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Martinsburg 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.
Martinsburg Police Department starts at $55,710 a year — about $26.78 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $12,680 below the median of the 1,681 agencies on this list, and $15,554 below the median for municipal agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in Hagerstown-Martinsburg, MD-WV run about 6% below the national average, so this goes about as far as $59,158 would somewhere at average prices — $3,448 more than the headline figure. Most of that is rent, at 76 against a national average of 100, where goods are 96. Based on price levels for this metropolitan 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 isMartinsburg Police Department reported 34 sworn officers and 12 civilian staff to the FBI for 2025. That is 1.8 officers per 1,000 residents, over a population of 19,126.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.
About Martinsburg
The Martinsburg Police Department says it seeks officers with integrity, communication and problem-solving skills who want to make a positive difference in the community. The department answers more than 30,000 calls annually and emphasizes both active municipal policing and purposeful connection with residents to make Martinsburg safer
Where the figure comes from
Checked 9 August 2026. City of Martinsburg official Probationa — open the source document
Current official recruitment verified 9 August 2026; applications are open until filled and the next testing date is 22 August 2026. Probationary Police Officer paygrade 103 begins at $55,710 annually. Current West Virginia certified officers are placed separately at higher rates, so lateral/certified placement and bonuses are 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.
How this level compares
Where Martinsburg 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. Martinsburg starts at $55,710, so $15,577 below the municipal middle.
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How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Martinsburg Police Department officer make?
Martinsburg Police Department starts a new officer on $55,710 a year, about $26.78 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 Martinsburg official Probationa.
Is that good pay for a police officer in West Virginia?
It ranks #6 of 10 agencies we have verified in West Virginia — 4 pay less, 5 pay more in the state — and #1,404 of 1,681 nationally. Against the national median it is $12,680 below, and against other municipal agencies $15,554 below.
Compare with another department
Put Martinsburg 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 WV
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Martinsburg | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Berkeley County Sheriff's Office | County | 64 | $59,187 | +$3,477 | #1,280 |
| 2 | Morgantown Police Department | Municipal | 57 | $58,157 | +$2,447 | #1,312 |
| 3 | Huntington Police Department | Municipal | 95 | $57,787 | +$2,077 | #1,340 |
| 4 | Charleston Police Department | Municipal | 152 | $57,485 | +$1,775 | #1,361 |
| 5 | Kanawha County Sheriff's Office | County | 95 | $57,054 | +$1,344 | #1,367 |
| 7 | Jefferson County Sheriff's Office | County | 34 | $55,125 | −$585 | #1,424 |
| 8 | Fairmont Police Department | Municipal | 33 | $53,597 | −$2,113 | #1,484 |
| 9 | West Virginia State Police | State | 440 | $45,784 | −$9,926 | #1,617 |
| 10 | West Virginia Division of Natural Resources — Natural Resources Police | State | — | $33,994 | −$21,716 | #1,673 |
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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