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Lincoln 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.
Lincoln Police Department starts at $63,429 a year — about $30.49 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $4,961 below the median of the 1,681 agencies on this list, and $7,835 below the median for municipal agencies.
How big the department isLincoln Police Department reported 27 sworn officers and 2 civilian staff to the FBI for 2025. That is 2.1 officers per 1,000 residents, over a population of 12,998.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 Lincoln says about itself
The Lincoln Police Department will be courageous and honorable in our endeavors of peace keeping. We will obtain a higher quality of life for our citizens through teamwork, communication, transparency, and reducing crime.
What Lincoln does
Lincoln Police Department says its vision is to safeguard, be involved and establish respect within the community. Its mission calls for courageous and honorable peacekeeping and improving quality of life through teamwork, communication, transparency and crime reduction. Its core values include integrity, service and courage
Where the figure comes from
Checked 8 August 2026. City of Lincoln official Entry Level Po — open the source document
Current 2026 official page separately lists Entry Level (New Hires) $57,369 and Certified Salary $63,429. Because this project measures the brand-new officer immediately after academy/certification, the certified salary $63,429 controls; the $78,950 probationed/lateral rate is 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 Lincoln 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. Lincoln starts at $63,429, so $7,858 below the municipal middle.
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How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Lincoln Police Department officer make?
Lincoln Police Department starts a new officer on $63,429 a year, about $30.49 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 Lincoln official Entry Level Po.
Is that good pay for a police officer in Illinois?
It ranks #33 of 35 agencies we have verified in Illinois — 2 pay less, 32 pay more in the state — and #1,087 of 1,681 nationally. Against the national median it is $4,961 below, and against other municipal agencies $7,835 below.
Compare with another department
Put Lincoln 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 Lincoln | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vernon Hills Police Department | Municipal | 44 | $94,460 | +$31,031 | #151 |
| 2 | Wilmette Police Department | Municipal | 45 | $93,156 | +$29,727 | #165 |
| 3 | Aurora Police Department | Municipal | 328 | $92,248 | +$28,819 | #176 |
| 4 | Des Plaines Police Department | Municipal | 97 | $91,440 | +$28,011 | #186 |
| 5 | Highland Park Police Department | Municipal | 60 | $91,158 | +$27,729 | #191 |
| 6 | Illinois State Police | State | 1,821 | $90,828 | +$27,399 | #199 |
| 7 | River Forest Police Department | Municipal | 26 | $90,106 | +$26,677 | #213 |
| 8 | Elgin Police Department | Municipal | 203 | $88,274 | +$24,845 | #245 |
| 9 | Lake County Sheriff's Office | County | 113 | $87,297 | +$23,868 | #259 |
| 10 | Woodridge Police Department | Municipal | 47 | $84,781 | +$21,352 | #294 |
| 11 | DeKalb Police Department | Municipal | 72 | $83,449 | +$20,020 | #326 |
| 12 | Rolling Meadows Police Department | Municipal | 49 | $81,439 | +$18,010 | #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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