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Tacoma 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.
Tacoma Police Department starts at $98,571 a year — about $47.39 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $30,181 above the median of the 1,681 agencies on this list, and $27,307 above the median for municipal agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA run about 11% above the national average, so this is worth roughly $88,697 somewhere at average prices — $9,875 less than the headline figure. Most of that is rent, at 151 against a national average of 100, where goods are 104. 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 isTacoma Police Department reported 343 sworn officers and 49 civilian staff to the FBI for 2025. That is 1.5 officers per 1,000 residents, over a population of 230,369.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 Tacoma says about itself
To create a safe and secure environment in which to live, work, and visit by working together with the community, enforcing the law in a fair and impartial manner, preserving the peace and order in our neighborhoods, and safeguarding our Constitutional guarantees.
What Tacoma does
Tacoma Police Department says it is on a mission to “reflect and protect” the community and is actively hiring new and experienced officers who reflect Tacoma's diversity. The City says it seeks officers committed to first-rate community protection and offers opportunities for officers to grow, advance, and build meaningful careers in public service
Where the figure comes from
Checked 14 August 2026. City of Tacoma official Join Tacoma PD page; entry-level rate from City posting 4201-26 — open the source document
City of Tacoma Police Officer Recruit (Entry Level), job number 4201-26, opened 2 January 2026: $47.39 an hour, annualised at 2,080 hours = $98,571.20. Incentives are excluded. The City states entry-level recruitment reopens in late spring 2026.
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 Tacoma 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. Tacoma starts at $98,571, so $27,284 above the municipal middle.
How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Tacoma Police Department officer make?
Tacoma Police Department starts a new officer on $98,571 a year, about $47.39 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 Tacoma official Join Tacoma PD page; entry-level rate from City posting 4201-26.
Is that good pay for a police officer in Washington?
It ranks #10 of 76 agencies we have verified in Washington — 66 pay less, 9 pay more in the state — and #111 of 1,681 nationally. Against the national median it is $30,181 above, and against other municipal agencies $27,307 above.
Compare with another department
Put Tacoma 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 WA
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Tacoma | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Seattle Police Department | Municipal | 1,064 | $117,792 | +$19,221 | #35 |
| 2 | Redmond Police Department | Municipal | 81 | $110,435 | +$11,864 | #52 |
| 3 | Auburn Police Department | Municipal | 120 | $108,386 | +$9,815 | #57 |
| 4 | Everett Police Department | Municipal | 207 | $102,516 | +$3,945 | #81 |
| 5 | Vancouver Police Department | Municipal | 226 | $101,832 | +$3,261 | #85 |
| 6 | Kirkland Police Department | Municipal | 108 | $101,218 | +$2,646 | #92 |
| 7 | Tukwila Police Department | Municipal | 76 | $101,064 | +$2,493 | #94 |
| 8 | Mount Vernon Police Department | Municipal | 43 | $100,836 | +$2,265 | #97 |
| 9 | Edmonds Police Department | Municipal | 48 | $99,168 | +$597 | #108 |
| 11 | Issaquah Police Department | Municipal | 36 | $98,150 | −$421 | #114 |
| 12 | Renton Police Department | Municipal | 132 | $97,692 | −$879 | #117 |
| 13 | Clyde Hill Police Department | Municipal | 9 | $97,656 | −$915 | #118 |
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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