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Penn Hills 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.
Penn Hills Police Department starts at $85,919 a year — about $41.31 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $18,652 above the median of the 2,053 agencies on this list, and $17,133 above the median for municipal agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in Pennsylvania run about 2% below the national average, so this goes about as far as $88,057 would somewhere at average prices — $2,138 more than the headline figure. That average hides a wide spread: rent at 85, where goods are 99. 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 Penn Hills says about itself
The mission of the Penn Hills Police Department is to enhance the quality of life in Penn Hills by working in partnership with the community. We will accomplish our mission by enforcing the law with impartiality and courtesy, while fostering a feeling of safety and security.
What Penn Hills does
The Penn Hills Police Department serves a municipality of about 40,000 immediately east of Pittsburgh, and is one of the largest law enforcement agencies in south-western Pennsylvania: the Municipality's adopted 2026 budget funds 58 sworn positions - 43 in patrol, 12 in the investigative division, two in a traffic division created for 2026, and the Chief. Its Uniform Patrol Division runs two twelve-hour tours, 0700-1900 and 1900-0700, which rotate every twelve weeks, with typical shifts of six to nine officers besides sergeants. Alongside patrol it runs canine, traffic and criminal investigative divisions, a Special Response Team, drone operators and firearms instructors, and lists more than twenty-five promotional or specialised positions. Scheduling is run through PowerTime, with officers trading shifts and booking time off from a phone.
Penn Hills’s rotation, in BlueShifts
The Department names the schedule, the weekdays and the count on its own salary page: "12-hour Pitman schedule that provides 182 pass days a year, including every other Friday, Saturday, and Sunday off (Guaranteed 84 hours' bi-weekly pay)", and "The Uniform Patrol Division operates on two daily shifts (0700-1900 and 1900-0700), which rotate every twelve (12) weeks." Up to 4% shift differential is paid for the 1900-0700 tour, and all scheduling runs through PowerTime with shift trades and time-off requests done from a phone.
The rotation template screen — enter the cycle and the start date, and you are done.
DayNight24 hrsOff
Every month, already filled in — no typing, however far ahead you look.
September 2026
This cycle has its own page: how it works, and how to build it.
182 pass days a year is the number the Department leads with, and it is only worth anything if you can see where they fall. The Pitman fortnight moves against the week and the tour flips every twelve weeks, so the free Friday-to-Sunday is not somewhere your memory will keep it. BlueShifts holds the cycle and fills the year, days and nights marked apart.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 2 September 2026. Penn Hills Police Department — Salary, Benefits, and Career Opportunities — "2026 Act 120 Certified Police Officer Starting Rate: $85,918.56" — open the source document
Class: Police Officer, Act 120 certified starting rate for 2026. The Department's own salary page states it and states what it is built on in the same line - "(Based on the annual 12-hour patrol schedule)" - which is the 84 guaranteed hours a fortnight the same page sets out, not a 2,080-hour year. Trainee class: YES, and it is EXCLUDED. The 2026 Police Academy Rate is $19.67 an hour plus health benefits for applicants who are not yet certified, and the page says the salary increases to the certified starting rate on graduation and Act 120 certification, so the certified rate is the first post-academy sworn figure. PRIOR SWORN SERVICE IS NOT REQUIRED: the Department pays for academy training for uncertified applicants, and PENNSYLVANIA ACT 120 CERTIFICATION IS THE ROUTE, NOT A DISQUALIFIER. Top rate is $116,643.95 after four complete years - a ceiling, not the figure. Up to 4% shift differential for the 1900-0700 tour, up to 3% longevity, thirteen paid holidays in a single November cheque and a $1,000 uniform allowance all sit outside the base. Details run to the collective bargaining agreement, which expires 31 December 2026. Department's own salary page, checked 2 September 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 Penn Hills 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 | $68,786 | $163,619 | 1372 |
| County | $35,000 | $64,438 | $132,263 | 459 |
| Special jurisdiction | $31,200 | $60,204 | $107,954 | 71 |
| State | $33,994 | $65,400 | $110,916 | 144 |
| 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 $4,700 more than the middle municipal agency and about $9,100 more than the middle county agency and about $13,300 more than the middle special jurisdiction agency and about $8,100 more than the middle state agency and about $45,300 more than the middle territory agency. Penn Hills starts at $85,919, so $17,133 above the municipal middle.
How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Penn Hills Police Department officer make?
Penn Hills Police Department starts a new officer on $85,919 a year, about $41.31 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 Penn Hills Police Department — Salary, Benefits, and Career Opportunities — "2026 Act 120 Certified Police Officer Starting Rate: $85,918.56".
Is that good pay for a police officer in Pennsylvania?
It ranks #3 of 25 agencies we have verified in Pennsylvania — 22 pay less, 2 pay more in the state — and #306 of 2,053 nationally. Against the national median it is $18,652 above, and against other municipal agencies $17,133 above.
What shifts do Penn Hills Police Department officers work?
The Department names the schedule, the weekdays and the count on its own salary page: "12-hour Pitman schedule that provides 182 pass days a year, including every other Friday, Saturday, and Sunday off (Guaranteed 84 hours' bi-weekly pay)", and "The Uniform Patrol Division operates on two daily shifts (0700-1900 and 1900-0700), which rotate every twelve (12) weeks." Up to 4% shift differential is paid for the 1900-0700 tour, and all scheduling runs through PowerTime with shift trades and time-off requests done from a phone. That is the agency's own published wording; the pattern is drawn on this page.
Compare with another department
Put Penn Hills 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 PA
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Penn | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Abington Township Police Department | Municipal | — | $103,421 | +$17,502 | #80 |
| 2 | Lower Merion Township Police Department | Municipal | 118 | $90,162 | +$4,243 | #234 |
| 4 | Pennsylvania State Police | State | 4,634 | $73,087 | −$12,832 | #696 |
| 5 | Philadelphia Police Department | Municipal | 5,065 | $72,651 | −$13,268 | #719 |
| 6 | Allentown Police Department | Municipal | 215 | $72,607 | −$13,312 | #722 |
| 7 | Manheim Township Police Department | Municipal | 63 | $72,334 | −$13,585 | #730 |
| 8 | Bethlehem Police Department | Municipal | 136 | $69,870 | −$16,049 | #876 |
| 9 | Pittsburgh Bureau of Police | Municipal | — | $68,952 | −$16,967 | #917 |
| 10 | Gettysburg Borough Police Department | Municipal | — | $63,232 | −$22,687 | #1,258 |
| 11 | Northampton County Sheriff's Department | County | 59 | $60,606 | −$25,313 | #1,397 |
| 12 | York County Sheriff's Office | County | 107 | $58,344 | −$27,575 | #1,508 |
| 13 | Harrisburg Bureau of Police | Municipal | — | $58,100 | −$27,819 | #1,524 |
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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