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Plymouth 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.
Plymouth Police Department starts at $67,927 a year — about $32.66 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $1,242 above the median of the 2,288 agencies on this list, and $213 below the median for municipal agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in Massachusetts run about 6% above the national average, so this is worth roughly $64,229 somewhere at average prices — $3,698 less than the headline figure. Most of that is utilities, at 152 against a national average of 100, 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.
How big the department isPlymouth Police Department reported 108 sworn officers and 8 civilian staff to the FBI for 2025. That is 1.6 officers per 1,000 residents, over a population of 67,967.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 Plymouth says about itself
Our mission is to safeguard the public trust bestowed upon us, protect life and property, and uphold the law. We are committed to accomplish our mission with devotion, honesty, and equality to all.
What Plymouth does
The Plymouth Police Department describes itself as a full-service municipal agency accredited by the Massachusetts Police Accreditation Commission, serving America's Hometown. The town covers 104 square miles, the largest land area of any community in New England, with a year-round population of about 60,000 that swells with visitors. The department is made up of 128 sworn full-time officers, six part-time officers and 17 civilian employees under Chief Dana Flynn, and runs specialised divisions and units alongside patrol, including a comfort K-9. Accreditation requires it to meet an extensive list of standards inspected by MPAC every three years, and it publishes its public logs weekly online as well as daily in the station lobby
Where the figure comes from
Checked 6 September 2026. Town of Plymouth official FY26 salary schedule — Patrolmen — open the source document
The Town's own FY26 salary table for the Patrolmen unit, generated 2 July 2025 and effective 1 July 2025, read 6 September 2026: step 001 is $32.6569 an hour on a 40-hour week, which the table itself annualises over 2,080 hours as $67,926.56. Six steps run to $38.2836 ($79,629.68) at step 006, a 2% adjustment on the previous table. Plymouth is a civil service town: entry is through the Massachusetts municipal police officer examination, and recruits attend a full-time MPTC academy after appointment, so neither certification nor prior sworn service is required to start
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 Plymouth 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. Plymouth starts at $67,927, so $213 below the municipal middle.
How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Plymouth Police Department officer make?
Plymouth Police Department starts a new officer on $67,927 a year, about $32.66 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 Town of Plymouth official FY26 salary schedule — Patrolmen.
Is that good pay for a police officer in Massachusetts?
It ranks #7 of 19 agencies we have verified in Massachusetts — 12 pay less, 6 pay more in the state — and #1,062 of 2,288 nationally. Against the national median it is $1,242 above, and against other municipal agencies $213 below.
Compare with another department
Put Plymouth 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 MA
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Plymouth | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Everett Police Department | Municipal | 120 | $95,568 | +$27,641 | #178 |
| 2 | Nantucket Police Department | Municipal | 40 | $92,144 | +$24,217 | #225 |
| 3 | Massachusetts State Police | State | 2,565 | $80,213 | +$12,286 | #491 |
| 4 | Tufts University Police Department | Special jurisdiction | 52 | $75,962 | +$8,035 | #632 |
| 5 | Barnstable Police Department | Municipal | 109 | $75,400 | +$7,473 | #655 |
| 6 | Boston Police Department | Municipal | 2,172 | $71,861 | +$3,934 | #822 |
| 8 | West Stockbridge Police Department | Municipal | — | $66,797 | −$1,130 | #1,133 |
| 9 | Haverhill Police Department | Municipal | 111 | $66,652 | −$1,275 | #1,146 |
| 10 | Rowley Police Department | Municipal | 10 | $66,397 | −$1,530 | #1,168 |
| 11 | Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs — Environmental Police | State | — | $65,447 | −$2,479 | #1,222 |
| 12 | Brockton Police Department | Municipal | 179 | $63,971 | −$3,956 | #1,321 |
| 13 | Chicopee Police Department | Municipal | 138 | $63,169 | −$4,758 | #1,373 |
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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