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Mount Vernon 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.
Mount Vernon Police Department starts at $100,836 a year — about $48.48 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $34,151 above the median of the 2,288 agencies on this list, and $32,696 above the median for municipal agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in Mount Vernon-Anacortes, WA run about 2% above the national average, so this is worth roughly $98,431 somewhere at average prices — $2,405 less than the headline figure. That average hides a wide spread: rent at 108, where goods are 105. 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 isMount Vernon Police Department reported 43 sworn officers and 19 civilian staff to the FBI for 2025. That is 1.2 officers per 1,000 residents, over a population of 35,352.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 Mount Vernon says about itself
The Department's primary mission must be the prevention of crime: logic makes it clear that it is better to prevent crime than to put the Department's resources to work after the crime has been committed. Its first organisational value is that the Department must preserve and advance the principles of democracy, and it is the duty of officers to enforce the law and deliver other services in a manner that not only preserves but also extends our American values; we must not only respect, but also protect the rights guaranteed to each citizen by the Constitution. The Police Department is not an entity unto itself: it is a part of government, and exists only for the purpose of serving the public to which it must be accountable, and it must be remembered that the power to police comes from the consent of those being policed.
What Mount Vernon does
Mount Vernon Police Department recruits through a BLEA-certified and academy-graduate Police Officer pathway.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 13 August 2026. $100,836 annually current displayed minimum. Current official City Police Officer - BLEA Certified or Academy Graduate recruitment expressly accepts academy graduates and publishes $100,836-$120,036 annually. — open the source document
Opening date January 8, 2026; current compensation display checked August 13, 2026. $100,836 annually current displayed minimum. Current official City Police Officer - BLEA Certified or Academy Graduate recruitment expressly accepts academy graduates and publishes $100,836-$120,036 annually. The academy-graduate route does not require prior full-time sworn e
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 Mount Vernon 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. Mount Vernon starts at $100,836, so $32,696 above the municipal middle.
How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Mount Vernon Police Department officer make?
Mount Vernon Police Department starts a new officer on $100,836 a year, about $48.48 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 $100,836 annually current displayed minimum. Current official City Police Officer - BLEA Certified or Academy Graduate recruitment expressly accepts academy graduates and publishes $100,836-$120,036 annually..
Is that good pay for a police officer in Washington?
It ranks #10 of 92 agencies we have verified in Washington — 82 pay less, 9 pay more in the state — and #125 of 2,288 nationally. Against the national median it is $34,151 above, and against other municipal agencies $32,696 above.
Compare with another department
Put Mount Vernon 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 WA
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Mount | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Seattle Police Department | Municipal | 1,064 | $117,792 | +$16,956 | #38 |
| 2 | Redmond Police Department | Municipal | 81 | $110,435 | +$9,599 | #59 |
| 3 | Auburn Police Department | Municipal | 120 | $108,386 | +$7,550 | #68 |
| 4 | Lynnwood Police Department | Municipal | 71 | $106,371 | +$5,535 | #81 |
| 5 | Everett Police Department | Municipal | 207 | $102,516 | +$1,680 | #106 |
| 6 | Vancouver Police Department | Municipal | 226 | $101,832 | +$996 | #110 |
| 7 | Kirkland Police Department | Municipal | 108 | $101,218 | +$382 | #118 |
| 8 | Tukwila Police Department | Municipal | 76 | $101,064 | +$228 | #120 |
| 9 | Bothell Police Department | Municipal | 70 | $101,055 | +$219 | #121 |
| 11 | Kennewick Police Department | Municipal | 107 | $100,104 | −$732 | #128 |
| 12 | Edmonds Police Department | Municipal | 48 | $99,168 | −$1,668 | #140 |
| 13 | Tacoma Police Department | Municipal | 343 | $98,571 | −$2,265 | #144 |
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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