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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 $66,305 a year — about $31.88 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $380 below the median of the 2,288 agencies on this list, and $1,835 below the median for municipal agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in Tennessee run about 8% below the national average, so this goes about as far as $72,172 would somewhere at average prices — $5,868 more than the headline figure. Most of that is utilities, at 72 against a national average of 100, where goods are 96. 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 106 sworn officers and 24 civilian staff to the FBI for 2025. That is 1.7 officers per 1,000 residents, over a population of 62,133.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
As guardians of our Town, we will provide exceptional services in partnership with our community.
What Smyrna does
The Smyrna Police Department serves the town of Smyrna, Tennessee, in Rutherford County south-east of Nashville, from 400 Enon Springs Road East. It is organised into Administration, Investigations, Patrol, Communications and Records. Patrol officers work ten-hour shifts, four days on and three days off, with days off allocated by seniority, across three shifts - 6am to 4pm, 2pm to midnight with a $0.64 an hour differential, and 9pm to 7am with $0.57. Officers at nought to four years' service receive 23 days of paid time off and twelve paid holidays, all required equipment is provided by the Department, and educational reimbursement opens after six months.
Smyrna’s rotation, in BlueShifts
The Town states the cycle and the tours on its own recruitment page: "10 Hour Shifts, 4 days on / 3 days off (Days off based on seniority)", with 1st Patrol Shift 6am-4pm, 2nd Patrol Shift 2pm-12am at an extra $0.64 an hour, and 3rd Patrol Shift 9pm-7am at an extra $0.57. The same page prices a Non-POST Certified Officer Trainee at $66,304.53 as of July 2026, which is also the bottom of the Officer Grade Pay Range.
The rotation template screen — enter the cycle and the start date, and you are done.
DayNight24 hrsOff
Every month, already filled in — no typing, however far ahead you look.
September 2026
This cycle has its own page: how it works, and how to build it.
Four tens and three off is a seven-day cycle, so it lands on the same weekdays every week - but at Smyrna the days off are allocated by seniority, which means yours are not your neighbor's. BlueShifts builds your own cycle once and fills every month ahead, so the people who need to know when you are on can just look.
BlueShifts. Plan Your Year. Own Your Time.
The shift calendar built for your rotation, off-duty work, and life on and off the clock.
Save your shift schedule once and BlueShifts fills the rest of the year in.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 20 September 2026. Town of Smyrna Police Department, Recruitment — Starting Salary as of July 2026: "Non-POST Certified Officer Trainee: $66,304.53" — open the source document
$66,304.53 is the Town's own annual figure and no arithmetic has been applied to it. THE TRAINEE LABEL DOES NOT MAKE IT A TRAINEE RATE, AND THE PAGE PROVES IT: the Town lists 'Non-POST Certified Officer Trainee: $66,304.53' and, three lines down, 'Officer Grade Pay Range: $66,304.53 - $100,385.06' - the SAME number at the bottom of the sworn officer grade. So there is no step up on POST certification and no separate academy wage; the non-certified hire and the officer grade start at one figure, the same shape found at Memphis, where the recruit and probationary officer classes are priced identically and the entry-pay choice does not arise. Prior sworn service is handled separately and is not a different base: 'Lateral Hire/POST Certification: Compensation consideration given for Police Certification (1-7 years)' - credit for one to seven years, which moves a lateral UP the grade. $100,385.06 is the top of the grade and is a ceiling. THE FIGURE IS DATED BY THE TOWN: 'as of July 2026'. Excluded: the shift differentials of $0.64 an hour on second shift and $0.57 on third, twelve paid holidays, 23 days of paid time off at nought to four years, and educational reimbursement, which begins after six months. SHIFT PATTERN PUBLISHED IN FULL and recorded in rotations.json: ten-hour shifts, four days on and three days off, days off by seniority. NAME TRAP, AND IT IS A THREE-WAY ONE: Smyrna, Tennessee in Rutherford County is NOT Smyrna, Georgia (on the roster at $52,454) and NOT Smyrna, Delaware (on the roster at $61,049.73). All three have their own departments.
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.
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 $66,305, so $1,835 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 $66,305 a year, about $31.88 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 Smyrna Police Department, Recruitment — Starting Salary as of July 2026: "Non-POST Certified Officer Trainee: $66,304.53".
Is that good pay for a police officer in Tennessee?
It ranks #6 of 26 agencies we have verified in Tennessee — 20 pay less, 5 pay more in the state — and #1,171 of 2,288 nationally. Against the national median it is $380 below, and against other municipal agencies $1,835 below.
What shifts do Smyrna Police Department officers work?
The Town states the cycle and the tours on its own recruitment page: "10 Hour Shifts, 4 days on / 3 days off (Days off based on seniority)", with 1st Patrol Shift 6am-4pm, 2nd Patrol Shift 2pm-12am at an extra $0.64 an hour, and 3rd Patrol Shift 9pm-7am at an extra $0.57. The same page prices a Non-POST Certified Officer Trainee at $66,304.53 as of July 2026, which is also the bottom of the Officer Grade Pay Range. That is the agency's own published wording; the pattern is drawn on this page.
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 TN
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Smyrna | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brentwood Police Department | Municipal | 67 | $75,804 | +$9,499 | #640 |
| 2 | Metropolitan Nashville Police Department | Municipal | 1,546 | $70,904 | +$4,599 | #888 |
| 3 | Murfreesboro Police Department | Municipal | 313 | $67,922 | +$1,617 | #1,063 |
| 4 | Tennessee Bureau of Investigation | State | 484 | $67,764 | +$1,459 | #1,070 |
| 5 | Germantown Police Department | Municipal | 113 | $66,773 | +$469 | #1,135 |
| 7 | Tennessee Highway Patrol | State | — | $65,804 | −$501 | #1,201 |
| 8 | Hendersonville Police Department | Municipal | 134 | $65,654 | −$651 | #1,211 |
| 9 | Franklin Police Department | Municipal | 138 | $65,000 | −$1,305 | #1,256 |
| 10 | Chattanooga Police Department | Municipal | 397 | $60,460 | −$5,845 | #1,538 |
| 11 | Pigeon Forge Police Department | Municipal | 71 | $60,014 | −$6,291 | #1,565 |
| 12 | Collierville Police Department | Municipal | 115 | $60,000 | −$6,305 | #1,584 |
| 13 | Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency — Law Enforcement Division | State | — | $59,700 | −$6,605 | #1,595 |
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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