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Ocean Springs 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.
Ocean Springs Police Department starts at $45,474 a year — about $21.86 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $21,211 below the median of the 2,288 agencies on this list, and $22,666 below the median for municipal agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in Mississippi run about 13% below the national average, so this goes about as far as $52,297 would somewhere at average prices — $6,823 more than the headline figure. Most of that is rent, at 56 against a national average of 100, where goods are 96. 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 isOcean Springs Police Department reported 39 sworn officers and 9 civilian staff to the FBI for 2025. That is 2.0 officers per 1,000 residents, over a population of 19,104.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 Ocean Springs says about itself
As sworn law enforcement officers and civilians, we strive to provide effective and reliable police services to the citizens, merchants, and visitors of our City. Together, we can identify and resolve issues that affect the safety and security of our community.
What Ocean Springs does
The Ocean Springs Police Department is a municipal agency serving the citizens, merchants and visitors of Ocean Springs, operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week from Bienville Boulevard. The chief directs operations with a deputy chief, two captains and an executive assistant, and that administrative team oversees patrol, traffic, investigations, animal control, dispatch, records, warrants, the reserve officer programme, training and accreditation. The department is accredited by the Mississippi Law Enforcement Accreditation Commission, which sets professional standards for Mississippi agencies
Where the figure comes from
Checked 6 September 2026. City of Ocean Springs official page — Employment with Ocean Springs Police Department — open the source document
City's own employment page verified 6 September 2026; Police Officer Step One is $19.50/hour, which the City states as $45,474 a year for 2,184 hours, plus holiday pay. Step One covers entry level or fewer than 12 months of full-time sworn service, so certification is not required to start. The City states the rates are effective as of 8 July 2023
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 Ocean Springs 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. Ocean Springs starts at $45,474, so $22,666 below the municipal middle.
How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Ocean Springs Police Department officer make?
Ocean Springs Police Department starts a new officer on $45,474 a year, about $21.86 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 Ocean Springs official page — Employment with Ocean Springs Police Department.
Is that good pay for a police officer in Mississippi?
It ranks #11 of 12 agencies we have verified in Mississippi — 1 pay less, 10 pay more in the state — and #2,196 of 2,288 nationally. Against the national median it is $21,211 below, and against other municipal agencies $22,666 below.
Compare with another department
Put Ocean Springs 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 MS
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Ocean | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | DeSoto County Sheriff's Office | County | 185 | $65,564 | +$20,090 | #1,216 |
| 2 | Southaven Police Department | Municipal | 150 | $61,982 | +$16,508 | #1,451 |
| 3 | Hattiesburg Police Department | Municipal | 92 | $55,000 | +$9,526 | #1,853 |
| 4 | Mississippi Highway Safety Patrol | State | 397 | $54,000 | +$8,526 | #1,910 |
| 5 | Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics | State | — | $54,000 | +$8,526 | #1,911 |
| 6 | Oxford Police Department | Municipal | 106 | $52,531 | +$7,057 | #1,967 |
| 7 | Gulfport Police Department | Municipal | 134 | $51,241 | +$5,767 | #2,024 |
| 8 | Mississippi Department of Revenue - Alcoholic Beverage Control Bureau of Enforcement | State | — | $50,000 | +$4,526 | #2,077 |
| 9 | Biloxi Police Department | Municipal | 122 | $48,300 | +$2,826 | #2,136 |
| 10 | Mississippi Capitol Police | State | — | $46,700 | +$1,226 | #2,175 |
| 12 | Mississippi Department of Marine Resources - Marine Patrol | State | — | $45,000 | −$474 | #2,208 |
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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