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Raleigh 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.
Raleigh Police Department starts at $61,417 a year — about $29.53 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $5,268 below the median of the 2,288 agencies on this list, and $6,723 below the median for municipal agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in Raleigh-Cary, NC run about 2% below the national average, so this goes about as far as $62,570 would somewhere at average prices — $1,153 more than the headline figure. That average hides a wide spread: utilities at 89, 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 isRaleigh Police Department reported 713 sworn officers and 125 civilian staff to the FBI for 2025. That is 1.4 officers per 1,000 residents, over a population of 508,719.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 Raleigh says about itself
In the spirit of service, the Raleigh Police Department exists to preserve and improve the quality of life, instill peace, and protect property through unwavering attention to our duties in partnership with the community.
What Raleigh does
Raleigh Police Department is the municipal law enforcement agency for North Carolina's capital, covering roughly 150 square miles through six geographic districts — Northwest, North, Northeast, Southeast, Downtown and Southwest — each with its own station and district commander at captain rank. It is organised into five divisions: Field Operations, which oversees the six patrol districts; a Detective Division holding vice, homicide, intelligence and gang suppression units; Special Operations, covering selective enforcement, traffic, K-9 and mounted units; Administrative Services, which supports headquarters and the districts through records, information services, recruitment, property and a court liaison to the Wake County District Attorney's Office; and Internal Affairs. District station lobbies keep office hours, while patrol and 911 dispatch run around the clock. The department is CALEA accredited.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 8 August 2026. City of Raleigh Police Department official — open the source document
Updated 27 July 2026; Police Recruit starting salary is $61,417 while in the academy and the official Police Officer minimum is also $61,417; therefore immediate post-academy base remains $61,417
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 Raleigh 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. Raleigh starts at $61,417, so $6,723 below the municipal middle.
How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Raleigh Police Department officer make?
Raleigh Police Department starts a new officer on $61,417 a year, about $29.53 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 Raleigh Police Department official.
Is that good pay for a police officer in North Carolina?
It ranks #11 of 53 agencies we have verified in North Carolina — 42 pay less, 10 pay more in the state — and #1,478 of 2,288 nationally. Against the national median it is $5,268 below, and against other municipal agencies $6,723 below.
Compare with another department
Put Raleigh 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 NC
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Raleigh | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Knightdale Police Department | Municipal | 45 | $67,363 | +$5,946 | #1,104 |
| 2 | Cary Police Department | Municipal | 194 | $65,104 | +$3,687 | #1,247 |
| 3 | Wake Forest Police Department | Municipal | 96 | $65,093 | +$3,676 | #1,248 |
| 4 | Appalachian State University Police Department | Special jurisdiction | 36 | $64,084 | +$2,667 | #1,312 |
| 5 | North Carolina State Highway Patrol | State | — | $63,250 | +$1,833 | #1,368 |
| 6 | Huntersville Police Department | Municipal | 92 | $62,647 | +$1,230 | #1,400 |
| 7 | Apex Police Department | Municipal | 104 | $62,524 | +$1,107 | #1,408 |
| 8 | Fuquay-Varina Police Department | Municipal | 70 | $62,291 | +$874 | #1,430 |
| 9 | Johnston County Sheriff's Office | County | 124 | $62,213 | +$796 | #1,436 |
| 10 | Chapel Hill Police Department | Municipal | 82 | $61,451 | +$34 | #1,477 |
| 12 | Duke University Police Department | Special jurisdiction | 57 | $60,195 | −$1,222 | #1,551 |
| 13 | Greensboro Police Department | Municipal | 582 | $59,509 | −$1,908 | #1,605 |
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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