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Palm Bay 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.
Palm Bay Police Department starts at $56,292 a year — about $27.06 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $12,098 below the median of the 1,681 agencies on this list, and $14,972 below the median for municipal agencies.
How big the department isPalm Bay Police Department reported 175 sworn officers and 68 civilian staff to the FBI for 2025. That is 1.2 officers per 1,000 residents, over a population of 148,091.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.
About Palm Bay
Palm Bay Police Officers protect life and property through patrol, criminal investigation, community policing and enforcement of Florida law and City ordinances. Successful recruit-program graduates move into the Police Officer classification
Where the figure comes from
Checked 8 August 2026. City of Palm Bay official 2026 Police Officer and Non-C — open the source document
Both opened 20 April 2026 and remain continuous. The City sponsors non-certified recruits through academy and certification, after which they are promoted to Police Officer; current Florida-certified Police Officer starting salary is $56,292 annually. Recruit pay is 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.
How this level compares
Where Palm Bay 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. Palm Bay starts at $56,292, so $14,995 below the municipal middle.
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How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Palm Bay Police Department officer make?
Palm Bay Police Department starts a new officer on $56,292 a year, about $27.06 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 Palm Bay official 2026 Police Officer and Non-C.
Is that good pay for a police officer in Florida?
It ranks #111 of 141 agencies we have verified in Florida — 30 pay less, 110 pay more in the state — and #1,387 of 1,681 nationally. Against the national median it is $12,098 below, and against other municipal agencies $14,972 below.
Compare with another department
Put Palm Bay 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 FL
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Palm | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Boca Raton Police Services Department | Municipal | 195 | $86,674 | +$30,382 | #270 |
| 2 | Fort Lauderdale Police Department | Municipal | 565 | $81,723 | +$25,431 | #354 |
| 3 | Plantation Police Department | Municipal | 164 | $81,000 | +$24,708 | #379 |
| 4 | Pinecrest Police Department | Municipal | 47 | $80,912 | +$24,620 | #383 |
| 5 | Sunny Isles Beach Police Department | Municipal | 65 | $80,000 | +$23,708 | #411 |
| 6 | Aventura Police Department | Municipal | 91 | $78,556 | +$22,264 | #441 |
| 7 | Coral Springs Police Department | Municipal | 222 | $77,516 | +$21,224 | #470 |
| 8 | Boynton Beach Police Department | Municipal | 173 | $76,650 | +$20,358 | #490 |
| 9 | North Palm Beach Police Department | Municipal | 37 | $76,378 | +$20,086 | #497 |
| 10 | Naples Police Department | Municipal | 74 | $76,320 | +$20,028 | #501 |
| 11 | West Palm Beach Police Department | Municipal | 295 | $75,921 | +$19,629 | #524 |
| 12 | Bay Harbor Islands Police Department | Municipal | 24 | $75,836 | +$19,544 | #528 |
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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