Home › Police pay › Wisconsin › Madison Police Department
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 $63,073 a year — about $30.32 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $3,612 below the median of the 2,288 agencies on this list, and $5,067 below the median for municipal agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in Wisconsin run about 6% below the national average, so this goes about as far as $67,031 would somewhere at average prices — $3,958 more than the headline figure. Most of that is rent, at 79 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.
How big the department isMadison Police Department reported 514 sworn officers and 86 civilian staff to the FBI for 2025. That is 1.8 officers per 1,000 residents, over a population of 287,992.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
We, the members of the Madison Police Department, are committed to providing high quality police services that are accessible to all members of the community. We believe in the dignity of all people and respect individual and constitutional rights in fulfilling this mission. We envision a safe Madison, built on collaboration and shared responsibility, achieved through compassion and professional policing, that honours the dignity and diversity of every individual. We strive to deliver a high degree of service in an unbiased manner. We believe that the police can only be successful in improving safety and the quality of life the community enjoys when police and members of the public work together to address issues directly. We engage in continuous learning about different cultures, values and people, and we promote mutual acceptance and inclusion of all. Our seven core values are service, leadership, integrity, community partnerships, continuous improvement, human dignity and diversity.
What Madison does
Madison Police Department is the municipal force for Wisconsin's capital and second largest city, with an establishment of about 514 sworn officers. Officers work a 37.5 hour week, and pay rises with longevity through the city's compensation group and range structure rather than by annual step alone, with educational incentives starting after 42 months of service. Pension is through the Wisconsin Retirement System. Its authorized strength in 2023 was 492 commissioned officers and 91 civilian staff across all ranks, and field operations are organised into six districts.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 25 August 2026. Police Officer starting salary, department Salary and Benefits page. — open the source document
Their source is effective 1 December 2024.
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.
BlueShifts. Plan Your Year. Own Your Time.
The shift calendar built for your rotation, off-duty work, and life on and off the clock.
Save your shift schedule once and BlueShifts fills the rest of the year in.
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 | $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. Madison starts at $63,073, so $5,067 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 $63,073 a year, about $30.32 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 Police Officer starting salary, department Salary and Benefits page..
Is that good pay for a police officer in Wisconsin?
It ranks #62 of 81 agencies we have verified in Wisconsin — 19 pay less, 61 pay more in the state — and #1,378 of 2,288 nationally. Against the national median it is $3,612 below, and against other municipal agencies $5,067 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 WI
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Madison | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Menomonee Falls Police Department | Municipal | 59 | $82,618 | +$19,545 | #414 |
| 2 | Fitchburg Police Department | Municipal | 50 | $78,790 | +$15,717 | #527 |
| 3 | Brookfield Police Department | Municipal | 80 | $78,666 | +$15,593 | #533 |
| 4 | Cedarburg Police Department | Municipal | 24 | $77,561 | +$14,488 | #571 |
| 5 | Stoughton Police Department | Municipal | 23 | $76,378 | +$13,305 | #607 |
| 6 | Waukesha County Sheriff's Office | County | 158 | $76,128 | +$13,055 | #614 |
| 7 | River Falls Police Department | Municipal | 27 | $75,525 | +$12,452 | #647 |
| 8 | Wisconsin State Patrol | State | 445 | $75,462 | +$12,389 | #650 |
| 9 | Grafton Police Department | Municipal | 22 | $75,102 | +$12,029 | #672 |
| 10 | Dodge County Sheriff's Office | County | 64 | $75,088 | +$12,015 | #673 |
| 11 | St. Croix County Sheriff's Office | County | 98 | $74,695 | +$11,622 | #688 |
| 12 | Kenosha Police Department | Municipal | 231 | $74,640 | +$11,567 | #692 |
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.
Scan to install
