Home › Police pay › Florida › Panama City Police Department
Panama City 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.
Panama City Police Department starts at $51,958 a year — about $24.98 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $14,726 below the median of the 2,288 agencies on this list, and $16,182 below the median for municipal agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in Florida run about 3% above the national average, so this is worth roughly $50,243 somewhere at average prices — $1,715 less than the headline figure. Most of that is rent, at 122 against a national average of 100, where goods are 98. 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 isPanama City Police Department reported 99 sworn officers and 47 civilian staff to the FBI for 2025. That is 2.6 officers per 1,000 residents, over a population of 38,146.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 Panama City says about itself
Members and Citizens working together to prevent, reduce, and eliminate crime through cooperative efforts and shared community values. The Panama City Police Department is a full-service agency proudly serving the Panama City community in Florida's Panhandle. Committed to excellence, we provide a wide range of law enforcement services, from parking enforcement to homicide investigations. While laboratory forensics are handled by partner agencies, we are equipped to meet the safety needs of residents and visitors alike with professionalism and care.
What Panama City does
The Panama City Police Department is the municipal force for Panama City in Florida's Panhandle and the largest municipal law enforcement agency in Bay County. It is organised into the Chief's Office, Administrative Services, Community Services, Investigative Services, Field Services and Communications, and holds Excelsior-level accreditation from the Commission for Florida Law Enforcement Accreditation. Its headquarters houses the city's 9-1-1 public safety answering point, and it fields SWAT, motor and marine units - the last a consequence of policing a bay city.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 30 August 2026. City of Panama City official employer posting, Police Officer I (the entry-level police officer classification), opening date 11 June 2026 — open the source document
Their source is effective 11 June 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 Panama City 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. Panama City starts at $51,958, so $16,182 below the municipal middle.
How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Panama City Police Department officer make?
Panama City Police Department starts a new officer on $51,958 a year, about $24.98 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 Panama City official employer posting, Police Officer I (the entry-level police officer classification), opening date 11 June 2026.
Is that good pay for a police officer in Florida?
It ranks #234 of 303 agencies we have verified in Florida — 69 pay less, 233 pay more in the state — and #1,995 of 2,288 nationally. Against the national median it is $14,726 below, and against other municipal agencies $16,182 below.
Compare with another department
Put Panama City 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 Panama | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Boca Raton Police Services Department | Municipal | 195 | $91,007 | +$39,049 | #244 |
| 2 | Fort Lauderdale Police Department | Municipal | 565 | $81,723 | +$29,765 | #433 |
| 3 | Plantation Police Department | Municipal | 164 | $81,000 | +$29,042 | #459 |
| 4 | Hillsboro Beach Police Department | Municipal | 15 | $80,954 | +$28,996 | #461 |
| 5 | Pinecrest Police Department | Municipal | 47 | $80,912 | +$28,953 | #464 |
| 6 | Sunny Isles Beach Police Department | Municipal | 65 | $80,000 | +$28,042 | #496 |
| 7 | Indian Creek Village Public Safety Department | Municipal | 10 | $79,850 | +$27,892 | #500 |
| 8 | Sunrise Police Department | Municipal | 190 | $79,071 | +$27,113 | #520 |
| 9 | Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office | County | 1,720 | $78,828 | +$26,870 | #526 |
| 10 | Aventura Police Department | Municipal | 91 | $78,556 | +$26,597 | #536 |
| 11 | Longboat Key Police Department | Municipal | 19 | $78,430 | +$26,472 | #543 |
| 12 | Manalapan Police Department | Municipal | 13 | $78,280 | +$26,322 | #549 |
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
