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Ketchikan 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.
Ketchikan Police Department starts at $79,726 a year — about $38.33 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $11,336 above the median of the 1,681 agencies on this list, and $8,462 above the median for municipal agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in Alaska run about 2% above the national average, so this is worth roughly $77,889 somewhere at average prices — $1,837 less than the headline figure. That average hides a wide spread: utilities at 119, where goods are 106. 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 isKetchikan Police Department reported 21 sworn officers and 12 civilian staff to the FBI for 2025. That is 2.6 officers per 1,000 residents, over a population of 8,000.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 Ketchikan says about itself
It is the mission of the Ketchikan Police Department, together with all the residents of the City, to make our community as safe place within which to live and work.
What Ketchikan does
KPD is the primary law enforcement agency for the City of Ketchikan, with a 16-officer patrol division in four teams, an investigations division covering crimes against children, drug, white-collar and computer crime, a central dispatch center answering all 911 calls on Revilla and Gravina Islands, and parking enforcement.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 10 August 2026. City of Ketchikan Police Officer vacancy and City/PSEA CBA 2025-2028 — open the source document
Current Police Officer job is Grade 563. The City/PSEA compensation table effective July 1, 2026 lists Grade 563 Step A at $38.33/hour. $38.33 x 2,080 = $79,726.40 annually. Class: Police Officer. Trainee class: YES, current City/PSEA agreement separately addresses Police Officer Recruits. Current City/PSEA agreement is expressly for Police Officers and Police Dispatchers; current City vacancy requires APSC certification within 12 months of hire.
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 Ketchikan 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. Ketchikan starts at $79,726, so $8,439 above the municipal middle.
How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Ketchikan Police Department officer make?
Ketchikan Police Department starts a new officer on $79,726 a year, about $38.33 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 Ketchikan Police Officer vacancy and City/PSEA CBA 2025-2028.
Is that good pay for a police officer in Alaska?
It ranks #6 of 11 agencies we have verified in Alaska — 5 pay less, 5 pay more in the state — and #415 of 1,681 nationally. Against the national median it is $11,336 above, and against other municipal agencies $8,462 above.
Compare with another department
Put Ketchikan 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 AK
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Ketchikan | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alaska State Troopers | State | 363 | $97,365 | +$17,638 | #121 |
| 2 | North Slope Borough Police Department | County | 47 | $94,120 | +$14,394 | #153 |
| 3 | Anchorage Police Department | Municipal | 369 | $85,405 | +$5,678 | #284 |
| 4 | Juneau Police Department | Municipal | 41 | $84,490 | +$4,763 | #299 |
| 5 | Wasilla Police Department | Municipal | 29 | $80,558 | +$832 | #392 |
| 7 | Kenai Police Department | Municipal | 17 | $79,414 | −$312 | #422 |
| 8 | Petersburg Borough Police Department | Municipal | — | $71,406 | −$8,320 | #701 |
| 9 | Bristol Bay Borough Police Department | County | 4 | $68,390 | −$11,336 | #841 |
| 10 | Haines Borough Police Department | Municipal | — | $66,768 | −$12,958 | #930 |
| 11 | Palmer Police Department | Municipal | 17 | $60,840 | −$18,886 | #1,202 |
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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