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Salt Lake City 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.
Salt Lake City Police Department starts at $76,315 a year — about $36.69 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $7,925 above the median of the 1,681 agencies on this list, and $5,051 above the median for municipal agencies.
How big the department isSalt Lake City Police Department reported 589 sworn officers and 177 civilian staff to the FBI for 2025. That is 2.6 officers per 1,000 residents, over a population of 222,304.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 Salt Lake City says about itself
Protecting Utah's Capital City by serving with strength and purpose.
What Salt Lake City does
SLCPD describes its policing model as community-oriented/problem-oriented policing and offers careers in patrol, investigations and specialized units. The department emphasizes community safety, professional development and career advancement.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 10 August 2026. Salt Lake City Police Department Sworn Careers page and FY2025/2026 Police Officer pay scale — open the source document
Their source is effective 4 January 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 Salt Lake City 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. Salt Lake City starts at $76,315, so $5,028 above the municipal middle.
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How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Salt Lake City Police Department officer make?
Salt Lake City Police Department starts a new officer on $76,315 a year, about $36.69 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 Salt Lake City Police Department Sworn Careers page and FY2025/2026 Police Officer pay scale.
Is that good pay for a police officer in Utah?
It ranks #1 of 31 agencies we have verified in Utah — the highest in the state in the state — and #503 of 1,681 nationally. Against the national median it is $7,925 above, and against other municipal agencies $5,051 above.
Compare with another department
Put Salt Lake City 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 UT
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Salt | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Santa Clara Police Department | Municipal | — | $75,982 | −$333 | #518 |
| 3 | Taylorsville Police Department | Municipal | — | $75,941 | −$374 | #523 |
| 4 | Utah Highway Patrol | State | 536 | $75,878 | −$437 | #525 |
| 5 | Sandy Police Department | Municipal | — | $73,112 | −$3,203 | #621 |
| 6 | West Valley City Police Department | Municipal | — | $73,045 | −$3,270 | #625 |
| 7 | Cottonwood Heights Police Department | Municipal | — | $69,763 | −$6,552 | #785 |
| 8 | Murray City Police Department | Municipal | 82 | $68,890 | −$7,426 | #821 |
| 9 | Unified Police Department of Greater Salt Lake | Municipal | — | $68,099 | −$8,216 | #858 |
| 10 | South Salt Lake Police Department | Municipal | — | $66,997 | −$9,318 | #916 |
| 11 | Orem Police Department | Municipal | 94 | $66,768 | −$9,547 | #931 |
| 12 | Moab Police Department | Municipal | — | $66,747 | −$9,568 | #936 |
| 13 | South Jordan Police Department | Municipal | — | $66,435 | −$9,880 | #952 |
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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