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Pittsburgh Bureau of Police 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.
Pittsburgh Bureau of Police starts at $68,952 a year — about $33.15 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $562 above the median of the 1,681 agencies on this list, and $2,312 below the median for municipal agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in Pittsburgh, PA run about 5% below the national average, so this goes about as far as $72,833 would somewhere at average prices — $3,881 more than the headline figure. Most of that is rent, at 72 against a national average of 100, where goods are 101. Based on price levels for this metropolitan 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 Pittsburgh Bureau of says about itself
Our mandate is the continued protection and enhancement of our diverse neighborhoods by working in partnership with our citizens to creatively solve problems always remaining sensitive to the authority with which we're entrusted. It is our challenge to provide committed service through accountability, integrity and respect.
What Pittsburgh Bureau of does
Pittsburgh Bureau of Police is the City's municipal police bureau, comprising approximately 800 officers and providing law-enforcement services with professionalism and integrity.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 10 August 2026. City of Pittsburgh Police Officer Recruitment - Salary & Benefits — open the source document
Their source is effective 5 May 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.
How this level compares
Where Pittsburgh Bureau of 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. Pittsburgh Bureau of starts at $68,952, so $2,335 below the municipal middle.
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How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Pittsburgh Bureau of Police officer make?
Pittsburgh Bureau of Police starts a new officer on $68,952 a year, about $33.15 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 Pittsburgh Police Officer Recruitment - Salary & Benefits.
Is that good pay for a police officer in Pennsylvania?
It ranks #7 of 23 agencies we have verified in Pennsylvania — 16 pay less, 6 pay more in the state — and #817 of 1,681 nationally. Against the national median it is $562 above, and against other municipal agencies $2,312 below.
Compare with another department
Put Pittsburgh Bureau of Police 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 Pittsburgh | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Abington Township Police Department | Municipal | — | $103,421 | +$34,469 | #71 |
| 2 | Lower Merion Township Police Department | Municipal | 118 | $90,162 | +$21,210 | #212 |
| 3 | Pennsylvania State Police | State | 4,634 | $73,087 | +$4,135 | #624 |
| 4 | Philadelphia Police Department | Municipal | 5,065 | $72,651 | +$3,699 | #643 |
| 5 | Allentown Police Department | Municipal | 215 | $72,607 | +$3,655 | #645 |
| 6 | Manheim Township Police Department | Municipal | 63 | $72,334 | +$3,382 | #651 |
| 8 | Gettysburg Borough Police Department | Municipal | — | $63,232 | −$5,720 | #1,101 |
| 9 | Northampton County Sheriff's Department | County | 59 | $60,606 | −$8,346 | #1,209 |
| 10 | York County Sheriff's Office | County | 107 | $58,344 | −$10,608 | #1,303 |
| 11 | Harrisburg Bureau of Police | Municipal | — | $58,100 | −$10,852 | #1,316 |
| 12 | Lancaster County Sheriff's Office | County | 55 | $57,803 | −$11,149 | #1,338 |
| 13 | Chester County Sheriff's Office | County | 59 | $57,720 | −$11,232 | #1,344 |
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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