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Providence 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.
Providence Police Department starts at $81,468 a year — about $39.17 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $14,784 above the median of the 2,288 agencies on this list, and $13,328 above the median for municipal agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in Providence-Warwick, RI-MA run about 2% above the national average, so this is worth roughly $80,049 somewhere at average prices — $1,419 less than the headline figure. That average hides a wide spread: utilities at 149, where goods are 97. 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.
How big the department isProvidence Police Department reported 435 sworn officers and 83 civilian staff to the FBI for 2025. That is 2.2 officers per 1,000 residents, over a population of 195,376.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 Providence says about itself
The Providence Police Department, united with all citizens, is committed to improving the quality of life in our city by aggressively resolving problems, preserving the peace, protecting human rights, and apprehending offenders consistent with the law.
What Providence does
Providence Police Department preserves peace, protects human rights, apprehends offenders and provides municipal law-enforcement service.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 10 August 2026. City of Providence / Providence Lodge #3 FOP collective bargaining agreement, July 1 2023-June 30 2028 — open the source document
Current agreement defines Third Grade Patrol Officer as the grade upon appointment for members hired on or after September 1, 2001 and sets the 7/1/26 weekly rate at $1,566.70. $1,566.70 x 52 = $81,468.40 annually. Class: Third Grade Patrol Officer. Trainee class: YES, Police Academy recruit is outside the FOP bargaining-unit Patrol Officer scale. Current City/FOP agreement applies to full-time policemen and policewomen from Patrol Officer through Captain.
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 Providence 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. Providence starts at $81,468, so $13,328 above the municipal middle.
How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Providence Police Department officer make?
Providence Police Department starts a new officer on $81,468 a year, about $39.17 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 Providence / Providence Lodge #3 FOP collective bargaining agreement, July 1 2023-June 30 2028.
Is that good pay for a police officer in Rhode Island?
It ranks #4 of 17 agencies we have verified in Rhode Island — 13 pay less, 3 pay more in the state — and #441 of 2,288 nationally. Against the national median it is $14,784 above, and against other municipal agencies $13,328 above.
Compare with another department
Put Providence 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 RI
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Providence | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management — Division of Law Enforcement / Environmental Police | State | 32 | $90,850 | +$9,382 | #249 |
| 2 | Smithfield Police Department | Municipal | 46 | $82,885 | +$1,416 | #407 |
| 3 | Rhode Island State Police | State | 267 | $81,579 | +$111 | #437 |
| 5 | North Providence Police Department | Municipal | — | $71,787 | −$9,681 | #829 |
| 6 | Burrillville Police Department | Municipal | 24 | $70,484 | −$10,984 | #908 |
| 7 | East Providence Police Department | Municipal | 86 | $69,155 | −$12,314 | #983 |
| 8 | Lincoln Police Department | Municipal | 40 | $69,000 | −$12,468 | #991 |
| 9 | Pawtucket Police Department | Municipal | 145 | $66,402 | −$15,067 | #1,167 |
| 10 | Warwick Police Department | Municipal | 169 | $65,739 | −$15,729 | #1,204 |
| 11 | North Kingstown Police Department | Municipal | — | $65,012 | −$16,456 | #1,255 |
| 12 | Portsmouth Police Department | Municipal | 39 | $64,358 | −$17,110 | #1,297 |
| 13 | Cranston Police Department | Municipal | 147 | $63,309 | −$18,159 | #1,364 |
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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