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Lander 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.
Lander Police Department starts at $55,409 a year — about $26.64 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $11,276 below the median of the 2,288 agencies on this list, and $12,731 below the median for municipal agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in Wyoming run about 7% below the national average, so this goes about as far as $59,778 would somewhere at average prices — $4,369 more than the headline figure. Most of that is rent, at 71 against a national average of 100, where goods are 95. 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 isLander Police Department reported 18 sworn officers and 2 civilian staff to the FBI for 2025. That is 2.4 officers per 1,000 residents, over a population of 7,462.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 Lander says about itself
The men and women of the Lander Police Department are committed to fostering a positive relationship with our community partners by providing excellent public service, reducing the fear and incidence of crime, and improving the overall quality of life.
What Lander does
The Lander Police Department is the municipal force for the City of Lander, the seat of Fremont County in central Wyoming. The City lists a chief, captain, sergeants, corporals, detectives, two school resource officers and seven patrol officers, handling about 5,500 calls a year.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 25 September 2026. City of Lander, "Job Opening - Police Officer I or Lateral Police Officer II", 03-31-2026: "For Police Officer I, the salary range begins at $55,409 annually." — open the source document
Police Officer I is the entry class and the City prints where its range begins, $55,409 a year, used as printed; it is the Minimum of Grade 4 on the City's July 2025 salary structure. Lateral and already-certified officers are hired as Police Officer II, whose range "begins at $57,740" - a prior-service class, so not the figure. Posted 31 March 2026. Excluded: benefits.
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 Lander 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 | $68,140 | $163,619 | 1549 |
| County | $35,000 | $63,565 | $132,263 | 516 |
| Special jurisdiction | $31,200 | $60,204 | $107,954 | 71 |
| State | $33,994 | $65,166 | $110,916 | 145 |
| 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 $5,400 more than the middle municipal agency and about $9,900 more than the middle county agency and about $13,300 more than the middle special jurisdiction agency and about $8,300 more than the middle state agency and about $45,300 more than the middle territory agency. Lander starts at $55,409, so $12,731 below the municipal middle.
How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Lander Police Department officer make?
Lander Police Department starts a new officer on $55,409 a year, about $26.64 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 Lander, "Job Opening - Police Officer I or Lateral Police Officer II", 03-31-2026: "For Police Officer I, the salary range begins at $55,409 annually.".
Is that good pay for a police officer in Wyoming?
It ranks #15 of 17 agencies we have verified in Wyoming — 2 pay less, 14 pay more in the state — and #1,827 of 2,288 nationally. Against the national median it is $11,276 below, and against other municipal agencies $12,731 below.
Compare with another department
Put Lander 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 WY
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Lander | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Teton County Sheriff's Office | County | 31 | $73,178 | +$17,769 | #749 |
| 2 | Wyoming Highway Patrol | State | 194 | $68,619 | +$13,210 | #1,011 |
| 3 | Converse County Sheriff's Office | County | 24 | $67,111 | +$11,702 | #1,115 |
| 4 | Gillette Police Department | Municipal | 62 | $66,560 | +$11,151 | #1,154 |
| 5 | Rock Springs Police Department | Municipal | 38 | $65,894 | +$10,485 | #1,193 |
| 6 | Campbell County Sheriff's Office | County | 56 | $65,832 | +$10,423 | #1,198 |
| 7 | Sheridan Police Department | Municipal | 28 | $64,748 | +$9,339 | #1,280 |
| 8 | Laramie Police Department | Municipal | 45 | $64,329 | +$8,920 | #1,300 |
| 9 | Green River Police Department | Municipal | 22 | $62,962 | +$7,553 | #1,389 |
| 10 | Casper Police Department | Municipal | 95 | $62,670 | +$7,261 | #1,396 |
| 11 | Cheyenne Police Department | Municipal | 111 | $62,500 | +$7,091 | #1,411 |
| 12 | Rawlins Police Department | Municipal | 13 | $58,323 | +$2,914 | #1,658 |
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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