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Moorhead 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.
Moorhead Police Department starts at $74,742 a year — about $35.93 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $8,057 above the median of the 2,288 agencies on this list, and $6,602 above the median for municipal agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in Minnesota run about 1% below the national average, so this goes about as far as $75,787 would somewhere at average prices — $1,045 more than the headline figure. That average hides a wide spread: utilities at 91, where goods are 101. 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.
How big the department isMoorhead Police Department reported 55 sworn officers and 19 civilian staff to the FBI for 2025. That is 1.2 officers per 1,000 residents, over a population of 46,027.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 Moorhead says about itself
Our mission is to maintain peace and order through the provision of police services that are of the highest quality and responsive to the needs of the community. We will contribute to the safety and security of the community by apprehending those who commit criminal acts, by developing partnerships to prevent, reduce or eliminate neighbourhood problems, and by providing police services that are fair, unbiased, judicious, and respectful of the dignity of all individuals. The members of the department are committed to working together in a problem-solving partnership with the community to prevent crime and improve the quality of life for all.
What Moorhead does
Municipal Police Department recruiting Police Officers for sworn patrol, law-enforcement, emergency-response and community public-safety duties.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 10 August 2026. employer-controlled GovernmentJobs/NEOGOV or permitted Minnesota City Jobs municipal posting — open the source document
Permitted Minnesota City Jobs posting explicitly identifies entry-level hiring and publishes 2026 salary range $74,742-$105,267. POST licensed or eligible is accepted. Class: Police Officer Entry Level. Trainee class: NO, qualifying figure is attached to the Police Officer class rather than a separately named cadet/recruit/trainee class. Employer describes the position as municipal Police Officer work involving law enforcement, patrol, public safety, investigations, arrests and/or preservation of peace.
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 Moorhead 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. Moorhead starts at $74,742, so $6,602 above the municipal middle.
How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Moorhead Police Department officer make?
Moorhead Police Department starts a new officer on $74,742 a year, about $35.93 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 employer-controlled GovernmentJobs/NEOGOV or permitted Minnesota City Jobs municipal posting.
Is that good pay for a police officer in Minnesota?
It ranks #71 of 102 agencies we have verified in Minnesota — 31 pay less, 70 pay more in the state — and #684 of 2,288 nationally. Against the national median it is $8,057 above, and against other municipal agencies $6,602 above.
Compare with another department
Put Moorhead 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 MN
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Moorhead | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Blaine Police Department | Municipal | 80 | $101,733 | +$26,991 | #111 |
| 2 | Stillwater Police Department | Municipal | 26 | $94,328 | +$19,586 | #193 |
| 3 | Columbia Heights Police Department | Municipal | 29 | $93,725 | +$18,983 | #198 |
| 4 | Carver County Sheriff's Office | County | 77 | $93,683 | +$18,941 | #200 |
| 5 | Oakdale Police Department | Municipal | 39 | $93,538 | +$18,796 | #203 |
| 6 | Richfield Police Department | Municipal | 45 | $93,226 | +$18,484 | #205 |
| 7 | Maplewood Police Department | Municipal | 56 | $93,038 | +$18,296 | #209 |
| 8 | Forest Lake Police Department | Municipal | 20 | $92,789 | +$18,047 | #212 |
| 9 | Apple Valley Police Department | Municipal | 59 | $92,768 | +$18,026 | #213 |
| 10 | Coon Rapids Police Department | Municipal | 73 | $92,123 | +$17,381 | #226 |
| 11 | Saint Paul Police Department | Municipal | 562 | $91,291 | +$16,549 | #237 |
| 12 | Woodbury Police Department | Municipal | 80 | $91,187 | +$16,445 | #239 |
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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