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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 $52,454 a year — about $25.22 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $14,231 below the median of the 2,288 agencies on this list, and $15,686 below the median for municipal agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in Georgia run about 4% below the national average, so this goes about as far as $54,473 would somewhere at average prices — $2,019 more than the headline figure. Most of that is rent, at 89 against a national average of 100, where goods are 99. 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 isSmyrna Police Department reported 77 sworn officers and 52 civilian staff to the FBI for 2025. That is 1.3 officers per 1,000 residents, over a population of 57,432.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, the members of the Smyrna Police Department, are committed to providing the highest quality of police services to the community while at the same time maintaining respect for individual rights and human dignity.
What Smyrna does
The Smyrna Police Department serves the City of Smyrna in Cobb County, Georgia.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 20 September 2026. City of Smyrna job posting, Police Officer (Uncertified & Certified), uncertified starting pay — open the source document
Posted 5 March 2026. Certified officers start on a range of $56,586 to $72,147 depending on law enforcement experience, so the uncertified rate is the figure for a new officer. STRENGTHENED 20 September 2026 with the sentence that actually settles it, which the row did not previously carry: 'Uncertified Officers move to Certified Officer rank and pay upon the successful completion of the Georgia Peace Officer Standards & Training (POST) Council Basic Law Enforcement certification AND acceptable performance during the 12-month probationary (working test) period.' Both conditions, not either. That is what makes $52,454 the entry figure rather than an academy wage: the move to $56,586 is gated on TWELVE MONTHS as well as certification, so the uncertified rate covers the academy AND the rest of the first year, and $56,586 is a twelve-month step. Contrast North Myrtle Beach and Berkeley County, where the higher rate lands on academy graduation alone and is therefore the one to take. NAME TRAP: Smyrna, Georgia is in Cobb County; Smyrna, Delaware is a separate department also on the roster, at $61,049.73.
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 $52,454, so $15,686 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 $52,454 a year, about $25.22 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 Smyrna job posting, Police Officer (Uncertified & Certified), uncertified starting pay.
Is that good pay for a police officer in Georgia?
It ranks #58 of 80 agencies we have verified in Georgia — 22 pay less, 57 pay more in the state — and #1,972 of 2,288 nationally. Against the national median it is $14,231 below, and against other municipal agencies $15,686 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 GA
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Smyrna | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chamblee Police Department | Municipal | 68 | $73,733 | +$21,279 | #729 |
| 2 | Sandy Springs Police Department | Municipal | 149 | $71,686 | +$19,232 | #836 |
| 3 | Georgia Bureau of Investigation | State | 338 | $64,977 | +$12,523 | #1,265 |
| 4 | Duluth Police Department | Municipal | 57 | $64,755 | +$12,301 | #1,279 |
| 5 | Garden City Police Department | Municipal | 35 | $64,072 | +$11,618 | #1,314 |
| 6 | Georgia State Patrol | State | — | $63,684 | +$11,230 | #1,336 |
| 7 | South Fulton Police Department | Municipal | 213 | $63,440 | +$10,986 | #1,354 |
| 8 | Hall County Sheriff's Office | County | 283 | $63,365 | +$10,911 | #1,359 |
| 9 | Roswell Police Department | Municipal | 154 | $62,462 | +$10,008 | #1,413 |
| 10 | Dunwoody Police Department | Municipal | 66 | $62,301 | +$9,847 | #1,428 |
| 11 | Savannah Police Department | Municipal | 425 | $61,989 | +$9,535 | #1,450 |
| 12 | Alpharetta Police Department | Municipal | 105 | $61,100 | +$8,646 | #1,495 |
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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