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Oak Lawn 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.
Oak Lawn Police Department starts at $77,378 a year — about $37.20 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $10,693 above the median of the 2,288 agencies on this list, and $9,238 above the median for municipal agencies.
How big the department isOak Lawn Police Department reported 113 sworn officers and 12 civilian staff to the FBI for 2025. That is 2.0 officers per 1,000 residents, over a population of 56,136.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 Oak Lawn says about itself
The Oak lawn Police Department, in partnership with the citizens of Oak Lawn, recognizes the needs of our community and law enforcement's role in addressing those needs.
What Oak Lawn does
The Oak Lawn Police Department serves the Village of Oak Lawn, Illinois, in partnership with its residents.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 19 September 2026. Village of Oak Lawn, Now Hiring Entry Level and Lateral Police Officers, starting salary for new candidates — open the source document
2025 recruitment (applications closed 17 October 2025); rises to $93,216 after one year and $111,054 after three.
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 Oak Lawn 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. Oak Lawn starts at $77,378, so $9,238 above the municipal middle.
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How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Oak Lawn Police Department officer make?
Oak Lawn Police Department starts a new officer on $77,378 a year, about $37.20 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 Village of Oak Lawn, Now Hiring Entry Level and Lateral Police Officers, starting salary for new candidates.
Is that good pay for a police officer in Illinois?
It ranks #27 of 43 agencies we have verified in Illinois — 16 pay less, 26 pay more in the state — and #576 of 2,288 nationally. Against the national median it is $10,693 above, and against other municipal agencies $9,238 above.
Compare with another department
Put Oak Lawn 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 IL
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Oak | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vernon Hills Police Department | Municipal | 44 | $94,460 | +$17,082 | #192 |
| 2 | Wilmette Police Department | Municipal | 45 | $93,156 | +$15,778 | #207 |
| 3 | Oak Park Police Department | Municipal | 91 | $92,716 | +$15,338 | #214 |
| 4 | Skokie Police Department | Municipal | 102 | $92,405 | +$15,027 | #219 |
| 5 | Aurora Police Department | Municipal | 328 | $92,248 | +$14,870 | #223 |
| 6 | Des Plaines Police Department | Municipal | 97 | $91,440 | +$14,062 | #235 |
| 7 | Highland Park Police Department | Municipal | 60 | $91,158 | +$13,780 | #240 |
| 8 | Naperville Police Department | Municipal | 186 | $90,965 | +$13,587 | #246 |
| 9 | Illinois State Police | State | 1,821 | $90,828 | +$13,450 | #251 |
| 10 | River Forest Police Department | Municipal | 26 | $90,106 | +$12,728 | #267 |
| 11 | Evanston Police Department | Municipal | 140 | $88,656 | +$11,278 | #292 |
| 12 | Elgin Police Department | Municipal | 203 | $88,274 | +$10,896 | #301 |
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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