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Kettering 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.
Kettering Police Department starts at $79,227 a year — about $38.09 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $11,960 above the median of the 2,053 agencies on this list, and $10,441 above the median for municipal agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in Ohio run about 7% below the national average, so this goes about as far as $85,398 would somewhere at average prices — $6,171 more than the headline figure. Most of that is rent, at 73 against a national average of 100, where goods are 94. 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 isKettering Police Department reported 79 sworn officers and 31 civilian staff to the FBI for 2025. That is 1.4 officers per 1,000 residents, over a population of 56,832.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 Kettering says about itself
The Kettering Police Department is responsible for police patrol, criminal investigations, crime prevention/community relations and animal control.
What Kettering does
The Kettering Police Department serves the City of Kettering in Montgomery County, Ohio.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 20 September 2026. City of Kettering personnel ordinance 4416-24, Section 203, Pay Grade 304 (Patrol Officer) Step A — open the source document
Effective 10 February 2025; $38.09/hr at Step A, to $103,917 at Step G. The department's 2026 recruitment page gives a 2026 minimum of $81,598, but the 2026 ordinance is not published yet.
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.
Entry pay, 2021–2025
Every point is the entry-class annual base printed in the agency’s own pay document. Base pay only — no shift differential, incentives or allowances.
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How this level compares
Where Kettering 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 | $33,280 | $68,786 | $163,619 | 1372 |
| County | $35,000 | $64,438 | $132,263 | 459 |
| Special jurisdiction | $31,200 | $60,204 | $107,954 | 71 |
| State | $33,994 | $65,400 | $110,916 | 144 |
| 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 $4,700 more than the middle municipal agency and about $9,100 more than the middle county agency and about $13,300 more than the middle special jurisdiction agency and about $8,100 more than the middle state agency and about $45,300 more than the middle territory agency. Kettering starts at $79,227, so $10,441 above the municipal middle.
How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Kettering Police Department officer make?
Kettering Police Department starts a new officer on $79,227 a year, about $38.09 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 Kettering personnel ordinance 4416-24, Section 203, Pay Grade 304 (Patrol Officer) Step A.
Is that good pay for a police officer in Ohio?
It ranks #6 of 46 agencies we have verified in Ohio — 40 pay less, 5 pay more in the state — and #470 of 2,053 nationally. Against the national median it is $11,960 above, and against other municipal agencies $10,441 above.
Compare with another department
Put Kettering 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 OH
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Kettering | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Westlake Police Department | Municipal | — | $88,712 | +$9,485 | #259 |
| 2 | University Heights Police Department | Municipal | 29 | $82,259 | +$3,032 | #378 |
| 3 | Powell Police Department | Municipal | 21 | $81,426 | +$2,199 | #401 |
| 4 | Stow Police Department | Municipal | 45 | $80,288 | +$1,061 | #442 |
| 5 | Cincinnati Police Department | Municipal | 971 | $79,359 | +$132 | #467 |
| 7 | Canfield Police Department | Municipal | 21 | $79,002 | −$225 | #475 |
| 8 | Mentor Police Department | Municipal | — | $77,849 | −$1,378 | #514 |
| 9 | West Chester Township Police Department | Municipal | 92 | $77,027 | −$2,200 | #534 |
| 10 | Beavercreek Police Department | Municipal | 53 | $76,918 | −$2,309 | #538 |
| 11 | Grandview Heights Division of Police | Municipal | 21 | $76,708 | −$2,519 | #542 |
| 12 | Shaker Heights Police Department | Municipal | 68 | $76,566 | −$2,661 | #550 |
| 13 | Centerville Police Department | Municipal | 37 | $75,608 | −$3,619 | #592 |
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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