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Rhode Island State 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.
Rhode Island State Police starts at $81,579 a year — about $39.22 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $13,189 above the median of the 1,681 agencies on this list, and $16,581 above the median for state agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in Rhode Island run about 2% above the national average, so this is worth roughly $79,760 somewhere at average prices — $1,819 less than the headline figure. That average hides a wide spread: utilities at 147, where goods are 97. 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 isRhode Island State Police reported 267 sworn officers to the FBI for 2025.No rate is shown: this agency does not police a single population the FBI publishes a figure for. 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 Rhode Island State says about itself
The Rhode Island State Police is a full-service, statewide law enforcement agency whose mission is to fulfill the law enforcement needs of the people.
What Rhode Island State does
The Rhode Island State Police is a full-service, statewide law-enforcement agency. It states its mission as meeting the law-enforcement needs of the people with fairness, professionalism and integrity, with its employees carrying out patrol, investigative and support functions and working alongside local and federal authorities.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 8 August 2026. Rhode Island State Police — Salary and Benefits — open the source document
$81,579. October 19, 2025
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 Rhode Island State 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. Rhode Island State starts at $81,579, so $16,581 above the state middle.
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How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Rhode Island State Police officer make?
Rhode Island State Police starts a new officer on $81,579 a year, about $39.22 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 Rhode Island State Police — Salary and Benefits.
Is that good pay for a police officer in Rhode Island?
It ranks #2 of 11 agencies we have verified in Rhode Island — 9 pay less, 1 pay more in the state — and #358 of 1,681 nationally. Against the national median it is $13,189 above, and against other state agencies $16,581 above.
Compare with another department
Put Rhode Island State 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 RI
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Rhode | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management — Division of Law Enforcement / Environmental Police | State | 32 | $90,850 | +$9,271 | #197 |
| 3 | Providence Police Department | Municipal | 435 | $81,468 | −$111 | #361 |
| 4 | North Providence Police Department | Municipal | — | $71,787 | −$9,792 | #680 |
| 5 | East Providence Police Department | Municipal | 86 | $69,155 | −$12,424 | #807 |
| 6 | Lincoln Police Department | Municipal | 40 | $69,000 | −$12,579 | #814 |
| 7 | Warwick Police Department | Municipal | 169 | $65,739 | −$15,840 | #980 |
| 8 | Cranston Police Department | Municipal | 147 | $63,309 | −$18,270 | #1,095 |
| 9 | Johnston Police Department | Municipal | 63 | $62,778 | −$18,801 | #1,116 |
| 10 | South Kingstown Police Department | Municipal | 54 | $62,094 | −$19,485 | #1,152 |
| 11 | Rhode Island Capitol Police | State | — | $61,460 | −$20,119 | #1,175 |
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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