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Lower Merion Township 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.
Lower Merion Township Police Department starts at $90,162 a year — about $43.35 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $21,772 above the median of the 1,681 agencies on this list, and $18,898 above the median for municipal agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in Pennsylvania run about 2% below the national average, so this goes about as far as $92,406 would somewhere at average prices — $2,244 more than the headline figure. That average hides a wide spread: rent at 85, where goods are 99. 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 isLower Merion Township Police Department reported 118 sworn officers and 16 civilian staff to the FBI for 2025. That is 1.8 officers per 1,000 residents, over a population of 64,974.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 Lower Merion Township says about itself
It is our mission to improve the quality of life by providing the highest level of professional police service through a partnership with the community. We are committed to creating a safe, crime-free environment by enforcing the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the U.S. Constitution.
What Lower Merion Township does
Lower Merion Township Police Department has an authorized strength of 136 sworn officers responsible for roughly 60,000 residents across twenty-four square miles of Montgomery County, a Philadelphia suburb made up of sixteen individual communities of homes, shops and corporate offices. Beyond uniformed patrol it fields bicycle patrol, a traffic safety unit, K-9, crime prevention, a motorcycle unit, investigations, an emergency response team, hostage negotiators and drone operators.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 18 August 2026. Lower Merion Township — Police Department, Become an Officer page, Salary and Benefits section — open the source document
The Township's own page sets out both routes into the job and prices each: $80,427 for an applicant HIRED WITHOUT ACT 120 TRAINING, paid while attending the police academy, and $90,162 for an applicant HIRED WITH ACT 120 TRAINING, paid on successful graduation from the academy. The $90,162 is recorded here as the first sworn rate; the $80,427 is paid during training and is excluded as a trainee rate, the same treatment used elsewhere on this site. Notably the Township hires candidates who hold no certification at all and pays them through the academy, so the job is open to someone with no prior law enforcement service. Requirements are 21 years of age by the application deadline, a high school diploma or GED, United States citizenship, a valid license, good moral character and passing written, oral and physical agility examinations to MPOETC standards, followed by polygraph, background, medical and psychological screening. No visible tattoos or body art in uniform. Excluded as add-ons: night differential, longevity pay, educational reimbursement, the uniform and cleaning allowance and the pension.
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 Lower Merion Township 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. Lower Merion Township starts at $90,162, so $18,875 above the municipal middle.
How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Lower Merion Township Police Department officer make?
Lower Merion Township Police Department starts a new officer on $90,162 a year, about $43.35 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 Lower Merion Township — Police Department, Become an Officer page, Salary and Benefits section.
Is that good pay for a police officer in Pennsylvania?
It ranks #2 of 23 agencies we have verified in Pennsylvania — 21 pay less, 1 pay more in the state — and #212 of 1,681 nationally. Against the national median it is $21,772 above, and against other municipal agencies $18,898 above.
Compare with another department
Put Lower Merion Township 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 PA
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Lower | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Abington Township Police Department | Municipal | — | $103,421 | +$13,259 | #71 |
| 3 | Pennsylvania State Police | State | 4,634 | $73,087 | −$17,075 | #624 |
| 4 | Philadelphia Police Department | Municipal | 5,065 | $72,651 | −$17,511 | #643 |
| 5 | Allentown Police Department | Municipal | 215 | $72,607 | −$17,555 | #645 |
| 6 | Manheim Township Police Department | Municipal | 63 | $72,334 | −$17,828 | #651 |
| 7 | Pittsburgh Bureau of Police | Municipal | — | $68,952 | −$21,210 | #817 |
| 8 | Gettysburg Borough Police Department | Municipal | — | $63,232 | −$26,930 | #1,101 |
| 9 | Northampton County Sheriff's Department | County | 59 | $60,606 | −$29,556 | #1,209 |
| 10 | York County Sheriff's Office | County | 107 | $58,344 | −$31,818 | #1,303 |
| 11 | Harrisburg Bureau of Police | Municipal | — | $58,100 | −$32,062 | #1,316 |
| 12 | Lancaster County Sheriff's Office | County | 55 | $57,803 | −$32,359 | #1,338 |
| 13 | Chester County Sheriff's Office | County | 59 | $57,720 | −$32,442 | #1,344 |
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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