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Vermillion 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.
Vermillion Police Department starts at $57,491 a year — about $27.64 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $9,194 below the median of the 2,288 agencies on this list, and $10,649 below the median for municipal agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in South Dakota run about 11% below the national average, so this goes about as far as $64,899 would somewhere at average prices — $7,408 more than the headline figure. Most of that is rent, at 68 against a national average of 100, where goods are 95. 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 isVermillion Police Department reported 19 sworn officers and 3 civilian staff to the FBI for 2025. That is 1.6 officers per 1,000 residents, over a population of 11,916.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 Vermillion says about itself
To serve as Guardians of the Vermillion community while building strong partnerships and preserving the dignity of those we serve.
What Vermillion does
The Vermillion Police Department is the municipal force for the City of Vermillion, the seat of Clay County and home of the University of South Dakota. It runs patrol, criminal investigations, school resource and bicycle patrol units.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 25 September 2026. Vermillion Police Department, Recruitment page: "Step 2: Certified OR Bachelor's degree (2025): $27.64/hr or $57,491/yr". — open the source document
The department prints three hiring steps: Step 1 for a non-certified hire ($56,076), Step 2 for a hire who is certified or holds a bachelor's degree ($57,491), and Step 3 for both. Step 2 is the first rate a certified officer is paid, so it is the figure; Step 1 is paid before the academy, which new hires must attend within a year. The annual is used as printed. THE RATES ARE LABELLED 2025 and the department describes a 12-step scale with annual cost-of-living adjustments, so a 2026 rate may exist; no 2026 pay plan was found on the City's site. Excluded: benefits.
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 Vermillion 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. Vermillion starts at $57,491, so $10,649 below the municipal middle.
How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Vermillion Police Department officer make?
Vermillion Police Department starts a new officer on $57,491 a year, about $27.64 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 Vermillion Police Department, Recruitment page: "Step 2: Certified OR Bachelor's degree (2025): $27.64/hr or $57,491/yr"..
Is that good pay for a police officer in South Dakota?
It ranks #12 of 18 agencies we have verified in South Dakota — 6 pay less, 11 pay more in the state — and #1,728 of 2,288 nationally. Against the national median it is $9,194 below, and against other municipal agencies $10,649 below.
Compare with another department
Put Vermillion 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 SD
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Vermillion | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sioux Falls Police Department | Municipal | 284 | $72,030 | +$14,539 | #810 |
| 2 | Rapid City Police Department | Municipal | 157 | $70,491 | +$13,000 | #907 |
| 3 | Spearfish Police Department | Municipal | 19 | $68,307 | +$10,816 | #1,035 |
| 4 | Pierre Police Department | Municipal | 20 | $68,307 | +$10,816 | #1,036 |
| 5 | Minnehaha County Sheriff's Office | County | 86 | $66,893 | +$9,402 | #1,128 |
| 6 | South Dakota Highway Patrol | State | 150 | $64,251 | +$6,760 | #1,306 |
| 7 | Mitchell Police Department | Municipal | 26 | $63,492 | +$6,001 | #1,350 |
| 8 | Pennington County Sheriff's Office | County | 217 | $63,357 | +$5,866 | #1,361 |
| 9 | Aberdeen Police Department | Municipal | 54 | $62,587 | +$5,096 | #1,404 |
| 10 | Yankton Police Department | Municipal | 30 | $58,253 | +$762 | #1,659 |
| 11 | Edmunds County Sheriff's Office | County | 8 | $58,136 | +$645 | #1,668 |
| 13 | Brown County Sheriff's Office | County | 21 | $55,578 | −$1,913 | #1,816 |
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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