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Pigeon Forge 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.
Pigeon Forge Police Department starts at $60,014 a year — about $28.85 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $6,671 below the median of the 2,288 agencies on this list, and $8,126 below the median for municipal agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in Tennessee run about 8% below the national average, so this goes about as far as $65,325 would somewhere at average prices — $5,311 more than the headline figure. Most of that is utilities, at 72 against a national average of 100, where goods are 96. 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 isPigeon Forge Police Department reported 71 sworn officers and 17 civilian staff to the FBI for 2025. That is 11.0 officers per 1,000 residents, over a population of 6,458.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 Pigeon Forge says about itself
The Pigeon Forge Police Department is primarily charged with the preservation of the peace and order of the City of Pigeon Forge, the enforcement of all criminal ordinances and laws of the City of Pigeon Forge, the State of Tennessee, and the United States.
What Pigeon Forge does
The Pigeon Forge Police Department serves the City of Pigeon Forge in Sevier County, Tennessee.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 20 September 2026. City of Pigeon Forge, Police Department Salary, FY2026-2027 pay plan, Probationary Police Officer 1 starting salary — open the source document
The FY2026-2027 approved pay scale, which the City says “will remain in effect indefinitely until a subsequent pay scale is presented to and approved by city council”. $60,014 is paid from the hire date; the scale rises to $62,630 once field training begins, $65,962 on its completion and $83,275 after five years.
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.
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How this level compares
Where Pigeon Forge 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. Pigeon Forge starts at $60,014, so $8,126 below the municipal middle.
How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Pigeon Forge Police Department officer make?
Pigeon Forge Police Department starts a new officer on $60,014 a year, about $28.85 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 Pigeon Forge, Police Department Salary, FY2026-2027 pay plan, Probationary Police Officer 1 starting salary.
Is that good pay for a police officer in Tennessee?
It ranks #11 of 26 agencies we have verified in Tennessee — 15 pay less, 10 pay more in the state — and #1,565 of 2,288 nationally. Against the national median it is $6,671 below, and against other municipal agencies $8,126 below.
Compare with another department
Put Pigeon Forge 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 TN
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Pigeon | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brentwood Police Department | Municipal | 67 | $75,804 | +$15,790 | #640 |
| 2 | Metropolitan Nashville Police Department | Municipal | 1,546 | $70,904 | +$10,890 | #888 |
| 3 | Murfreesboro Police Department | Municipal | 313 | $67,922 | +$7,908 | #1,063 |
| 4 | Tennessee Bureau of Investigation | State | 484 | $67,764 | +$7,750 | #1,070 |
| 5 | Germantown Police Department | Municipal | 113 | $66,773 | +$6,759 | #1,135 |
| 6 | Smyrna Police Department | Municipal | 106 | $66,305 | +$6,291 | #1,171 |
| 7 | Tennessee Highway Patrol | State | — | $65,804 | +$5,790 | #1,201 |
| 8 | Hendersonville Police Department | Municipal | 134 | $65,654 | +$5,640 | #1,211 |
| 9 | Franklin Police Department | Municipal | 138 | $65,000 | +$4,986 | #1,256 |
| 10 | Chattanooga Police Department | Municipal | 397 | $60,460 | +$446 | #1,538 |
| 12 | Collierville Police Department | Municipal | 115 | $60,000 | −$14 | #1,584 |
| 13 | Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency — Law Enforcement Division | State | — | $59,700 | −$314 | #1,595 |
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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