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Maryland Natural Resources Police 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.
Maryland Natural Resources Police starts at $68,673 a year — about $33.02 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $283 above the median of the 1,681 agencies on this list, and $3,675 above the median for state agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in Maryland run about 5% above the national average, so this is worth roughly $65,428 somewhere at average prices — $3,245 less than the headline figure. Most of that is rent, at 121 against a national average of 100, where goods are 103. 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 isMaryland Natural Resources Police reported 263 sworn officers and 56 civilian staff to the FBI for 2025.No rate is shown: this agency does not police a single population the FBI publishes a figure for. 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 Maryland Natural Resources says about itself
The mission of the men and women of our police force is to protect Maryland's residents and visitors on public lands and waterways. It also is charged with protecting fish and wildlife and leading search and rescue efforts.
What Maryland Natural Resources does
The Maryland Natural Resources Police is the state’s conservation and boating law-enforcement agency. Officers enforce conservation, boating, criminal, civil and traffic laws, protect DNR-managed lands and natural resources, conduct patrol and investigations and provide public-safety services on Maryland lands and waterways.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 10 August 2026. Maryland Department of Natural Resources NRP Recruitment Flyer — open the source document
The official NRP recruitment flyer distinguishes $58,758 starting salary from $68,673 salary upon graduation. Our $68,673 figure is explicitly the post-academy rate.
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 Maryland Natural Resources 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. Maryland Natural Resources starts at $68,673, so $3,675 above the state middle.
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How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Maryland Natural Resources Police officer make?
Maryland Natural Resources Police starts a new officer on $68,673 a year, about $33.02 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 Maryland Department of Natural Resources NRP Recruitment Flyer.
Is that good pay for a police officer in Maryland?
It ranks #12 of 26 agencies we have verified in Maryland — 14 pay less, 11 pay more in the state — and #828 of 1,681 nationally. Against the national median it is $283 above, and against other state agencies $3,675 above.
Compare with another department
Put Maryland Natural Resources Police 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 MD
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Maryland | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rockville City Police Department | Municipal | — | $75,256 | +$6,583 | #547 |
| 2 | Maryland Transit Administration Police Force | State | — | $72,829 | +$4,156 | #635 |
| 3 | Anne Arundel County Police Department | Municipal | 82 | $72,802 | +$4,129 | #636 |
| 4 | Frederick Police Department | Municipal | 151 | $71,351 | +$2,678 | #703 |
| 5 | Maryland Transportation Authority Police | State | 392 | $71,258 | +$2,585 | #710 |
| 6 | St. Mary's County Sheriff's Office | County | 167 | $71,011 | +$2,338 | #720 |
| 7 | Prince George's County Police Department | County | 1,343 | $70,257 | +$1,584 | #754 |
| 8 | Worcester County Sheriff's Office | County | 91 | $70,221 | +$1,548 | #757 |
| 9 | Wicomico County Sheriff's Office | County | 97 | $70,000 | +$1,327 | #768 |
| 10 | Gaithersburg Police Department | Municipal | 66 | $70,000 | +$1,327 | #771 |
| 11 | Maryland State Police | State | 1,434 | $69,360 | +$687 | #795 |
| 13 | Baltimore Police Department | Municipal | 2,051 | $68,359 | −$314 | #842 |
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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