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Linden 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.
Linden Police Department starts at $46,887 a year — about $22.54 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $19,798 below the median of the 2,288 agencies on this list, and $21,253 below the median for municipal agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in New Jersey run about 9% above the national average, so this is worth roughly $43,093 somewhere at average prices — $3,794 less than the headline figure. Most of that is rent, at 134 against a national average of 100, where goods are 107. 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 isLinden Police Department reported 142 sworn officers and 25 civilian staff to the FBI for 2025. That is 3.1 officers per 1,000 residents, over a population of 45,814.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 Linden says about itself
The mission of the Linden Police Department is to reduce crime, improve the delivery of Police services and enhance the quality of life for Linden residents through cooperative partnerships with community members.
What Linden does
The Linden Police Department serves the City of Linden in Union County, New Jersey.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 19 September 2026. City of Linden "Join LPD" recruiting page, starting salary — open the source document
Current page for the 2026 Law Enforcement Examination cycle; no effective date stated. Recruits earn two increases in the first year; top pay is $129,100.
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 Linden 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. Linden starts at $46,887, so $21,253 below the municipal middle.
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How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Linden Police Department officer make?
Linden Police Department starts a new officer on $46,887 a year, about $22.54 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 Linden "Join LPD" recruiting page, starting salary.
Is that good pay for a police officer in New Jersey?
It ranks #25 of 27 agencies we have verified in New Jersey — 2 pay less, 24 pay more in the state — and #2,170 of 2,288 nationally. Against the national median it is $19,798 below, and against other municipal agencies $21,253 below.
Compare with another department
Put Linden 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 NJ
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Linden | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection — Fish & Wildlife Conservation Police | State | — | $74,153 | +$27,266 | #711 |
| 2 | New Jersey State Police | State | 3,351 | $64,956 | +$18,069 | #1,268 |
| 3 | Galloway Township Police Department | Municipal | 68 | $64,236 | +$17,349 | #1,307 |
| 4 | Monroe Township Police Department | Municipal | — | $63,736 | +$16,849 | #1,334 |
| 5 | New Jersey State Parole Board | State | — | $63,268 | +$16,381 | #1,367 |
| 6 | North Plainfield Police Department | Municipal | 47 | $59,036 | +$12,149 | #1,624 |
| 7 | Hamilton Township Police Division | Municipal | — | $59,000 | +$12,113 | #1,629 |
| 8 | Ho-Ho-Kus Police Department | Municipal | 16 | $58,000 | +$11,113 | #1,679 |
| 9 | Vineland Police Department | Municipal | 147 | $58,000 | +$11,113 | #1,681 |
| 10 | Cherry Hill Township Police Department | Municipal | 135 | $57,322 | +$10,435 | #1,741 |
| 11 | Toms River Township Police Department | Municipal | 145 | $56,792 | +$9,905 | #1,760 |
| 12 | South Brunswick Police Department | Municipal | — | $55,165 | +$8,278 | #1,840 |
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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