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Suffolk County 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.
Suffolk County Police Department starts at $54,122 a year — about $26.02 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $14,268 below the median of the 1,681 agencies on this list, and $11,252 below the median for county agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ run about 13% above the national average, so this is worth roughly $48,082 somewhere at average prices — $6,040 less than the headline figure. Most of that is rent, at 149 against a national average of 100, where goods are 110. Based on price levels for this metropolitan 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 isSuffolk County Police Department reported 309 sworn officers and 131 civilian staff to the FBI for 2025.No rate is shown: this agency does not police a single population the FBI publishes a figure for. 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 Suffolk County says about itself
The mission of the Suffolk County Police Department is to provide and maintain a safe environment in which people can live and work.
What Suffolk County does
Suffolk County Police Officers enforce law and provide police services through the County Police Department. The county civil-service specification establishes the academy-after-appointment route for new Police Officers
Where the figure comes from
Checked 10 August 2026. Suffolk County Department of Civil Service 2027 Police Officer open-competitive announcement and Police Officer specification — open the source document
The current open-competitive announcement lists COUNTY ANNUAL SALARY $54,122. The classification requires only high-school/equivalency education for the open-competitive route and states that, after appointment, candidates must successfully complete the recognized Police Officer Training Course. Existing police certification or prior police service is not required Suffolk County's Police Officer classification performs county police duties and requires successful completion of a New York State Municipal Police Training Council-recognized Police Officer Training Course after appointment
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 Suffolk County 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. Suffolk County starts at $54,122, so $11,252 below the county middle.
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How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Suffolk County Police Department officer make?
Suffolk County Police Department starts a new officer on $54,122 a year, about $26.02 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 Suffolk County Department of Civil Service 2027 Police Officer open-competitive announcement and Police Officer specification.
Is that good pay for a police officer in New York?
It ranks #19 of 23 agencies we have verified in New York — 4 pay less, 18 pay more in the state — and #1,459 of 1,681 nationally. Against the national median it is $14,268 below, and against other county agencies $11,252 below.
Compare with another department
Put Suffolk County 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 NY
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Suffolk | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New York State Department of Financial Services — Investigations | State | — | $86,681 | +$32,559 | #269 |
| 2 | New York State Police | State | 5,373 | $85,292 | +$31,170 | #288 |
| 3 | New York State Park Police | State | 269 | $73,796 | +$19,674 | #602 |
| 4 | Onondaga County Sheriff's Office | County | 217 | $71,764 | +$17,642 | #681 |
| 5 | Yonkers Police Department | Municipal | 625 | $70,229 | +$16,107 | #755 |
| 6 | Erie County Sheriff's Office | County | 175 | $69,274 | +$15,152 | #800 |
| 7 | Livingston County Sheriff's Office | County | 66 | $67,808 | +$13,686 | #871 |
| 8 | New York State Department of Environmental Conservation — Forest Rangers | State | — | $67,796 | +$13,674 | #872 |
| 9 | Yates County Sheriff's Office | County | 27 | $66,389 | +$12,267 | #956 |
| 10 | Albany Police Department | Municipal | 269 | $65,066 | +$10,944 | #1,017 |
| 11 | Rochester Police Department | Municipal | 622 | $63,812 | +$9,690 | #1,068 |
| 12 | Nassau County Sheriff's Department | County | 2,591 | $62,657 | +$8,535 | #1,123 |
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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