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St. Cloud 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.
St. Cloud Police Department starts at $78,540 a year — about $37.76 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $11,855 above the median of the 2,288 agencies on this list, and $10,400 above the median for municipal agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in Minnesota run about 1% below the national average, so this goes about as far as $79,638 would somewhere at average prices — $1,098 more than the headline figure. That average hides a wide spread: utilities at 91, where goods are 101. 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 isSt. Cloud Police Department reported 115 sworn officers and 28 civilian staff to the FBI for 2025. That is 1.6 officers per 1,000 residents, over a population of 72,794.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.
About St. Cloud
The St. Cloud Police Department serves the city of St. Cloud, Minnesota, on the Mississippi north-west of Minneapolis. Its patrol officers are represented by LELS Local 33 under a labor agreement the City publishes in full, which places every officer on Grade 108PD and enters all of them at Step 1 with no separate academy or probationary rate. The agreement sets the basic work week for sworn peace officers at an average of forty hours, worked as either eight or ten consecutive hours a day.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 21 September 2026. City of St. Cloud Minnesota Labor Agreement, LELS Local 33 Patrol Officers, 2025-2027 — Grade 108PD, Step 1, effective 01/01/2026: annual $78,540 (monthly $6,545; hourly $37.7595). — open the source document
$78,540 is the contract's own annual figure for Step 1 of Grade 108PD and no arithmetic has been applied to it. THE CURRENT POINT IS THE 2026 ONE, NOT THE FIRST IN THE TABLE: the agreement runs 2025 to 2027 and dates three schedules, and on 21 September 2026 the rate in force is the one effective 01/01/2026. ST. CLOUD PRICES NO CADET CLASS: the agreement carries no academy, recruit or probationary rate and every officer enters at Step 1, so there is no lower training rate to reject and no academy-gated step to choose. Excluded from the figure: the monthly and hourly renderings of the same rate, which are the same money stated three ways, and every differential and incentive the agreement prices separately. THE FIGURE IS DATED BY THE CONTRACT ITSELF.
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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Entry pay through 2027
Every point is the entry-class annual base printed in the agency’s own pay document. Base pay only — no shift differential, incentives or allowances.
How this level compares
Where St. Cloud 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. St. Cloud starts at $78,540, so $10,400 above the municipal middle.
How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a St. Cloud Police Department officer make?
St. Cloud Police Department starts a new officer on $78,540 a year, about $37.76 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 St. Cloud Minnesota Labor Agreement, LELS Local 33 Patrol Officers, 2025-2027 — Grade 108PD, Step 1, effective 01/01/2026: annual $78,540 (monthly $6,545; hourly $37.7595)..
Is that good pay for a police officer in Minnesota?
It ranks #64 of 102 agencies we have verified in Minnesota — 38 pay less, 63 pay more in the state — and #538 of 2,288 nationally. Against the national median it is $11,855 above, and against other municipal agencies $10,400 above.
Compare with another department
Put St. Cloud 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 MN
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs St. | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Blaine Police Department | Municipal | 80 | $101,733 | +$23,193 | #111 |
| 2 | Stillwater Police Department | Municipal | 26 | $94,328 | +$15,788 | #193 |
| 3 | Columbia Heights Police Department | Municipal | 29 | $93,725 | +$15,185 | #198 |
| 4 | Carver County Sheriff's Office | County | 77 | $93,683 | +$15,143 | #200 |
| 5 | Oakdale Police Department | Municipal | 39 | $93,538 | +$14,998 | #203 |
| 6 | Richfield Police Department | Municipal | 45 | $93,226 | +$14,686 | #205 |
| 7 | Maplewood Police Department | Municipal | 56 | $93,038 | +$14,498 | #209 |
| 8 | Forest Lake Police Department | Municipal | 20 | $92,789 | +$14,249 | #212 |
| 9 | Apple Valley Police Department | Municipal | 59 | $92,768 | +$14,228 | #213 |
| 10 | Coon Rapids Police Department | Municipal | 73 | $92,123 | +$13,583 | #226 |
| 11 | Saint Paul Police Department | Municipal | 562 | $91,291 | +$12,751 | #237 |
| 12 | Woodbury Police Department | Municipal | 80 | $91,187 | +$12,647 | #239 |
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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