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Tukwila 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.
Tukwila Police Department starts at $101,064 a year — about $48.59 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $34,379 above the median of the 2,288 agencies on this list, and $32,924 above the median for municipal agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in Washington run about 7% above the national average, so this is worth roughly $94,441 somewhere at average prices — $6,623 less than the headline figure. Most of that is rent, at 126 against a national average of 100, where goods are 104. 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 isTukwila Police Department reported 76 sworn officers and 20 civilian staff to the FBI for 2025. That is 3.5 officers per 1,000 residents, over a population of 21,610.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 Tukwila says about itself
As an involved part of the Tukwila community, our mission is to provide public safety services that are professional, compassionate and transparent. As individuals and teams, we are committed to earning the public's trust with skills, professionalism and collaboration. Our vision is that all Tukwila neighbourhoods and communities feel protected and respected in their times of need: serving the community so that all members of the public are safe, secure and thriving. As community needs evolve, so will police services. We build positive, strong teams within the department and with the community, and when we invite a variety of perspectives and experiences, we improve mutual respect and support, being accountable to the community and each other by working with determination, thoroughness, openness and honesty.
What Tukwila does
The Tukwila Police Department says it serves a diverse residential, business, and visitor community through professional law enforcement, crime prevention, emergency response, investigations, traffic safety, and community engagement. The department emphasizes integrity, professionalism, respect, accountability, partnership, and building trust while protecting people and property
Tukwila’s rotation, in BlueShifts
The Department's own recruiting page states it plainly: patrol officers work a SET 12-hour 3 on 3 off / 4 on 4 off schedule; shift rotations run six months and shift bidding is by seniority; and the way it works is that you always have the same work days during the week for the duration of the rotation, with the exception of every other Saturday. Patrol officers also carry a 128-hour holiday bank and 110 Kelly Day hours a year, either of which can be taken as leave or paid out.
The rotation template screen — enter the cycle and the start date, and you are done.
DayNight24 hrsOff
Every month, already filled in — no typing, however far ahead you look.
September 2026
The agency publishes the shift length but not a named cycle. These are the 12-hour rotations departments most often build on it: Pitman, 4 on, 4 off, DuPont, Panama, 3-4-4-3.
Fourteen days is the unit here, not seven - three on, three off, four on, four off - so the same weekday can be a work day one fortnight and a day off the next, which is exactly the case every other Saturday. BlueShifts draws the whole fourteen-day cycle onto real months a year ahead, and the Kelly Day and holiday-bank hours sit on the same grid rather than in a separate tally.
BlueShifts. Plan Your Year. Own Your Time.
The shift calendar built for your rotation, off-duty work, and life on and off the clock.
Save your shift schedule once and BlueShifts fills the rest of the year in.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 8 August 2026. City of Tukwila official Entry — open the source document
Opened 30 January 2026; entry-level Police Officer minimum $101,064
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 Tukwila 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. Tukwila starts at $101,064, so $32,924 above the municipal middle.
How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Tukwila Police Department officer make?
Tukwila Police Department starts a new officer on $101,064 a year, about $48.59 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 Tukwila official Entry.
Is that good pay for a police officer in Washington?
It ranks #8 of 92 agencies we have verified in Washington — 84 pay less, 7 pay more in the state — and #120 of 2,288 nationally. Against the national median it is $34,379 above, and against other municipal agencies $32,924 above.
What shifts do Tukwila Police Department officers work?
The Department's own recruiting page states it plainly: patrol officers work a SET 12-hour 3 on 3 off / 4 on 4 off schedule; shift rotations run six months and shift bidding is by seniority; and the way it works is that you always have the same work days during the week for the duration of the rotation, with the exception of every other Saturday. Patrol officers also carry a 128-hour holiday bank and 110 Kelly Day hours a year, either of which can be taken as leave or paid out. That is the agency's own published wording; the pattern is drawn on this page.
Compare with another department
Put Tukwila 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 Tukwila | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Seattle Police Department | Municipal | 1,064 | $117,792 | +$16,728 | #38 |
| 2 | Redmond Police Department | Municipal | 81 | $110,435 | +$9,371 | #59 |
| 3 | Auburn Police Department | Municipal | 120 | $108,386 | +$7,322 | #68 |
| 4 | Lynnwood Police Department | Municipal | 71 | $106,371 | +$5,307 | #81 |
| 5 | Everett Police Department | Municipal | 207 | $102,516 | +$1,452 | #106 |
| 6 | Vancouver Police Department | Municipal | 226 | $101,832 | +$768 | #110 |
| 7 | Kirkland Police Department | Municipal | 108 | $101,218 | +$154 | #118 |
| 9 | Bothell Police Department | Municipal | 70 | $101,055 | −$9 | #121 |
| 10 | Mount Vernon Police Department | Municipal | 43 | $100,836 | −$228 | #125 |
| 11 | Kennewick Police Department | Municipal | 107 | $100,104 | −$960 | #128 |
| 12 | Edmonds Police Department | Municipal | 48 | $99,168 | −$1,896 | #140 |
| 13 | Tacoma Police Department | Municipal | 343 | $98,571 | −$2,493 | #144 |
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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