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Oregon Parks and Recreation Department — Commissioned Park Rangers 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.
Oregon Parks and Recreation Department — Commissioned Park Rangers starts at $51,912 a year — about $24.96 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $16,478 below the median of the 1,681 agencies on this list, and $13,086 below the median for state agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in Oregon run about 3% above the national average, so this is worth roughly $50,224 somewhere at average prices — $1,688 less than the headline figure. Most of that is rent, at 109 against a national average of 100, where goods are 105. 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 Oregon Parks and Recreation Department — Commissioned Park Rangers says about itself
The mission of the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department (OPRD) is to provide and protect outstanding natural, scenic, cultural, historic and recreational sites for the enjoyment and education of present and future generations.
What Oregon Parks and Recreation Department — Commissioned Park Rangers does
Oregon Park Ranger 1 employees enforce park-area rules and may be commissioned to issue written warnings and citations. Oregon's current bargaining terms specifically recognize Park Ranger 1 employees certified as OPRD enforcement officers and provide an enforcement-officer differential.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 8 August 2026. Oregon Department of Administrative Services — Park Ranger 1 classification, salary and 2025–2027 bargaining update — open the source document
$51,912. Current 2026 salary table; 2025–2027 bargaining agreement in effect
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 Oregon Parks and Recreation Department — Commissioned Park Rangers 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. Oregon Parks and Recreation Department — Commissioned Park Rangers starts at $51,912, so $13,086 below the state middle.
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How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Oregon Parks and Recreation Department — Commissioned Park Rangers officer make?
Oregon Parks and Recreation Department — Commissioned Park Rangers starts a new officer on $51,912 a year, about $24.96 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 Oregon Department of Administrative Services — Park Ranger 1 classification, salary and 2025–2027 bargaining update.
Is that good pay for a police officer in Oregon?
It ranks #46 of 46 agencies we have verified in Oregon — 0 pay less, 45 pay more in the state — and #1,520 of 1,681 nationally. Against the national median it is $16,478 below, and against other state agencies $13,086 below.
Compare with another department
Put Oregon Parks and Recreation Department — Commissioned Park Rangers 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 OR
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Oregon | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tigard Police Department | Municipal | 71 | $86,596 | +$34,684 | #271 |
| 2 | Bend Police Department | Municipal | 107 | $86,432 | +$34,520 | #273 |
| 3 | Washington County Sheriff's Office | County | 219 | $85,738 | +$33,826 | #280 |
| 4 | Gresham Police Department | Municipal | 123 | $84,968 | +$33,056 | #292 |
| 5 | Portland Police Bureau | Municipal | 809 | $84,000 | +$32,088 | #308 |
| 6 | Hillsboro Police Department | Municipal | 144 | $83,988 | +$32,076 | #311 |
| 7 | Corvallis Police Department | Municipal | 67 | $82,747 | +$30,835 | #337 |
| 8 | Lane County Sheriff's Office | County | 75 | $82,181 | +$30,269 | #344 |
| 9 | Multnomah County Sheriff's Office | County | 132 | $82,035 | +$30,123 | #348 |
| 10 | Tualatin Police Department | Municipal | 38 | $81,973 | +$30,061 | #349 |
| 11 | Oregon City Police Department | Municipal | 38 | $81,564 | +$29,652 | #359 |
| 12 | Salem Police Department | Municipal | 185 | $81,349 | +$29,437 | #366 |
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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