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Scarborough 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.
Scarborough Police Department starts at $76,877 a year — about $36.96 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $10,192 above the median of the 2,288 agencies on this list, and $8,737 above the median for municipal agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in Maine run about 3% below the national average, so this goes about as far as $79,214 would somewhere at average prices — $2,337 more than the headline figure. That average hides a wide spread: utilities at 135, 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 isScarborough Police Department reported 43 sworn officers and 20 civilian staff to the FBI for 2025. That is 1.8 officers per 1,000 residents, over a population of 24,473.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 Scarborough says about itself
We, the members of the Scarborough Police Department, in partnership with our community, pledge to enhance the quality of life in the Town of Scarborough by ensuring; the protection of life and property, the preservation of peace, the protection of individual rights, and the reduction of crime.
What Scarborough does
The Scarborough Police Department serves the town of Scarborough, Maine, on Saco Bay south of Portland, from the Public Safety Building at 275 US Route 1. It is organised into Administration, Patrol, Detectives, Communications, Community Safety, Social Services and Special Services, and states its core values as respect, integrity, accountability, honesty, fairness and empathy. The FBI's law enforcement employment tables put it at 43 sworn officers serving about 24,500 people. The Town prices first-year officers separately from lateral applicants, and advertises overtime opportunities alongside the base rate.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 20 September 2026. Town of Scarborough, Employment Opportunities: "The Town of Scarborough offers a competitive starting hourly rate for first year officers at $36.96 and up to $49.80 per hour for lateral applicants plus ample overtime opportunities." — open the source document
$36.96 an hour on a 2,080-hour year is $76,876.80. The Town publishes an hourly rate and no annual one, so the multiplication is the only arithmetic applied. THE NON-LATERAL TEST IS SETTLED IN THE SAME SENTENCE: the Town prices first-year officers at $36.96 and lateral applicants separately at up to $49.80, so the $36.96 rate is by construction the no-prior-service figure. Trainee class: NOT PRICED - the Town names no separate cadet, recruit or academy wage; the figure is stated as the rate for first year officers. $49.80 is the lateral ceiling and is neither an entry figure nor a step on this scale. Excluded from the figure: the overtime the Town advertises alongside it. THE FIGURE CARRIES NO EFFECTIVE DATE. NEXT DOCUMENT: the Town of Scarborough wage schedule or the police union agreement, either of which would date this rate.
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 Scarborough 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. Scarborough starts at $76,877, so $8,737 above the municipal middle.
How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Scarborough Police Department officer make?
Scarborough Police Department starts a new officer on $76,877 a year, about $36.96 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 Scarborough, Employment Opportunities: "The Town of Scarborough offers a competitive starting hourly rate for first year officers at $36.96 and up to $49.80 per hour for lateral applicants plus ample overtime opportunities.".
Is that good pay for a police officer in Maine?
It ranks #2 of 21 agencies we have verified in Maine — 19 pay less, 1 pay more in the state — and #590 of 2,288 nationally. Against the national median it is $10,192 above, and against other municipal agencies $8,737 above.
Compare with another department
Put Scarborough 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 ME
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Scarborough | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rockland Police Department | Municipal | 19 | $77,896 | +$1,019 | #560 |
| 3 | Biddeford Police Department | Municipal | 45 | $76,482 | −$395 | #603 |
| 4 | Westbrook Police Department | Municipal | 47 | $73,736 | −$3,141 | #728 |
| 5 | Falmouth Police Department | Municipal | 19 | $71,344 | −$5,533 | #853 |
| 6 | Bath Police Department | Municipal | 18 | $71,011 | −$5,866 | #875 |
| 7 | York County Sheriff's Office | County | 23 | $70,628 | −$6,248 | #901 |
| 8 | Freeport Police Department | Municipal | 17 | $69,306 | −$7,571 | #972 |
| 9 | Windham Police Department | Municipal | 28 | $69,251 | −$7,626 | #976 |
| 10 | Cumberland County Sheriff's Office | County | 62 | $69,250 | −$7,627 | #977 |
| 11 | Bangor Police Department | Municipal | 82 | $69,181 | −$7,696 | #978 |
| 12 | Auburn Police Department | Municipal | 51 | $69,000 | −$7,877 | #992 |
| 13 | Augusta Police Department | Municipal | 44 | $67,371 | −$9,506 | #1,102 |
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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