Louis County Police DepartmentCounty843$63,003−$5,925#1,110
13Columbia Police DepartmentMunicipal164$60,611−$8,317#1,208

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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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