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Melbourne 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.
Melbourne Police Department starts at $54,766 a year — about $26.33 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $11,919 below the median of the 2,288 agencies on this list, and $13,374 below the median for municipal agencies.
How big the department isMelbourne Police Department reported 162 sworn officers and 61 civilian staff to the FBI for 2025. That is 1.8 officers per 1,000 residents, over a population of 88,193.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 Melbourne says about itself
The Melbourne Police Department exists to serve all people in our jurisdiction with respect, fairness, and compassion. We are committed to provide a safe and secure environment for every person in our community.
What Melbourne does
The Melbourne Police Department says it exists to serve all people in its jurisdiction with respect, fairness and compassion, and is committed to public safety and professional service.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 31 August 2026. City of Melbourne official Become a Police Officer page — open the source document
2026 page; current starting salary for entry-level police officers $54,766, with experienced officers able to start higher.
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 Melbourne 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. Melbourne starts at $54,766, so $13,374 below the municipal middle.
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How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Melbourne Police Department officer make?
Melbourne Police Department starts a new officer on $54,766 a year, about $26.33 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 Melbourne official Become a Police Officer page.
Is that good pay for a police officer in Florida?
It ranks #208 of 303 agencies we have verified in Florida — 95 pay less, 207 pay more in the state — and #1,872 of 2,288 nationally. Against the national median it is $11,919 below, and against other municipal agencies $13,374 below.
Compare with another department
Put Melbourne 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 FL
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Melbourne | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Boca Raton Police Services Department | Municipal | 195 | $91,007 | +$36,241 | #244 |
| 2 | Fort Lauderdale Police Department | Municipal | 565 | $81,723 | +$26,957 | #433 |
| 3 | Plantation Police Department | Municipal | 164 | $81,000 | +$26,234 | #459 |
| 4 | Hillsboro Beach Police Department | Municipal | 15 | $80,954 | +$26,188 | #461 |
| 5 | Pinecrest Police Department | Municipal | 47 | $80,912 | +$26,146 | #464 |
| 6 | Sunny Isles Beach Police Department | Municipal | 65 | $80,000 | +$25,234 | #496 |
| 7 | Indian Creek Village Public Safety Department | Municipal | 10 | $79,850 | +$25,084 | #500 |
| 8 | Sunrise Police Department | Municipal | 190 | $79,071 | +$24,305 | #520 |
| 9 | Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office | County | 1,720 | $78,828 | +$24,062 | #526 |
| 10 | Aventura Police Department | Municipal | 91 | $78,556 | +$23,790 | #536 |
| 11 | Longboat Key Police Department | Municipal | 19 | $78,430 | +$23,664 | #543 |
| 12 | Manalapan Police Department | Municipal | 13 | $78,280 | +$23,514 | #549 |
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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