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Lewiston 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.
Lewiston Police Department starts at $65,624 a year — about $31.55 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $2,766 below the median of the 1,681 agencies on this list, and $5,640 below the median for municipal agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in Lewiston-Auburn, ME run about 5% below the national average, so this goes about as far as $69,270 would somewhere at average prices — $3,646 more than the headline figure. Most of that is utilities, at 134 against a national average of 100, where goods are 97. Based on price levels for this metropolitan 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 isLewiston Police Department reported 78 sworn officers and 12 civilian staff to the FBI for 2025. That is 2.0 officers per 1,000 residents, over a population of 39,202.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 Lewiston says about itself
It is the mission of the Lewiston Police Department to create an atmosphere of partnership with the community toward the common goal of protecting life and property, and enhancing the overall quality of life.
What Lewiston does
The Lewiston Police Department recruits full-time Police Officers to provide municipal law-enforcement service for the City of Lewiston. The City's official employment materials establish a regular entry route that does not require prior full-time police employment or prior Maine Criminal Justice Academy graduation, with officers serving the community through the department's public-safety and law-enforcement functions
Where the figure comes from
Checked 8 August 2026. City of Lewiston official Police — open the source document
Posted 16 April 2026; open until filled; official full-time Police Officer starting wage $31.55/hour = $65,624 annually at 2,080 hours. The City explicitly states being a full-time officer and Maine Criminal Justice Academy graduate is not required to apply, so this qualifies as a zero-experience entry route. Experience-based placement and 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.
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How this level compares
Where Lewiston 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. Lewiston starts at $65,624, so $5,663 below the municipal middle.
How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Lewiston Police Department officer make?
Lewiston Police Department starts a new officer on $65,624 a year, about $31.55 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 Lewiston official Police.
Is that good pay for a police officer in Maine?
It ranks #13 of 19 agencies we have verified in Maine — 6 pay less, 12 pay more in the state — and #986 of 1,681 nationally. Against the national median it is $2,766 below, and against other municipal agencies $5,640 below.
Compare with another department
Put Lewiston 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 ME
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Lewiston | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rockland Police Department | Municipal | 19 | $77,896 | +$12,272 | #459 |
| 2 | Biddeford Police Department | Municipal | 45 | $76,482 | +$10,858 | #494 |
| 3 | Westbrook Police Department | Municipal | 47 | $73,736 | +$8,112 | #604 |
| 4 | Falmouth Police Department | Municipal | 19 | $71,344 | +$5,720 | #704 |
| 5 | Bath Police Department | Municipal | 18 | $71,011 | +$5,387 | #721 |
| 6 | York County Sheriff's Office | County | 23 | $70,628 | +$5,004 | #741 |
| 7 | Freeport Police Department | Municipal | 17 | $69,306 | +$3,682 | #798 |
| 8 | Windham Police Department | Municipal | 28 | $69,251 | +$3,627 | #802 |
| 9 | Bangor Police Department | Municipal | 82 | $69,181 | +$3,557 | #803 |
| 10 | Auburn Police Department | Municipal | 51 | $69,000 | +$3,376 | #815 |
| 11 | Augusta Police Department | Municipal | 44 | $67,371 | +$1,747 | #901 |
| 12 | Portland Police Department | Municipal | 131 | $65,874 | +$250 | #973 |
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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