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Mesa 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.
Mesa Police Department starts at $73,972 a year — about $35.56 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $7,287 above the median of the 2,288 agencies on this list, and $5,832 above the median for municipal agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ run about 3% above the national average, so this is worth roughly $71,598 somewhere at average prices — $2,374 less than the headline figure. Most of that is rent, at 121 against a national average of 100, where goods are 95. 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 isMesa Police Department reported 885 sworn officers and 446 civilian staff to the FBI for 2025. That is 1.7 officers per 1,000 residents, over a population of 519,990.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 Mesa says about itself
Responsible for promoting an exceptional quality of life within the Mesa community by creating and maintaining a safe environment for the community to thrive. The department's highest priorities are to protect life and property, preserve the peace, and uphold the rights of all.
What Mesa does
The City of Mesa says its Police Department promotes an exceptional quality of life by creating and maintaining a safe environment where the community can thrive. Its highest priorities are protecting life and property, preserving peace and upholding individual rights. The department's strategic plan emphasizes reducing crime, increasing safety, innovation and technology, organizational performance, staffing and community engagement
Where the figure comes from
Checked 8 August 2026. City of Mesa official P — open the source document
Current posting opened 1 July 2026. Recruit minimum $73,972.08. Official description states academy graduates continue into Field Officer Training and are promoted to Police Officer only after academy instruction and field training; therefore the immediate post-academy rate remains the recruit rate under this project's exact timing rule
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.
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How this level compares
Where Mesa 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. Mesa starts at $73,972, so $5,832 above the municipal middle.
How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Mesa Police Department officer make?
Mesa Police Department starts a new officer on $73,972 a year, about $35.56 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 City of Mesa official P.
Is that good pay for a police officer in Arizona?
It ranks #10 of 36 agencies we have verified in Arizona — 26 pay less, 9 pay more in the state — and #720 of 2,288 nationally. Against the national median it is $7,287 above, and against other municipal agencies $5,832 above.
Compare with another department
Put Mesa 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 AZ
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Mesa | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Scottsdale Police Department | Municipal | 391 | $81,474 | +$7,502 | #440 |
| 2 | Tempe Police Department | Municipal | 353 | $79,977 | +$6,005 | #497 |
| 3 | Goodyear Police Department | Municipal | 174 | $77,147 | +$3,175 | #580 |
| 4 | Buckeye Police Department | Municipal | 133 | $76,003 | +$2,031 | #626 |
| 5 | Phoenix Police Department | Municipal | 2,490 | $75,847 | +$1,875 | #637 |
| 6 | Queen Creek Police Department | Municipal | 132 | $74,693 | +$721 | #689 |
| 7 | Chandler Police Department | Municipal | 348 | $74,610 | +$638 | #693 |
| 8 | Surprise Police Department | Municipal | 179 | $74,214 | +$242 | #707 |
| 9 | Peoria Police Department | Municipal | 234 | $74,194 | +$222 | #708 |
| 11 | Glendale Police Department | Municipal | 406 | $73,389 | −$583 | #742 |
| 12 | Casa Grande Police Department | Municipal | 82 | $72,860 | −$1,112 | #768 |
| 13 | Gilbert Police Department | Municipal | 310 | $71,906 | −$2,066 | #818 |
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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