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Thornton 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.
Thornton Police Department starts at $82,992 a year — about $39.90 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $14,602 above the median of the 1,681 agencies on this list, and $11,728 above the median for municipal agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in Colorado run about 3% above the national average, so this is worth roughly $80,534 somewhere at average prices — $2,458 less than the headline figure. Most of that is rent, at 127 against a national average of 100, where goods are 99. 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 isThornton Police Department reported 243 sworn officers and 62 civilian staff to the FBI for 2025. That is 1.6 officers per 1,000 residents, over a population of 147,837.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 Thornton says about itself
The Thornton Police Department is an innovative department whose defined core values guide us towards our vision of being recognized as the standard of excellence in law enforcement.
What Thornton does
Thornton Police Department states that its mission is to serve and protect the community. The department says it provides high-quality police services and deters crime through effective partnerships, collaborative problem solving and mentoring youth, with an emphasis on community engagement and public safety
Where the figure comes from
Checked 8 August 2026. City of Thornton official employment posting — — open the source document
Most recent date on the page: closes 31 December 2026 (opened 1 January 2026); official minimum annual salary $82,992
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 Thornton 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. Thornton starts at $82,992, so $11,705 above the municipal middle.
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How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Thornton Police Department officer make?
Thornton Police Department starts a new officer on $82,992 a year, about $39.90 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 Thornton official employment posting —.
Is that good pay for a police officer in Colorado?
It ranks #8 of 35 agencies we have verified in Colorado — 27 pay less, 7 pay more in the state — and #332 of 1,681 nationally. Against the national median it is $14,602 above, and against other municipal agencies $11,728 above.
Compare with another department
Put Thornton 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 CO
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Thornton | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Colorado State Patrol | State | 706 | $91,620 | +$8,628 | #184 |
| 2 | Parker Police Department | Municipal | 89 | $89,898 | +$6,906 | #217 |
| 3 | Johnstown Police Department | Municipal | 26 | $86,944 | +$3,952 | #266 |
| 4 | Broomfield Police Department | Municipal | 135 | $86,029 | +$3,037 | #278 |
| 5 | Golden Police Department | Municipal | 53 | $85,321 | +$2,329 | #287 |
| 6 | Lakewood Police Department | Municipal | 274 | $85,093 | +$2,101 | #291 |
| 7 | Breckenridge Police Department | Municipal | 25 | $83,990 | +$998 | #310 |
| 9 | Commerce City Police Department | Municipal | 109 | $82,327 | −$665 | #341 |
| 10 | Larimer County Sheriff's Office | County | 228 | $81,765 | −$1,227 | #353 |
| 11 | Westminster Police Department | Municipal | 187 | $80,746 | −$2,246 | #387 |
| 12 | Boulder County Sheriff's Office | County | 106 | $80,496 | −$2,496 | #395 |
| 13 | Arapahoe County Sheriff's Office | County | 560 | $79,539 | −$3,453 | #418 |
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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