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Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries — Enforcement Division 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.
Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries — Enforcement Division starts at $53,997 a year — about $25.96 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $12,688 below the median of the 2,288 agencies on this list, and $11,170 below the median for state agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in Louisiana run about 12% below the national average, so this goes about as far as $61,216 would somewhere at average prices — $7,219 more than the headline figure. Most of that is rent, at 63 against a national average of 100, where goods are 94. 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.
What Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries — Enforcement Division says about itself
LDWF's Law Enforcement Division's mission is to establish and maintain compliance through the execution and enforcement of laws, rules, and regulations of the state relative to the management, conservation, and protection of renewable natural wildlife and fisheries resources and relative to providing public safety on the state's waterways and lands for the continued use and enjoyment by current and future generations.
What Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries — Enforcement Division does
LDWF Enforcement Agents are state law-enforcement officers enforcing Louisiana and federal wildlife and fisheries laws, recreational boating laws and general law-enforcement requirements on state wildlife areas, with search-and-rescue and emergency-response duties.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 8 August 2026. Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries — Become an Agent FAQs — open the source document
$53,996.80. Current official salary FAQ verified 8 August 2026; 38th Enforcement Academy recruitment published 1 December 2025
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 Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries — Enforcement Division 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. Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries — Enforcement Division starts at $53,997, so $11,169 below the state middle.
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How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries — Enforcement Division officer make?
Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries — Enforcement Division starts a new officer on $53,997 a year, about $25.96 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 Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries — Become an Agent FAQs.
Is that good pay for a police officer in Louisiana?
It ranks #6 of 28 agencies we have verified in Louisiana — 22 pay less, 5 pay more in the state — and #1,917 of 2,288 nationally. Against the national median it is $12,688 below, and against other state agencies $11,170 below.
Compare with another department
Put Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries — Enforcement Division 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 LA
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Louisiana | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office | County | 916 | $58,200 | +$4,203 | #1,664 |
| 2 | Baton Rouge Police Department | Municipal | 544 | $58,000 | +$4,003 | #1,677 |
| 3 | Louisiana State Police | State | 1,192 | $57,680 | +$3,683 | #1,719 |
| 4 | Kenner Police Department | Municipal | 152 | $54,700 | +$703 | #1,877 |
| 5 | New Orleans Police Department | Municipal | 906 | $54,421 | +$424 | #1,894 |
| 7 | Gretna Police Department | Municipal | 93 | $49,118 | −$4,879 | #2,114 |
| 8 | Lake Charles Police Department | Municipal | 138 | $48,500 | −$5,497 | #2,129 |
| 9 | Alexandria Police Department | Municipal | 93 | $48,271 | −$5,726 | #2,138 |
| 10 | Lafayette Police Department | Municipal | 278 | $45,000 | −$8,997 | #2,207 |
| 11 | Covington Police Department | Municipal | 45 | $43,672 | −$10,325 | #2,227 |
| 12 | Sulphur Police Department | Municipal | 61 | $43,553 | −$10,444 | #2,228 |
| 13 | Bossier City Police Department | Municipal | 200 | $42,576 | −$11,421 | #2,237 |
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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