Mobile Police Department entry pay

What Mobile says about itself

Making Mobile the safest city in America with respect for everyone isn't just a slogan, it's a promise. We strive to keep our promise by providing fair and equal law enforcement to all citizens. Our commitment runs deep with innovations that focus on the safety of our community. We work with community panels who examine our tactics, making sure they are acceptable to the neighborhoods we serve.

What Mobile does

The Mobile Police Department polices Alabama's port city and is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies. It works through geographic precincts and publishes an unusual amount about how it governs itself: a five-year strategic plan running 2022 to 2027, its policies and procedures, a departmental overview updated for 2026, and a standing programme of work under the 21st Century Policing framework. Alongside patrol it runs a victim services unit, a family intervention team, a chaplain corps, a mounted unit with its own training programme, and diversion and youth programmes including Second Chance or Else and Project THRIVE. Recruits train at the department's own academy on Virginia Street, where the physical agility test for applicants is run on a published open schedule rather than by appointment.

Where the figure comes from

Checked 27 August 2026. Base starting salary, Mobile Police Department wages and benefits page. — open the source document
BASE STARTING SALARY $51,402, and the department publishes what the base becomes once the standing additions are counted: + $1,300 PER DIEM, + $3,272 BUILT-IN OVERTIME, + $1,420 ROLL CALL PAY = $57,394 for an academy graduate. THE BUILT-IN OVERTIME IS THE INTERESTING LINE - it is not occasional extra work but a fixed annual amount published as part of the package, which means the rostered week is longer than forty hours by design. Educational incentive pay starts at 5% for an associate's, bachelor's or master's degree, on top of all of it. The published base is what is comparable across the roster, so that is the figure carried here and the $57,394 package is recorded beside it. RETIREMENT AT TWENTY YEARS FROM AGE 55, to a maximum benefit of 72.5% of base pay at thirty years. Take-home vehicle programme, uniforms, weapons and equipment provided, twelve paid holidays. HIRING RUNS THROUGH THE MOBILE COUNTY PERSONNEL BOARD, the county merit system, which publishes a pay table for every member agency - the second Alabama county board in the roster after Jefferson County. The minimum age is 19 for the City of Mobile, against 20 for most merit-system agencies and 21 for Satsuma, and there is no maximum age limit.
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 Mobile sits is partly about the agency and partly about which level of policing it belongs to. The three levels do not pay the same.

How it ranks

Common questions

How much does a Mobile Police Department officer make?

Mobile Police Department starts a new officer on $51,402 a year, about $24.71 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 Base starting salary, Mobile Police Department wages and benefits page..

Is that good pay for a police officer in Alabama?

It ranks #14 of 35 agencies we have verified in Alabama — 21 pay less, 13 pay more in the state — and #2,018 of 2,288 nationally. Against the national median it is $15,283 below, and against other municipal agencies $16,738 below.

The agencies either side of it