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North Carolina State Highway 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.
North Carolina State Highway Patrol starts at $63,250 a year — about $30.41 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $5,140 below the median of the 1,681 agencies on this list, and $1,748 below the median for state agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in North Carolina run about 6% below the national average, so this goes about as far as $67,055 would somewhere at average prices — $3,805 more than the headline figure. Most of that is rent, at 81 against a national average of 100, where goods are 97. 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 North Carolina State Highway Patrol says about itself
The North Carolina State Highway Patrol's primary mission is to reduce collisions and make the highways of North Carolina as safe as possible. The State Highway Patrol has more than 1,600 troopers who cover nearly 80,000 miles of North Carolina roadways, more than any other state except Texas.
What North Carolina State Highway Patrol does
North Carolina State Highway Patrol is the state's highway patrol agency — North Carolina has no separate state police force — with more than 1,600 troopers covering nearly 80,000 miles of roadway, more than any state except Texas. Its stated primary mission is reducing collisions and making the state's highways as safe as possible, but troopers also guide traffic during hurricane evacuations, re-route it around hazardous chemical spills, and stand ready in the event of an act of terrorism. The Patrol works from eight troop headquarters — Raleigh, Greenville, Fayetteville, Greensboro, Salisbury, Newton, Asheville and Monroe — and employs some 2,340 people in total, including telecommunicators, radio engineers and civilian staff. It is CALEA accredited.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 8 August 2026. North Carolina State Highway Patrol — Careers — open the source document
$63,250. July 1, 2026–June 30, 2027
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 North Carolina State Highway 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 | $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. North Carolina State Highway Patrol starts at $63,250, so $1,748 below the state middle.
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How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a North Carolina State Highway Patrol officer make?
North Carolina State Highway Patrol starts a new officer on $63,250 a year, about $30.41 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 North Carolina State Highway Patrol — Careers.
Is that good pay for a police officer in North Carolina?
It ranks #5 of 40 agencies we have verified in North Carolina — 35 pay less, 4 pay more in the state — and #1,100 of 1,681 nationally. Against the national median it is $5,140 below, and against other state agencies $1,748 below.
Compare with another department
Put North Carolina State Highway 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 NC
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs North | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Knightdale Police Department | Municipal | 45 | $67,363 | +$4,113 | #902 |
| 2 | Cary Police Department | Municipal | 194 | $65,104 | +$1,854 | #1,012 |
| 3 | Wake Forest Police Department | Municipal | 96 | $65,093 | +$1,843 | #1,013 |
| 4 | Appalachian State University Police Department | Special jurisdiction | 36 | $64,084 | +$834 | #1,057 |
| 6 | Johnston County Sheriff's Office | County | 124 | $62,213 | −$1,037 | #1,147 |
| 7 | Chapel Hill Police Department | Municipal | 82 | $61,451 | −$1,799 | #1,176 |
| 8 | Raleigh Police Department | Municipal | 713 | $61,417 | −$1,833 | #1,177 |
| 9 | Duke University Police Department | Special jurisdiction | 57 | $60,195 | −$3,055 | #1,227 |
| 10 | Greensboro Police Department | Municipal | 582 | $59,509 | −$3,741 | #1,268 |
| 11 | Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department | Municipal | 1,702 | $59,502 | −$3,748 | #1,269 |
| 12 | Rolesville Police Department | Municipal | 25 | $59,304 | −$3,946 | #1,274 |
| 13 | Cabarrus County Sheriff's Office | County | 238 | $58,225 | −$5,025 | #1,309 |
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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