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Morristown 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.
Morristown Police Department starts at $44,699 a year — about $21.49 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $21,986 below the median of the 2,288 agencies on this list, and $23,441 below the median for municipal agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in Tennessee run about 8% below the national average, so this goes about as far as $48,655 would somewhere at average prices — $3,956 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.
How big the department isMorristown Police Department reported 81 sworn officers and 5 civilian staff to the FBI for 2025. That is 2.4 officers per 1,000 residents, over a population of 33,656.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 Morristown says about itself
Although the many units of the department have different tasks, every officer and civilian is dedicated to providing professional law enforcement services to the citizens of Morristown.
What Morristown does
The Morristown Police Department serves the City of Morristown in Hamblen County, Tennessee.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 20 September 2026. City of Morristown civil service examination for Police Officer, WAGES section, entry-level officer rate — open the source document
July 2026 application; no effective date printed. "Entry-level officers with no prior experience and training will make $44,699.20 annually." The rate rises to $46,924.80 on completing the academy and the probationary program.
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 Morristown 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. Morristown starts at $44,699, so $23,441 below the municipal middle.
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How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Morristown Police Department officer make?
Morristown Police Department starts a new officer on $44,699 a year, about $21.49 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 Morristown civil service examination for Police Officer, WAGES section, entry-level officer rate.
Is that good pay for a police officer in Tennessee?
It ranks #26 of 26 agencies we have verified in Tennessee — 0 pay less, 25 pay more in the state — and #2,217 of 2,288 nationally. Against the national median it is $21,986 below, and against other municipal agencies $23,441 below.
Compare with another department
Put Morristown 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 TN
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Morristown | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brentwood Police Department | Municipal | 67 | $75,804 | +$31,105 | #640 |
| 2 | Metropolitan Nashville Police Department | Municipal | 1,546 | $70,904 | +$26,205 | #888 |
| 3 | Murfreesboro Police Department | Municipal | 313 | $67,922 | +$23,223 | #1,063 |
| 4 | Tennessee Bureau of Investigation | State | 484 | $67,764 | +$23,065 | #1,070 |
| 5 | Germantown Police Department | Municipal | 113 | $66,773 | +$22,074 | #1,135 |
| 6 | Smyrna Police Department | Municipal | 106 | $66,305 | +$21,605 | #1,171 |
| 7 | Tennessee Highway Patrol | State | — | $65,804 | +$21,105 | #1,201 |
| 8 | Hendersonville Police Department | Municipal | 134 | $65,654 | +$20,955 | #1,211 |
| 9 | Franklin Police Department | Municipal | 138 | $65,000 | +$20,301 | #1,256 |
| 10 | Chattanooga Police Department | Municipal | 397 | $60,460 | +$15,761 | #1,538 |
| 11 | Pigeon Forge Police Department | Municipal | 71 | $60,014 | +$15,315 | #1,565 |
| 12 | Collierville Police Department | Municipal | 115 | $60,000 | +$15,301 | #1,584 |
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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