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Southport 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.
Southport Police Department starts at $48,360 a year — about $23.25 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $20,030 below the median of the 1,681 agencies on this list, and $22,904 below the median for municipal agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in North Carolina run about 6% below the national average, so this goes about as far as $51,269 would somewhere at average prices — $2,909 more than the headline figure. Most of that is rent, at 81 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 isSouthport Police Department reported 16 sworn officers and 2 civilian staff to the FBI for 2025. That is 3.6 officers per 1,000 residents, over a population of 4,431.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 Southport says about itself
The mission of the Southport Police Department is to safeguard the lives and property as well as protect the innocent from becoming victims of crime while always respecting the people's constitutional rights.
What Southport does
Southport Police Department provides general patrol, response to calls and community partnership to protect life and property.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 13 August 2026. $23.25/hour ($48,360 annualized). Current official City Police Officer recruitment publishes $23. — open the source document
Opening July 8, 2026. $23.25/hour ($48,360 annualized). Current official City Police Officer recruitment publishes $23.25-$35.80/hour for the full-time Police Officer classification; the reviewed posting does not impose a prior sworn-service requirement.
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 Southport 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. Southport starts at $48,360, so $22,927 below the municipal middle.
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How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Southport Police Department officer make?
Southport Police Department starts a new officer on $48,360 a year, about $23.25 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 $23.25/hour ($48,360 annualized). Current official City Police Officer recruitment publishes $23..
Is that good pay for a police officer in North Carolina?
It ranks #38 of 40 agencies we have verified in North Carolina — 2 pay less, 37 pay more in the state — and #1,592 of 1,681 nationally. Against the national median it is $20,030 below, and against other municipal agencies $22,904 below.
Compare with another department
Put Southport 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 NC
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Southport | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Knightdale Police Department | Municipal | 45 | $67,363 | +$19,003 | #902 |
| 2 | Cary Police Department | Municipal | 194 | $65,104 | +$16,744 | #1,012 |
| 3 | Wake Forest Police Department | Municipal | 96 | $65,093 | +$16,733 | #1,013 |
| 4 | Appalachian State University Police Department | Special jurisdiction | 36 | $64,084 | +$15,724 | #1,057 |
| 5 | North Carolina State Highway Patrol | State | — | $63,250 | +$14,890 | #1,100 |
| 6 | Johnston County Sheriff's Office | County | 124 | $62,213 | +$13,853 | #1,147 |
| 7 | Chapel Hill Police Department | Municipal | 82 | $61,451 | +$13,091 | #1,176 |
| 8 | Raleigh Police Department | Municipal | 713 | $61,417 | +$13,057 | #1,177 |
| 9 | Duke University Police Department | Special jurisdiction | 57 | $60,195 | +$11,835 | #1,227 |
| 10 | Greensboro Police Department | Municipal | 582 | $59,509 | +$11,149 | #1,268 |
| 11 | Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department | Municipal | 1,702 | $59,502 | +$11,142 | #1,269 |
| 12 | Rolesville Police Department | Municipal | 25 | $59,304 | +$10,944 | #1,274 |
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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