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Missoula 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.
Missoula Police Department starts at $95,326 a year — about $45.83 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $28,642 above the median of the 2,288 agencies on this list, and $27,186 above the median for municipal agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in Missoula, MT run about 4% below the national average, so this goes about as far as $98,840 would somewhere at average prices — $3,514 more than the headline figure. Most of that is utilities, at 72 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 isMissoula Police Department reported 117 sworn officers and 30 civilian staff to the FBI for 2025. That is 1.5 officers per 1,000 residents, over a population of 79,184.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 Missoula says about itself
We are a community oriented agency committed to delivering professional police service to Missoula. We strive to improve the quality of life of our citizens and the livability of our community. The Missoula Police Department has 100 sworn positions ranging from the rookie patrol officer all the way to the Chief, and of those 100 positions, 75 are assigned to the Patrol Division, which includes six patrol teams, one Traffic Unit, one Street Crimes Unit, one K-9 Unit, and School Resource Officers. Since police work is a 24 hours a day, seven days a week job, the day is split into three shifts.
What Missoula does
Missoula Police Officers handle public calls for service within the City, provide reactive and proactive patrol, enforce state laws and city ordinances, conduct criminal and traffic investigations, make arrests, prepare documentation and testify in court. The department also offers investigative, traffic, SWAT, K-9, drone and other specialty assignments.
Shifts at Missoula
Since police work is a 24 hours a day, seven days a week job, the day is split into three shifts. Officers work four 10-hour shifts per week. Day shift is from 7 a.m. through 5 p.m.; early night shift is from 4:30 p.m. through 2:30 a.m.; late night shift is from 9:30 p.m. through 7:30 a.m.
This cycle has its own page: how it works, and how to build it.
Four tens a week on one of three watches, and the two night shifts overlap by five hours - so the busiest part of the night carries two teams. Which watch you hold decides your whole year.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 15 August 2026. City of Missoula — Employment, police officer wage information — open the source document
Their source is effective 1 July 2026.
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 Missoula 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. Missoula starts at $95,326, so $27,186 above the municipal middle.
How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Missoula Police Department officer make?
Missoula Police Department starts a new officer on $95,326 a year, about $45.83 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 Missoula — Employment, police officer wage information.
Is that good pay for a police officer in Montana?
It ranks #1 of 25 agencies we have verified in Montana — the highest in the state in the state — and #180 of 2,288 nationally. Against the national median it is $28,642 above, and against other municipal agencies $27,186 above.
What shifts do Missoula Police Department officers work?
Since police work is a 24 hours a day, seven days a week job, the day is split into three shifts. Officers work four 10-hour shifts per week. Day shift is from 7 a.m. through 5 p.m.; early night shift is from 4:30 p.m. through 2:30 a.m.; late night shift is from 9:30 p.m. through 7:30 a.m. That is the agency's own published wording; the pattern is drawn on this page.
Compare with another department
Put Missoula 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 MT
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Missoula | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Bozeman Police Department | Municipal | 73 | $79,581 | −$15,746 | #504 |
| 3 | Gallatin County Sheriff's Office | County | 72 | $79,456 | −$15,870 | #511 |
| 4 | Kalispell Police Department | Municipal | 52 | $79,334 | −$15,992 | #514 |
| 5 | Missoula County Sheriff's Office | County | 59 | $77,563 | −$17,763 | #570 |
| 6 | Great Falls Police Department | Municipal | 90 | $76,253 | −$19,074 | #613 |
| 7 | Cascade County Sheriff's Office | County | 43 | $73,778 | −$21,549 | #727 |
| 8 | Yellowstone County Sheriff's Office | County | 65 | $72,800 | −$22,526 | #774 |
| 9 | Belgrade Police Department | Municipal | 26 | $71,761 | −$23,565 | #831 |
| 10 | Montana Highway Patrol | State | 225 | $71,240 | −$24,086 | #862 |
| 11 | Lewis and Clark County Sheriff's Office | County | 54 | $69,285 | −$26,042 | #973 |
| 12 | Billings Police Department | Municipal | 164 | $69,056 | −$26,270 | #988 |
| 13 | Butte-Silver Bow Law Enforcement Department | Municipal | — | $67,648 | −$27,679 | #1,082 |
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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