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Madison 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.
Madison Police Department starts at $60,195 a year — about $28.94 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $8,195 below the median of the 1,681 agencies on this list, and $11,069 below the median for municipal agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in Alabama run about 11% below the national average, so this goes about as far as $67,770 would somewhere at average prices — $7,575 more than the headline figure. Most of that is rent, at 62 against a national average of 100, where goods are 96. 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 isMadison Police Department reported 88 sworn officers and 35 civilian staff to the FBI for 2025. That is 1.3 officers per 1,000 residents, over a population of 65,833.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 Madison says about itself
The Madison Police Department is dedicated to protecting and serving our community to the highest standard attainable. Our goal is to enhance the quality of life of every citizen through professional police services.
What Madison does
Madison Police Department provides full-service municipal law enforcement focused on protecting life and property, preventing and investigating crime, traffic safety and community engagement. Official City materials emphasize professional service, integrity, accountability and maintaining a safe community
Where the figure comes from
Checked 8 August 2026. City of Madison official 2026 — open the source document
Opened 15 June 2026; official salary $28.94/hour = $60,195.20 annually. The City expressly defines this as an entry-level sworn Police Officer trainee position whose primary responsibility is completion of an APOSTC-certified academy and field training. Optional/additional compensation 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.
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How this level compares
Where Madison 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. Madison starts at $60,195, so $11,092 below the municipal middle.
How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Madison Police Department officer make?
Madison Police Department starts a new officer on $60,195 a year, about $28.94 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 Madison official 2026.
Is that good pay for a police officer in Alabama?
It ranks #1 of 21 agencies we have verified in Alabama — the highest in the state in the state — and #1,226 of 1,681 nationally. Against the national median it is $8,195 below, and against other municipal agencies $11,069 below.
Compare with another department
Put Madison 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 AL
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Madison | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Huntsville Police Department | Municipal | 432 | $58,614 | −$1,581 | #1,300 |
| 3 | Shelby County Sheriff's Office | County | 147 | $57,408 | −$2,787 | #1,362 |
| 4 | Alabama Highway Patrol | State | — | $56,726 | −$3,469 | #1,376 |
| 5 | Madison County Sheriff's Office | County | 184 | $55,390 | −$4,805 | #1,415 |
| 6 | Montgomery Police Department | Municipal | 259 | $55,168 | −$5,027 | #1,420 |
| 7 | Baldwin County Sheriff's Office | County | 174 | $53,768 | −$6,427 | #1,476 |
| 8 | Tuscaloosa County Sheriff's Office | County | 112 | $51,888 | −$8,307 | #1,521 |
| 9 | Prattville Police Department | Municipal | 96 | $50,679 | −$9,516 | #1,544 |
| 10 | Mobile County Sheriff's Office | County | 236 | $50,526 | −$9,669 | #1,551 |
| 11 | University of Alabama at Birmingham Police Department | Special jurisdiction | — | $49,920 | −$10,275 | #1,577 |
| 12 | Fairhope Police Department | Municipal | 44 | $47,840 | −$12,355 | #1,601 |
| 13 | Jefferson County Sheriff's Office | County | 466 | $47,736 | −$12,459 | #1,604 |
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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