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North Little Rock 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.
North Little Rock Police Department starts at $55,068 a year — about $26.48 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $11,617 below the median of the 2,288 agencies on this list, and $13,072 below the median for municipal agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway, AR run about 11% below the national average, so this goes about as far as $61,622 would somewhere at average prices — $6,554 more than the headline figure. Most of that is rent, at 68 against a national average of 100, where goods are 94. 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 isNorth Little Rock Police Department reported 175 sworn officers and 30 civilian staff to the FBI for 2025. That is 2.7 officers per 1,000 residents, over a population of 64,455.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 North Little Rock says about itself
Our mission at the North Little Rock Police Department is to promote a high quality of life for the citizens of the City by ensuring a safe, secure, and peaceful environment. It is our purpose to preserve, not deny, the liberties of the citizenry, and the most basic police responsibility is to protect those who cannot protect themselves.
What North Little Rock does
North Little Rock Police Officers protect life and property, preserve public peace, enforce federal, state and local laws, patrol neighborhoods, answer calls, investigate offenses, make arrests, control traffic, preserve evidence and testify in court
Where the figure comes from
Checked 8 August 2026. City of North Little Rock official 2026 — open the source document
Opened 2 February 2026; official sworn Police Officer salary $55,068.25 annually. Minimum qualifications are age 21, HS/equivalent, driver's license and background standards; prior law-enforcement experience is not required. Clothing, education, certificate and longevity pay are excluded
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 North Little Rock 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. North Little Rock starts at $55,068, so $13,072 below the municipal middle.
How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a North Little Rock Police Department officer make?
North Little Rock Police Department starts a new officer on $55,068 a year, about $26.48 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 City of North Little Rock official 2026.
Is that good pay for a police officer in Arkansas?
It ranks #6 of 17 agencies we have verified in Arkansas — 11 pay less, 5 pay more in the state — and #1,849 of 2,288 nationally. Against the national median it is $11,617 below, and against other municipal agencies $13,072 below.
Compare with another department
Put North Little Rock 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 AR
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs North | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arkansas State Police | State | — | $67,675 | +$12,607 | #1,080 |
| 2 | Rogers Police Department | Municipal | 140 | $61,363 | +$6,295 | #1,481 |
| 3 | Little Rock Police Department | Municipal | 535 | $57,928 | +$2,860 | #1,686 |
| 4 | Fayetteville Police Department | Municipal | 152 | $57,699 | +$2,631 | #1,713 |
| 5 | Bentonville Police Department | Municipal | 99 | $55,950 | +$882 | #1,797 |
| 7 | Farmington Police Department | Municipal | 19 | $54,251 | −$817 | #1,898 |
| 8 | Jonesboro Police Department | Municipal | 163 | $51,501 | −$3,567 | #2,013 |
| 9 | Lowell Police Department | Municipal | 20 | $51,491 | −$3,578 | #2,014 |
| 10 | Benton Police Department | Municipal | 83 | $51,000 | −$4,068 | #2,032 |
| 11 | Conway Police Department | Municipal | 127 | $50,924 | −$4,145 | #2,037 |
| 12 | Pulaski County Sheriff's Office | County | 141 | $50,211 | −$4,857 | #2,068 |
| 13 | Fort Smith Police Department | Municipal | 155 | $50,003 | −$5,065 | #2,073 |
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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