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La Vista 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.
La Vista Police Department starts at $73,653 a year — about $35.41 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $5,263 above the median of the 1,681 agencies on this list, and $2,389 above the median for municipal agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in Nebraska run about 10% below the national average, so this goes about as far as $81,743 would somewhere at average prices — $8,090 more than the headline figure. Most of that is rent, at 75 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 isLa Vista Police Department reported 42 sworn officers and 7 civilian staff to the FBI for 2025. That is 2.5 officers per 1,000 residents, over a population of 16,485.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.
About La Vista
La Vista Police Department says its mission is to work in partnership with the community to provide a safe and secure environment for everyone who lives, works and does business in the city through effective, efficient, professional, positive and innovative services. The department emphasizes its positive relationship with the community, modern policing techniques and exemplary service, and operates patrol, criminal-investigations and community-services bureaus
La Vista’s rotation, in BlueShifts
La Vista officers work 12-hour day or night shifts with a three-day weekend — Friday, Saturday and Sunday — every other weekend, and bid a year in advance for their shifts.
The rotation template screen — enter the cycle and the start date, and you are done.
WorkingOff
Every month, already filled in — no typing, however far ahead you look.
September 2026
This cycle has its own page: how it works, and how to build it.
La Vista publishes the days on and off but not which are days and which are nights. In BlueShifts you choose that yourself — every shift can be a day, a night or a 24-hour tour, and the calendar marks it with a sun, a moon or a clock.
Bidding a year ahead only helps if you can see the year. BlueShifts builds the whole pattern out as far forward as you need, so you know what you are bidding for before you pick.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 15 August 2026. City of La Vista official Career Opportunities page — Entry-Level Salary Range table, sworn police officer — open the source document
2026 salary table: Starting $73,652, Maximum $105,019. The same page also states applicants 'will be offered the minimum base salary of $64,137' - see the note; the dated 2026 table is the figure used.
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.
BlueShifts. Plan Your Year. Own Your Time.
The shift calendar built for your rotation, off-duty work, and life on and off the clock.
Save your shift schedule once and BlueShifts fills the rest of the year in.
How this level compares
Where La Vista 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. La Vista starts at $73,653, so $2,366 above the municipal middle.
How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a La Vista Police Department officer make?
La Vista Police Department starts a new officer on $73,653 a year, about $35.41 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 La Vista official Career Opportunities page — Entry-Level Salary Range table, sworn police officer.
Is that good pay for a police officer in Nebraska?
It ranks #3 of 17 agencies we have verified in Nebraska — 14 pay less, 2 pay more in the state — and #605 of 1,681 nationally. Against the national median it is $5,263 above, and against other municipal agencies $2,389 above.
What shifts do La Vista Police Department officers work?
La Vista officers work 12-hour day or night shifts with a three-day weekend — Friday, Saturday and Sunday — every other weekend, and bid a year in advance for their shifts. That is the agency's own published wording; the pattern is drawn on this page.
Compare with another department
Put La Vista 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 NE
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs La | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lincoln Police Department | Municipal | 351 | $74,568 | +$915 | #574 |
| 2 | Sarpy County Sheriff's Office | County | 114 | $73,861 | +$208 | #600 |
| 4 | Lancaster County Sheriff's Office | County | 86 | $72,280 | −$1,373 | #653 |
| 5 | Nebraska State Patrol | State | 410 | $70,195 | −$3,458 | #760 |
| 6 | University of Nebraska-Lincoln Police Department | Special jurisdiction | 30 | $70,042 | −$3,611 | #766 |
| 7 | Papillion Police Department | Municipal | 48 | $69,086 | −$4,567 | #809 |
| 8 | Douglas County Sheriff's Office | County | 155 | $68,744 | −$4,909 | #827 |
| 9 | Grand Island Police Department | Municipal | 89 | $67,621 | −$6,032 | #886 |
| 10 | Columbus Police Department | Municipal | 37 | $65,340 | −$8,313 | #1,003 |
| 11 | Hall County Sheriff's Office | County | 34 | $61,027 | −$12,626 | #1,191 |
| 12 | Nebraska Game and Parks Commission — Law Enforcement Division | State | — | $58,947 | −$14,706 | #1,288 |
| 13 | Adams County Sheriff's Office | County | 19 | $57,824 | −$15,829 | #1,336 |
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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