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Kaua'i 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.
Kaua'i Police Department starts at $83,808 a year — about $40.29 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $15,418 above the median of the 1,681 agencies on this list, and $12,544 above the median for municipal agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in Hawaii run about 10% above the national average, so this is worth roughly $76,223 somewhere at average prices — $7,585 less than the headline figure. Most of that is utilities, at 190 against a national average of 100, where goods are 112. 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.
About Kaua'i
The Kaua'i Police Department employs approximately 166 sworn and 69 civilian personnel across three districts on the island, with officers covered by bargaining unit 12 of the State of Hawaii Organization of Police Officers
Where the figure comes from
Checked 21 August 2026. Kaua'i Police Department recruitment site, Careers page, Police Officer starting pay — open the source document
$83,808 is the stated starting pay for the Police Officer role — a trainee police officer who attends police classes and patrols an assigned beat as part of training. Minimum qualifications are age 20, a high school diploma, a driver's license and firearm eligibility, with NO prior sworn service required, so no prior sworn service is required. Bargaining unit 12 (SHOPO), the statewide unit covering all four county departments — which is why this matches the Hawai'i Police Department figure exactly rather than duplicating it in error. joinkauaipd.com is KPD's own recruitment site, unveiled by the County of Kaua'i in a March 2025 press release. NOTE FOR A RECHECK: the Apply button under this role links to a Workday requisition titled Police Services Officer II, which looks like a mismatch on their side; the role text and pay on the page are for the trainee police officer.
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.
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How this level compares
Where Kaua'i 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. Kaua'i starts at $83,808, so $12,521 above the municipal middle.
How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Kaua'i Police Department officer make?
Kaua'i Police Department starts a new officer on $83,808 a year, about $40.29 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 Kaua'i Police Department recruitment site, Careers page, Police Officer starting pay.
Is that good pay for a police officer in Hawaii?
It ranks #4 of 6 agencies we have verified in Hawaii — 2 pay less, 3 pay more in the state — and #316 of 1,681 nationally. Against the national median it is $15,418 above, and against other municipal agencies $12,544 above.
Compare with another department
Put Kaua'i 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 HI
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Kaua'i | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Honolulu Police Department | Municipal | 1,785 | $87,108 | +$3,300 | #262 |
| 2 | Hawai'i Police Department | Municipal | — | $83,808 | same | #313 |
| 3 | Maui Police Department | Municipal | — | $83,808 | same | #315 |
| 5 | Hawaii Department of Law Enforcement, Sheriff Division | County | — | $60,024 | −$23,784 | #1,235 |
| 6 | Hawai'i Department of Land and Natural Resources — Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement | State | — | $55,476 | −$28,332 | #1,411 |
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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