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Seattle 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.
Seattle Police Department starts at $117,792 a year — about $56.63 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $49,402 above the median of the 1,681 agencies on this list, and $46,528 above the median for municipal agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA run about 11% above the national average, so this is worth roughly $105,992 somewhere at average prices — $11,800 less than the headline figure. Most of that is rent, at 151 against a national average of 100, where goods are 104. 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 isSeattle Police Department reported 1,064 sworn officers and 454 civilian staff to the FBI for 2025. That is 1.3 officers per 1,000 residents, over a population of 791,503.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 Seattle says about itself
The mission of the Seattle Police Department is to prevent crime, enforce laws and support quality public safety. DESCRIPTION: The Seattle Police Department's mission is to prevent crime, enforce the law and support quality public safety by delivering respectful, professional and dependable police services.
What Seattle does
The Seattle Police Department states that its mission is to prevent crime, enforce the law, and support quality public safety by delivering respectful, professional, and dependable police services. The department says effective public safety requires constitutional, safe, and professional policing supported by accountability, bias-free policing, crisis intervention, community engagement, and strong partnerships with Seattle’s communities. SPD emphasizes respectful treatment, professional conduct, lawful policing, and maintaining community trust and confidence
Where the figure comes from
Checked 15 August 2026. City of Seattle - Seattle Police Officers' Guild collective bargaining agreement 2024-2027, Article 6.1 — open the source document
Their source is effective 31 December 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.
Entry pay, 2024–2025
Every point is the entry-class annual base printed in the agency’s own pay document. Base pay only — no shift differential, incentives or allowances.
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How this level compares
Where Seattle 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. Seattle starts at $117,792, so $46,505 above the municipal middle.
How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Seattle Police Department officer make?
Seattle Police Department starts a new officer on $117,792 a year, about $56.63 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 Seattle - Seattle Police Officers' Guild collective bargaining agreement 2024-2027, Article 6.1.
Is that good pay for a police officer in Washington?
It ranks #1 of 76 agencies we have verified in Washington — the highest in the state in the state — and #35 of 1,681 nationally. Against the national median it is $49,402 above, and against other municipal agencies $46,528 above.
Compare with another department
Put Seattle 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 WA
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Seattle | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Redmond Police Department | Municipal | 81 | $110,435 | −$7,357 | #52 |
| 3 | Auburn Police Department | Municipal | 120 | $108,386 | −$9,406 | #57 |
| 4 | Everett Police Department | Municipal | 207 | $102,516 | −$15,276 | #81 |
| 5 | Vancouver Police Department | Municipal | 226 | $101,832 | −$15,960 | #85 |
| 6 | Kirkland Police Department | Municipal | 108 | $101,218 | −$16,574 | #92 |
| 7 | Tukwila Police Department | Municipal | 76 | $101,064 | −$16,728 | #94 |
| 8 | Mount Vernon Police Department | Municipal | 43 | $100,836 | −$16,956 | #97 |
| 9 | Edmonds Police Department | Municipal | 48 | $99,168 | −$18,624 | #108 |
| 10 | Tacoma Police Department | Municipal | 343 | $98,571 | −$19,221 | #111 |
| 11 | Issaquah Police Department | Municipal | 36 | $98,150 | −$19,642 | #114 |
| 12 | Renton Police Department | Municipal | 132 | $97,692 | −$20,100 | #117 |
| 13 | Clyde Hill Police Department | Municipal | 9 | $97,656 | −$20,136 | #118 |
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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