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Washington State Patrol 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 Patrol starts at $93,156 a year — about $44.79 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $24,766 above the median of the 1,681 agencies on this list, and $28,158 above the median for state agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in Washington run about 7% above the national average, so this is worth roughly $87,051 somewhere at average prices — $6,105 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 isWashington State Patrol reported 971 sworn officers to the FBI for 2025.No rate is shown: this agency does not police a single population the FBI publishes a figure for. 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 Washington State Patrol says about itself
Washington State Patrol Troopers uphold the United States Constitution, state laws, and statutes for the protection of all people.
What Washington State Patrol does
Washington State Patrol troopers uphold the United States Constitution and state law, work to reduce loss of life, injury and property damage through emergency response, prevention, investigation and crowd control, keep traffic moving safely, and assist the public and government bodies. The agency patrols more than 17,500 miles of state highways.
Shifts at Washington State Patrol
The Washington State Patrol requires troopers to be willing to work weekends, holidays and rotating shifts, and to be on 24-hour call, with patrol coverage maintained across day and night shifts 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Shift differential pay is paid on top of salary.
A rotating shift plus 24-hour call is the hardest kind of schedule to keep on paper. BlueShifts holds the rotation and marks each shift as a day or a night, so the month ahead is always visible.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 8 August 2026. WSPTA Commissioned Salary Schedule, Appendix B — 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.
Entry pay, 2023–2026
Every point is the entry-class annual base printed in the agency’s own pay document. Base pay only — no shift differential, incentives or allowances.
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How this level compares
Where Washington State Patrol 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. Washington State Patrol starts at $93,156, so $28,158 above the state middle.
How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Washington State Patrol officer make?
Washington State Patrol starts a new officer on $93,156 a year, about $44.79 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 WSPTA Commissioned Salary Schedule, Appendix B.
Is that good pay for a police officer in Washington?
It ranks #25 of 76 agencies we have verified in Washington — 51 pay less, 24 pay more in the state — and #164 of 1,681 nationally. Against the national median it is $24,766 above, and against other state agencies $28,158 above.
What shifts do Washington State Patrol officers work?
The Washington State Patrol requires troopers to be willing to work weekends, holidays and rotating shifts, and to be on 24-hour call, with patrol coverage maintained across day and night shifts 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Shift differential pay is paid on top of salary. That is the agency's own published wording; the pattern is drawn on this page.
Compare with another department
Put Washington State Patrol 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 | +$24,636 | #35 |
| 2 | Redmond Police Department | Municipal | 81 | $110,435 | +$17,279 | #52 |
| 3 | Auburn Police Department | Municipal | 120 | $108,386 | +$15,230 | #57 |
| 4 | Everett Police Department | Municipal | 207 | $102,516 | +$9,360 | #81 |
| 5 | Vancouver Police Department | Municipal | 226 | $101,832 | +$8,676 | #85 |
| 6 | Kirkland Police Department | Municipal | 108 | $101,218 | +$8,062 | #92 |
| 7 | Tukwila Police Department | Municipal | 76 | $101,064 | +$7,908 | #94 |
| 8 | Mount Vernon Police Department | Municipal | 43 | $100,836 | +$7,680 | #97 |
| 9 | Edmonds Police Department | Municipal | 48 | $99,168 | +$6,012 | #108 |
| 10 | Tacoma Police Department | Municipal | 343 | $98,571 | +$5,415 | #111 |
| 11 | Issaquah Police Department | Municipal | 36 | $98,150 | +$4,994 | #114 |
| 12 | Renton Police Department | Municipal | 132 | $97,692 | +$4,536 | #117 |
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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