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Lake in the Hills 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.
Lake in the Hills Police Department starts at $72,430 a year — about $34.82 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $4,040 above the median of the 1,681 agencies on this list, and $1,165 above the median for municipal agencies.
How big the department isLake in the Hills Police Department reported 40 sworn officers and 8 civilian staff to the FBI for 2025. That is 1.4 officers per 1,000 residents, over a population of 28,651.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 Lake in the Hills says about itself
To provide exceptional community-oriented law enforcement services that protect life and property while preserving the rights of those we serve. A premier law enforcement agency committed to excellence through the continuous improvement of highly trained personnel, innovative use of technology, fostering transparency, and building collaborative relationships to maintain a safe and welcoming community.
What Lake in the Hills does
The Lake in the Hills Police Department describes itself as a full-service, community-minded law-enforcement agency responsible for the community's law enforcement needs. Its mission is to provide exceptional community-oriented law-enforcement services that protect life and property while preserving individual rights. Its services include patrol, investigations, crime prevention, communications, community services, traffic/crash work, records, crime-scene services and training
Where the figure comes from
Checked 8 August 2026. Village of Lake in the Hills of — open the source document
Opened 12 May 2026; closing 8 August 2026; official posting lists a $72,429.54 hire range for the Police Officer position and recruits original-entry applicants through written and oral examinations. Lateral-entry placement and benefits/add-ons are excluded
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 Lake in the Hills 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. Lake in the Hills starts at $72,430, so $1,143 above the municipal middle.
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How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Lake in the Hills Police Department officer make?
Lake in the Hills Police Department starts a new officer on $72,430 a year, about $34.82 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 Village of Lake in the Hills of.
Is that good pay for a police officer in Illinois?
It ranks #24 of 35 agencies we have verified in Illinois — 11 pay less, 23 pay more in the state — and #647 of 1,681 nationally. Against the national median it is $4,040 above, and against other municipal agencies $1,165 above.
Compare with another department
Put Lake in the Hills 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 IL
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Lake | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vernon Hills Police Department | Municipal | 44 | $94,460 | +$22,030 | #151 |
| 2 | Wilmette Police Department | Municipal | 45 | $93,156 | +$20,726 | #165 |
| 3 | Aurora Police Department | Municipal | 328 | $92,248 | +$19,818 | #176 |
| 4 | Des Plaines Police Department | Municipal | 97 | $91,440 | +$19,010 | #186 |
| 5 | Highland Park Police Department | Municipal | 60 | $91,158 | +$18,729 | #191 |
| 6 | Illinois State Police | State | 1,821 | $90,828 | +$18,398 | #199 |
| 7 | River Forest Police Department | Municipal | 26 | $90,106 | +$17,676 | #213 |
| 8 | Elgin Police Department | Municipal | 203 | $88,274 | +$15,844 | #245 |
| 9 | Lake County Sheriff's Office | County | 113 | $87,297 | +$14,868 | #259 |
| 10 | Woodridge Police Department | Municipal | 47 | $84,781 | +$12,351 | #294 |
| 11 | DeKalb Police Department | Municipal | 72 | $83,449 | +$11,019 | #326 |
| 12 | Rolling Meadows Police Department | Municipal | 49 | $81,439 | +$9,009 | #362 |
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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