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Washington State Department of Natural Resources — Natural Resource Police 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.
Washington State Department of Natural Resources — Natural Resource Police starts at $69,348 a year — about $33.34 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $2,663 above the median of the 2,288 agencies on this list, and $4,182 above the median for state agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in Washington run about 7% above the national average, so this is worth roughly $64,803 somewhere at average prices — $4,545 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.
What Washington State Department of Natural Resources — Natural Resource says about itself
Natural Resource Police Officers are uniformed police officers sworn to enforce the laws of the State of Washington and the Constitution of the United States on all lands protected by the Washington State Department of Natural Resources, and are committed to protecting public safety, state assets and the environment. Our purpose is to ensure your safety and to protect state assets and the environment: DNR Police Officers are stationed throughout Washington state to protect the public, employees, and state lands, resources and other assets, patrolling more than five million acres of DNR-managed lands, from vast forested landscapes to remote sites accessible only by off-road vehicles and in some cases only by boat. By providing a uniformed presence in the field, our patrols help deter crime and other undesirable behavior, ensure compliance with state laws and department rules, and assist the public.
What Washington State Department of Natural Resources — Natural Resource does
Washington DNR Natural Resource Police Officers are armed, uniformed state police officers sworn to enforce Washington law on lands protected by the Department of Natural Resources. They protect public safety, state assets and the environment, investigate crimes on state-protected lands and initiate prosecution of offenders.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 8 August 2026. Washington Office of Financial Management — Natural Resource Police Officer salary range — open the source document
Their source is effective 1 July 2026.
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 Washington State Department of Natural Resources — Natural Resource 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. Washington State Department of Natural Resources — Natural Resource starts at $69,348, so $4,182 above the state middle.
How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Washington State Department of Natural Resources — Natural Resource Police officer make?
Washington State Department of Natural Resources — Natural Resource Police starts a new officer on $69,348 a year, about $33.34 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 Washington Office of Financial Management — Natural Resource Police Officer salary range.
Is that good pay for a police officer in Washington?
It ranks #82 of 92 agencies we have verified in Washington — 10 pay less, 81 pay more in the state — and #970 of 2,288 nationally. Against the national median it is $2,663 above, and against other state agencies $4,182 above.
Compare with another department
Put Washington State Department of Natural Resources — Natural Resource Police 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 Washington | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Seattle Police Department | Municipal | 1,064 | $117,792 | +$48,444 | #38 |
| 2 | Redmond Police Department | Municipal | 81 | $110,435 | +$41,087 | #59 |
| 3 | Auburn Police Department | Municipal | 120 | $108,386 | +$39,038 | #68 |
| 4 | Lynnwood Police Department | Municipal | 71 | $106,371 | +$37,023 | #81 |
| 5 | Everett Police Department | Municipal | 207 | $102,516 | +$33,168 | #106 |
| 6 | Vancouver Police Department | Municipal | 226 | $101,832 | +$32,484 | #110 |
| 7 | Kirkland Police Department | Municipal | 108 | $101,218 | +$31,870 | #118 |
| 8 | Tukwila Police Department | Municipal | 76 | $101,064 | +$31,716 | #120 |
| 9 | Bothell Police Department | Municipal | 70 | $101,055 | +$31,707 | #121 |
| 10 | Mount Vernon Police Department | Municipal | 43 | $100,836 | +$31,488 | #125 |
| 11 | Kennewick Police Department | Municipal | 107 | $100,104 | +$30,756 | #128 |
| 12 | Edmonds Police Department | Municipal | 48 | $99,168 | +$29,820 | #140 |
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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