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Massachusetts State 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.
Massachusetts State Police starts at $80,213 a year — about $38.56 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $11,823 above the median of the 1,681 agencies on this list, and $15,215 above the median for state agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in Massachusetts run about 6% above the national average, so this is worth roughly $75,846 somewhere at average prices — $4,366 less than the headline figure. Most of that is utilities, at 152 against a national average of 100, 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 isMassachusetts State Police reported 2,565 sworn officers 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 Massachusetts State says about itself
The Massachusetts State Police is the statewide law enforcement agency for the Commonwealth, comprised of five operational divisions.
What Massachusetts State does
The Massachusetts State Police is the statewide law-enforcement agency for the Commonwealth, made up of five operational divisions: Field Services, Investigative Services, Standards and Training, Homeland Security, and Administration and Finance. It staffs facilities and maintains investigative, tactical and support units throughout the state.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 8 August 2026. Commonwealth of Massachusetts — Becoming a State Trooper — open the source document
$80,212.60. 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.
How this level compares
Where Massachusetts State 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. Massachusetts State starts at $80,213, so $15,215 above the state middle.
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How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Massachusetts State Police officer make?
Massachusetts State Police starts a new officer on $80,213 a year, about $38.56 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 Commonwealth of Massachusetts — Becoming a State Trooper.
Is that good pay for a police officer in Massachusetts?
It ranks #3 of 9 agencies we have verified in Massachusetts — 6 pay less, 2 pay more in the state — and #407 of 1,681 nationally. Against the national median it is $11,823 above, and against other state agencies $15,215 above.
Compare with another department
Put Massachusetts State 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 MA
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Massachusetts | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Everett Police Department | Municipal | 120 | $95,568 | +$15,355 | #140 |
| 2 | Nantucket Police Department | Municipal | 40 | $92,144 | +$11,931 | #178 |
| 4 | Tufts University Police Department | Special jurisdiction | 52 | $75,962 | −$4,251 | #521 |
| 5 | Boston Police Department | Municipal | 2,172 | $71,861 | −$8,352 | #673 |
| 6 | West Stockbridge Police Department | Municipal | — | $66,797 | −$13,416 | #928 |
| 7 | Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs — Environmental Police | State | — | $65,447 | −$14,765 | #992 |
| 8 | Brockton Police Department | Municipal | 179 | $63,971 | −$16,242 | #1,060 |
| 9 | Melrose Police Department | Municipal | 47 | $61,511 | −$18,702 | #1,172 |
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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