Home › Police pay › Nebraska › Omaha Police Department
Omaha 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.
Omaha Police Department starts at $79,580 a year — about $38.26 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $12,895 above the median of the 2,288 agencies on this list, and $11,440 above the median for municipal agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in Nebraska run about 10% below the national average, so this goes about as far as $88,321 would somewhere at average prices — $8,741 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 isOmaha Police Department reported 788 sworn officers and 161 civilian staff to the FBI for 2025. That is 1.6 officers per 1,000 residents, over a population of 488,395.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 Omaha says about itself
The Omaha Police Department stands as the Midwest's flagship agency for exceptional employees, strong community partnerships, and effective crime reduction. To uphold our high standards, it is crucial that officer pay reflects the expertise and dedication required for this work; setting OPD salaries 5% above all other Nebraska police agencies not only positions us for growth but also recognises the high level of talent and commitment needed to serve our community. In partnership with our community, a fully-staffed police department ensures Omaha remains a top-rated city to live. The Omaha Police Department has its own Academy that runs Monday through Friday during daytime hours: recruits go home at the end of the day, however no other jobs are allowed during the first year of employment.
What Omaha does
Omaha Police Department is the largest law enforcement agency in Nebraska, formed in 1857 and budgeted for about 906 sworn officers across six precincts, with three helicopters. It is nationally accredited by CALEA and runs its own academy, which sits Monday to Friday in daytime hours with recruits going home at the end of the day; no outside employment is allowed during the first year. Officers advance one step a year to top pay after eight years, and the city has committed to keeping top-scale pay 5% above every other Nebraska agency.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 25 August 2026. Recruit starting pay for 2026, City of Omaha announcement of the approved police staffing and salary plan. — open the source document
Their source is effective 1 January 2026.
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.
BlueShifts. Plan Your Year. Own Your Time.
The shift calendar built for your rotation, off-duty work, and life on and off the clock.
Save your shift schedule once and BlueShifts fills the rest of the year in.
How this level compares
Where Omaha 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. Omaha starts at $79,580, so $11,440 above the municipal middle.
How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Omaha Police Department officer make?
Omaha Police Department starts a new officer on $79,580 a year, about $38.26 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 Recruit starting pay for 2026, City of Omaha announcement of the approved police staffing and salary plan..
Is that good pay for a police officer in Nebraska?
It ranks #1 of 20 agencies we have verified in Nebraska — the highest in the state in the state — and #505 of 2,288 nationally. Against the national median it is $12,895 above, and against other municipal agencies $11,440 above.
Compare with another department
Put Omaha 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 NE
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Omaha | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Lincoln Police Department | Municipal | 351 | $74,568 | −$5,012 | #694 |
| 3 | Sarpy County Sheriff's Office | County | 114 | $73,861 | −$5,719 | #724 |
| 4 | La Vista Police Department | Municipal | 42 | $73,653 | −$5,927 | #730 |
| 5 | Lancaster County Sheriff's Office | County | 86 | $72,280 | −$7,300 | #796 |
| 6 | Nebraska State Patrol | State | 410 | $70,195 | −$9,385 | #928 |
| 7 | University of Nebraska-Lincoln Police Department | Special jurisdiction | 30 | $70,042 | −$9,538 | #935 |
| 8 | Papillion Police Department | Municipal | 48 | $69,086 | −$10,494 | #985 |
| 9 | Douglas County Sheriff's Office | County | 155 | $68,744 | −$10,836 | #1,008 |
| 10 | Grand Island Police Department | Municipal | 89 | $67,621 | −$11,959 | #1,086 |
| 11 | Dodge County Sheriff's Office | County | 21 | $66,200 | −$13,380 | #1,176 |
| 12 | Hastings Police Department | Municipal | 35 | $65,790 | −$13,790 | #1,202 |
| 13 | Columbus Police Department | Municipal | 37 | $65,340 | −$14,240 | #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.
Scan to install
