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Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife & Parks — Law Enforcement Division / Game Wardens 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.
Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife & Parks — Law Enforcement Division / Game Wardens starts at $63,898 a year — about $30.72 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $4,492 below the median of the 1,681 agencies on this list, and $1,100 below the median for state agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in Montana run about 5% below the national average, so this goes about as far as $67,513 would somewhere at average prices — $3,615 more than the headline figure. Most of that is utilities, at 72 against a national average of 100, where goods are 96. 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.
What Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife & Parks — Law Enforcement Division / Game Wardens says about itself
FWP's Law Enforcement Division provides modern professional conservation law enforcement services to the people of Montana for the purpose of the stewardship and protection of Montana's fish, wildlife, parks, and outdoor recreational resources in order to preserve the quality of life and outdoor traditions of present and future generations.
What Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife & Parks — Law Enforcement Division / Game Wardens does
Montana FWP's Law Enforcement Division enforces Montana laws and department rules governing wildlife, state park resources, state lands, boating, snowmobiles and off-highway vehicles. Game wardens are state peace officers and are covered by Montana's Game Wardens' and Peace Officers' Retirement System.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 8 August 2026. State of Montana Department of Administration, Labor Relations — 2025–2027 FWP Game Wardens Collective Bargaining Agreement — 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.
How this level compares
Where Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife & Parks — Law Enforcement Division / Game Wardens 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. Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife & Parks — Law Enforcement Division / Game Wardens starts at $63,898, so $1,100 below the state middle.
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How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife & Parks — Law Enforcement Division / Game Wardens officer make?
Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife & Parks — Law Enforcement Division / Game Wardens starts a new officer on $63,898 a year, about $30.72 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 State of Montana Department of Administration, Labor Relations — 2025–2027 FWP Game Wardens Collective Bargaining Agreement.
Is that good pay for a police officer in Montana?
It ranks #15 of 23 agencies we have verified in Montana — 8 pay less, 14 pay more in the state — and #1,064 of 1,681 nationally. Against the national median it is $4,492 below, and against other state agencies $1,100 below.
Compare with another department
Put Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife & Parks — Law Enforcement Division / Game Wardens 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 Montana | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Missoula Police Department | Municipal | 117 | $95,326 | +$31,429 | #142 |
| 2 | Bozeman Police Department | Municipal | 73 | $79,581 | +$15,683 | #416 |
| 3 | Gallatin County Sheriff's Office | County | 72 | $79,456 | +$15,558 | #421 |
| 4 | Kalispell Police Department | Municipal | 52 | $79,334 | +$15,436 | #424 |
| 5 | Missoula County Sheriff's Office | County | 59 | $77,563 | +$13,666 | #468 |
| 6 | Great Falls Police Department | Municipal | 90 | $76,253 | +$12,355 | #504 |
| 7 | Cascade County Sheriff's Office | County | 43 | $73,778 | +$9,880 | #603 |
| 8 | Yellowstone County Sheriff's Office | County | 65 | $72,800 | +$8,902 | #637 |
| 9 | Belgrade Police Department | Municipal | 26 | $71,761 | +$7,864 | #682 |
| 10 | Montana Highway Patrol | State | 225 | $71,240 | +$7,342 | #712 |
| 11 | Lewis and Clark County Sheriff's Office | County | 54 | $69,285 | +$5,387 | #799 |
| 12 | Billings Police Department | Municipal | 164 | $69,056 | +$5,158 | #812 |
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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