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Wallingford 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.
Wallingford Police Department starts at $71,448 a year — about $34.35 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $4,763 above the median of the 2,288 agencies on this list, and $3,308 above the median for municipal agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in Connecticut run about 4% above the national average, so this is worth roughly $68,959 somewhere at average prices — $2,489 less than the headline figure. Most of that is utilities, at 146 against a national average of 100, where goods are 97. 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 isWallingford Police Department reported 73 sworn officers and 21 civilian staff to the FBI for 2025. That is 1.6 officers per 1,000 residents, over a population of 44,353.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 Wallingford says about itself
In partnership with the community, the mission of the Wallingford Police Department is to enforce the law, protect life and property, and address the specific needs of our citizens.
What Wallingford does
Wallingford Police Department employs sworn officers in municipal law enforcement and specialty units and states its goal is a community free from fear of crime where residents can enjoy a high quality of life
Where the figure comes from
Checked 8 September 2026. Wallingford Police Department, Career Opportunities page on the Department's own site — open the source document
Re-verified 8 September 2026 against the Department's own careers page, which states: 'New Hires - Starting pay as of July 1, 2025, is $71,448, which does not include holiday pay or shift differential.' That matches the figure already held from the town's January 2026 job posting - Step 1 at $34.35 an hour over 2,080 hours - so the figure is confirmed unchanged and the source has been moved from the governmentjobs posting, which is robots-blocked and expires, to the department page, which is readable and permanent. Holiday pay and shift differential are excluded, as are the higher steps: the top patrol officer step is $92,435.20 now and $96,408.00 in the final year of the police contract from 1 July 2026. Lateral transfers start at about $83,865.60, negotiable on years of service, and are excluded. Entry requirements are US citizenship, a Connecticut driver's license, age 21 and a high school diploma or GED.
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 Wallingford 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. Wallingford starts at $71,448, so $3,308 above the municipal middle.
How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Wallingford Police Department officer make?
Wallingford Police Department starts a new officer on $71,448 a year, about $34.35 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 Wallingford Police Department, Career Opportunities page on the Department's own site.
Is that good pay for a police officer in Connecticut?
It ranks #13 of 21 agencies we have verified in Connecticut — 8 pay less, 12 pay more in the state — and #846 of 2,288 nationally. Against the national median it is $4,763 above, and against other municipal agencies $3,308 above.
Compare with another department
Put Wallingford 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 CT
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Wallingford | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | South Windsor Police Department | Municipal | 41 | $87,483 | +$16,035 | #312 |
| 2 | Norwalk Police Department | Municipal | 184 | $82,116 | +$10,668 | #425 |
| 3 | Milford Police Department | Municipal | 105 | $81,237 | +$9,789 | #451 |
| 4 | Hamden Police Department | Municipal | 93 | $80,104 | +$8,656 | #492 |
| 5 | Greenwich Police Department | Municipal | 142 | $78,704 | +$7,256 | #528 |
| 6 | Connecticut State Police | State | 955 | $76,625 | +$5,177 | #600 |
| 7 | Suffield Police Department | Municipal | 21 | $75,420 | +$3,972 | #653 |
| 8 | Fairfield Police Department | Municipal | 115 | $75,241 | +$3,793 | #664 |
| 9 | Shelton Police Department | Municipal | 43 | $74,962 | +$3,514 | #680 |
| 10 | Stamford Police Department | Municipal | 278 | $72,881 | +$1,433 | #766 |
| 11 | Manchester Police Department | Municipal | 117 | $72,633 | +$1,185 | #783 |
| 12 | Norwich Police Department | Municipal | 76 | $71,944 | +$496 | #817 |
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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