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Shelton 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.
Shelton Police Department starts at $74,962 a year — about $36.04 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $8,277 above the median of the 2,288 agencies on this list, and $6,822 above the median for municipal agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in Connecticut run about 4% above the national average, so this is worth roughly $72,350 somewhere at average prices — $2,612 less than the headline figure. Most of that is utilities, at 146 against a national average of 100, 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 isShelton Police Department reported 43 sworn officers and 16 civilian staff to the FBI for 2025. That is 1.0 officers per 1,000 residents, over a population of 43,332.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 Shelton says about itself
The Shelton Police Department is entrusted with the responsibility of enforcing all State and local laws within Shelton.
What Shelton does
The Shelton Police Department is the municipal force for the City of Shelton in Fairfield County, Connecticut. The City says it has 55 sworn officers and 19 civilian staff serving more than 70,000 people who live or work there.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 26 September 2026. City of Shelton, "POLICE OFFICER - ENTRY LEVEL" posting (07082025): "entry level Patrolman salary is $71,389 until certification and $74,962 after certification." — open the source document
The City prints two entry figures: $71,389 paid until POST certification, and $74,962 after it. The rate paid before certification is an academy-period rate, so the figure is $74,962, used as printed. The posting is dated 8 July 2025 with applications closing 15 August 2025, so it is the fiscal 2025-26 rate; a rate from 1 July 2026 is not published on the City's site. Excluded: the night differential, private-duty pay and holiday pay.
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 Shelton 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. Shelton starts at $74,962, so $6,822 above the municipal middle.
How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Shelton Police Department officer make?
Shelton Police Department starts a new officer on $74,962 a year, about $36.04 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 Shelton, "POLICE OFFICER - ENTRY LEVEL" posting (07082025): "entry level Patrolman salary is $71,389 until certification and $74,962 after certification.".
Is that good pay for a police officer in Connecticut?
It ranks #9 of 21 agencies we have verified in Connecticut — 12 pay less, 8 pay more in the state — and #680 of 2,288 nationally. Against the national median it is $8,277 above, and against other municipal agencies $6,822 above.
Compare with another department
Put Shelton 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 CT
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Shelton | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | South Windsor Police Department | Municipal | 41 | $87,483 | +$12,521 | #312 |
| 2 | Norwalk Police Department | Municipal | 184 | $82,116 | +$7,154 | #425 |
| 3 | Milford Police Department | Municipal | 105 | $81,237 | +$6,275 | #451 |
| 4 | Hamden Police Department | Municipal | 93 | $80,104 | +$5,142 | #492 |
| 5 | Greenwich Police Department | Municipal | 142 | $78,704 | +$3,742 | #528 |
| 6 | Connecticut State Police | State | 955 | $76,625 | +$1,663 | #600 |
| 7 | Suffield Police Department | Municipal | 21 | $75,420 | +$458 | #653 |
| 8 | Fairfield Police Department | Municipal | 115 | $75,241 | +$279 | #664 |
| 10 | Stamford Police Department | Municipal | 278 | $72,881 | −$2,081 | #766 |
| 11 | Manchester Police Department | Municipal | 117 | $72,633 | −$2,329 | #783 |
| 12 | Norwich Police Department | Municipal | 76 | $71,944 | −$3,018 | #817 |
| 13 | Wallingford Police Department | Municipal | 73 | $71,448 | −$3,514 | #846 |
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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