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Waite Park 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.
Waite Park Police Department starts at $75,234 a year — about $36.17 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $6,844 above the median of the 1,681 agencies on this list, and $3,969 above the median for municipal agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in Minnesota run about 1% below the national average, so this goes about as far as $76,286 would somewhere at average prices — $1,052 more than the headline figure. That average hides a wide spread: utilities at 91, where goods are 101. 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 isWaite Park Police Department reported 18 sworn officers and 4 civilian staff to the FBI for 2025. That is 2.1 officers per 1,000 residents, over a population of 8,545.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.
About Waite Park
The Waite Park Police Department states that it protects constitutional liberties, rights and freedoms, enforces laws, preserves peace, and strives to provide a safe community where citizens can work, play and raise families without fear of violence.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 14 August 2026. City of Waite Park / Waite Park Police Department — Police Officer — open the source document
2026 Police Officer pay range; checked 2026-08-14 | Class: Police Officer | Post-academy: yes — official recruiting page publishes the 2026 Police Officer range; no separate academy wage is stated | Official recruiting page publishes the 2026 Police Officer range as $36.17-$48.57/hour. The prior $75,254.26 figure is not the exact annualization of the current published minimum; $36.17 x 2,080 = $75,233.60.
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 Waite Park 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. Waite Park starts at $75,234, so $3,947 above the municipal middle.
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How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Waite Park Police Department officer make?
Waite Park Police Department starts a new officer on $75,234 a year, about $36.17 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 Waite Park / Waite Park Police Department — Police Officer.
Is that good pay for a police officer in Minnesota?
It ranks #68 of 100 agencies we have verified in Minnesota — 32 pay less, 67 pay more in the state — and #549 of 1,681 nationally. Against the national median it is $6,844 above, and against other municipal agencies $3,969 above.
Compare with another department
Put Waite Park 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 MN
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Waite | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Blaine Police Department | Municipal | 80 | $101,733 | +$26,499 | #86 |
| 2 | Stillwater Police Department | Municipal | 26 | $94,328 | +$19,094 | #152 |
| 3 | Columbia Heights Police Department | Municipal | 29 | $93,725 | +$18,491 | #157 |
| 4 | Carver County Sheriff's Office | County | 77 | $93,683 | +$18,450 | #158 |
| 5 | Oakdale Police Department | Municipal | 39 | $93,538 | +$18,304 | #161 |
| 6 | Richfield Police Department | Municipal | 45 | $93,226 | +$17,992 | #163 |
| 7 | Maplewood Police Department | Municipal | 56 | $93,038 | +$17,805 | #167 |
| 8 | Forest Lake Police Department | Municipal | 20 | $92,789 | +$17,555 | #169 |
| 9 | Apple Valley Police Department | Municipal | 59 | $92,768 | +$17,534 | #170 |
| 10 | Coon Rapids Police Department | Municipal | 73 | $92,123 | +$16,890 | #179 |
| 11 | Saint Paul Police Department | Municipal | 562 | $91,291 | +$16,058 | #188 |
| 12 | Woodbury Police Department | Municipal | 80 | $91,187 | +$15,954 | #190 |
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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