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Nebraska State Patrol 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.
Nebraska State Patrol starts at $70,195 a year — about $33.75 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $3,510 above the median of the 2,288 agencies on this list, and $5,029 above the median for state agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in Nebraska run about 10% below the national average, so this goes about as far as $77,905 would somewhere at average prices — $7,710 more than the headline figure. Most of that is rent, at 75 against a national average of 100, where goods are 94. 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 isNebraska State Patrol reported 410 sworn officers to the FBI for 2025.No rate is shown: this agency does not police a single population the FBI publishes a figure for. 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 Nebraska State Patrol says about itself
Uniformed troopers assigned to six Troop Area Headquarters patrol more than 10,000,000 miles of Nebraska roadways a year.
What Nebraska State Patrol does
The Nebraska State Patrol, formed in 1937, is the state's only statewide full-service law-enforcement agency. Uniformed troopers assigned to six Troop Area Headquarters patrol more than ten million miles of Nebraska roadway a year, and the Patrol also runs carrier enforcement, aviation support, police service dogs, a crime laboratory and an investigative division of roughly 110 sworn officers.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 6 September 2026. Nebraska State Patrol — Become a Trooper — open the source document
Re-read 6 September 2026 and unchanged: NSP's Become a Trooper page states a Trooper salary range of $70,195 - $102,440 a year, with recruits paid at least $28.85/hour during the 24-week academy and sworn in at $33.75/hour on graduation. Camp 74 begins 6 July 2026 and graduates 18 December 2026. Entry requires a high school diploma or GED and US citizenship, and no prior law-enforcement service; the page publishes no calendar effective date
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 Nebraska State Patrol 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. Nebraska State Patrol starts at $70,195, so $5,029 above the state middle.
How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Nebraska State Patrol officer make?
Nebraska State Patrol starts a new officer on $70,195 a year, about $33.75 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 Nebraska State Patrol — Become a Trooper.
Is that good pay for a police officer in Nebraska?
It ranks #6 of 20 agencies we have verified in Nebraska — 14 pay less, 5 pay more in the state — and #928 of 2,288 nationally. Against the national median it is $3,510 above, and against other state agencies $5,029 above.
Compare with another department
Put Nebraska State Patrol 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 NE
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Nebraska | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Omaha Police Department | Municipal | 788 | $79,580 | +$9,385 | #505 |
| 2 | Lincoln Police Department | Municipal | 351 | $74,568 | +$4,373 | #694 |
| 3 | Sarpy County Sheriff's Office | County | 114 | $73,861 | +$3,666 | #724 |
| 4 | La Vista Police Department | Municipal | 42 | $73,653 | +$3,458 | #730 |
| 5 | Lancaster County Sheriff's Office | County | 86 | $72,280 | +$2,085 | #796 |
| 7 | University of Nebraska-Lincoln Police Department | Special jurisdiction | 30 | $70,042 | −$153 | #935 |
| 8 | Papillion Police Department | Municipal | 48 | $69,086 | −$1,109 | #985 |
| 9 | Douglas County Sheriff's Office | County | 155 | $68,744 | −$1,451 | #1,008 |
| 10 | Grand Island Police Department | Municipal | 89 | $67,621 | −$2,574 | #1,086 |
| 11 | Dodge County Sheriff's Office | County | 21 | $66,200 | −$3,995 | #1,176 |
| 12 | Hastings Police Department | Municipal | 35 | $65,790 | −$4,405 | #1,202 |
| 13 | Columbus Police Department | Municipal | 37 | $65,340 | −$4,855 | #1,235 |
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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