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Smyrna 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.
Smyrna Police Department starts at $61,050 a year — about $29.35 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $5,635 below the median of the 2,288 agencies on this list, and $7,090 below the median for municipal agencies.
How big the department isSmyrna Police Department reported 31 sworn officers and 11 civilian staff to the FBI for 2025. That is 2.3 officers per 1,000 residents, over a population of 13,417.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 Smyrna says about itself
We are a full-service law enforcement agency committed to a high quality of life for our citizens, businesses and visitors.
What Smyrna does
The Smyrna Police Department polices the town of Smyrna, which straddles the Kent and New Castle county line in central Delaware, from 325 West Glenwood Avenue. It describes itself as a full-service law enforcement agency. Patrol officers work twelve-hour shifts and are allowed an hour of workout time per shift under the department's restorative rest policy. Officers are enrolled in the State of Delaware County and Municipal Pension Plan, are given uniforms and a $250 yearly equipment allowance, and receive twenty days of paid time off rising with tenure and twelve paid holidays.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 20 September 2026. Join Delaware — Smyrna Police Department, the State of Delaware's official police recruitment site: "Recruit: $58,826.63 ($61,049.73 after required training)" — open the source document
$61,049.73 is the published figure and no arithmetic has been applied to it. The site prices the rank twice in one line - $58,826.63 as a recruit and $61,049.73 after required training - and the post-training rate is the one taken, the same reading already applied to South Burlington, Rutland City and Brandon. Trainee class: YES, the recruit rate is separately named and is NOT used. Prior sworn service is not required: certified officers are priced separately and higher, at $61,049.73 to $72,030.86 based on experience, and the bottom of that certified band is the same number a recruit reaches on finishing training - which is what proves $61,049.73 is the non-lateral entry step rather than a lateral rate. $72,030.86 is the top of the certified band and is a ceiling, not a step. Excluded from the figure: shift differential pay, the $250 yearly equipment allowance, tuition reimbursement and the deferred compensation plan. THE FIGURE CARRIES NO EFFECTIVE DATE, which is the weakness here - contrast New Castle City on the same site, where the entry self-dates to 1 July 2026. NEXT DOCUMENT: a Town of Smyrna pay plan or police agreement carrying the dated schedule; the department's own site, smyrnapolice.com, publishes no pay figure.
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 Smyrna 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. Smyrna starts at $61,050, so $7,090 below the municipal middle.
How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Smyrna Police Department officer make?
Smyrna Police Department starts a new officer on $61,050 a year, about $29.35 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 Join Delaware — Smyrna Police Department, the State of Delaware's official police recruitment site: "Recruit: $58,826.63 ($61,049.73 after required training)".
Is that good pay for a police officer in Delaware?
It ranks #15 of 18 agencies we have verified in Delaware — 3 pay less, 14 pay more in the state — and #1,497 of 2,288 nationally. Against the national median it is $5,635 below, and against other municipal agencies $7,090 below.
Compare with another department
Put Smyrna 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 DE
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Smyrna | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Delaware State Police | State | 783 | $91,265 | +$30,215 | #238 |
| 2 | New Castle City Police Department | Municipal | — | $75,338 | +$14,289 | #660 |
| 3 | University of Delaware Police Department | Special jurisdiction | 48 | $74,679 | +$13,629 | #690 |
| 4 | Middletown Police Department | Municipal | 38 | $74,550 | +$13,500 | #696 |
| 5 | New Castle County Police | County | 414 | $74,453 | +$13,403 | #702 |
| 6 | Georgetown Police Department | Municipal | 21 | $74,000 | +$12,950 | #719 |
| 7 | Millsboro Police Department | Municipal | 17 | $73,560 | +$12,511 | #733 |
| 8 | Dover Police Department | Municipal | 101 | $72,000 | +$10,950 | #814 |
| 9 | Ocean View Police Department | Municipal | 14 | $72,000 | +$10,950 | #816 |
| 10 | Newark Police Department | Municipal | 72 | $70,000 | +$8,950 | #936 |
| 11 | Selbyville Police Department | Municipal | 10 | $68,788 | +$7,738 | #1,005 |
| 12 | Seaford Police Department | Municipal | 31 | $68,474 | +$7,424 | #1,021 |
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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