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Wentzville 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.
Wentzville Police Department starts at $71,510 a year — about $34.38 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $4,826 above the median of the 2,288 agencies on this list, and $3,370 above the median for municipal agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in Missouri run about 9% below the national average, so this goes about as far as $78,741 would somewhere at average prices — $7,231 more than the headline figure. Most of that is rent, at 70 against a national average of 100, where goods are 96. 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 isWentzville Police Department reported 82 sworn officers and 24 civilian staff to the FBI for 2025. That is 1.7 officers per 1,000 residents, over a population of 49,528.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 Wentzville says about itself
The Wentzville Police Department, led by Chief Paul West and Assistant Chief Major Leon Burton, has 84 commissioned officers and 22 full-time support staff.
What Wentzville does
The Wentzville Police Department serves the city of Wentzville, Missouri, in St. Charles County west of St. Louis, with 84 commissioned officers and 22 full-time support staff under Chief Paul West and Assistant Chief Major Leon Burton. It publishes a single starting hourly range for its officers, prices no separate academy or recruit class beneath it, and runs a published off-duty hire programme at a rate paid by the customer rather than to the officer.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 21 September 2026. City of Wentzville, Police Department: "Starting Hourly Rate: $34.38 to $39.54". — open the source document
$34.38 an hour is the stated MINIMUM of the City's own published starting hourly range and IS THE ONLY FORM THE CITY PUBLISHES IT IN. $71,510.40 is that rate at 2,080 hours, the same annualisation this roster applies to every hourly-only source, named here rather than hidden. The $39.54 top of the range is a ceiling and is not the figure. WENTZVILLE PRICES NO CADET CLASS: the page publishes one starting range and names no academy, recruit or pre-service rate beneath it. NOT THE SAME MONEY, AND THE CONFUSION IS EASY TO MAKE: the City separately publishes an OFF-DUTY hire rate of $77 an hour with a two-hour minimum for anyone wanting to hire a Wentzville officer, which is what a customer pays the City and not what an officer is paid. THE FIGURE CARRIES NO EFFECTIVE DATE. NEXT DOCUMENT: the City of Wentzville adopted position classification and pay plan.
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 Wentzville 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. Wentzville starts at $71,510, so $3,370 above the municipal middle.
How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Wentzville Police Department officer make?
Wentzville Police Department starts a new officer on $71,510 a year, about $34.38 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 Wentzville, Police Department: "Starting Hourly Rate: $34.38 to $39.54"..
Is that good pay for a police officer in Missouri?
It ranks #2 of 33 agencies we have verified in Missouri — 31 pay less, 1 pay more in the state — and #845 of 2,288 nationally. Against the national median it is $4,826 above, and against other municipal agencies $3,370 above.
Compare with another department
Put Wentzville 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 MO
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Wentzville | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Maryland Heights Police Department | Municipal | 80 | $72,986 | +$1,476 | #762 |
| 3 | Creve Coeur Police Department | Municipal | 47 | $71,329 | −$181 | #856 |
| 4 | Hazelwood Police Department | Municipal | 63 | $71,204 | −$306 | #863 |
| 5 | Liberty Police Department | Municipal | 47 | $70,000 | −$1,510 | #941 |
| 6 | Kansas City Missouri Police Department | Municipal | 1,119 | $68,928 | −$2,582 | #998 |
| 7 | O'Fallon Police Department | Municipal | 118 | $67,454 | −$4,056 | #1,098 |
| 8 | Brentwood Police Department | Municipal | 31 | $67,418 | −$4,092 | #1,100 |
| 9 | St. Charles County Police Department | County | 165 | $66,060 | −$5,451 | #1,181 |
| 10 | Missouri State Highway Patrol | State | 1,134 | $65,400 | −$6,110 | #1,228 |
| 11 | Riverside Police Department | Municipal | 25 | $65,000 | −$6,510 | #1,258 |
| 12 | Ferguson Police Department | Municipal | 47 | $64,316 | −$7,195 | #1,303 |
| 13 | Gladstone Police Department | Municipal | 31 | $63,560 | −$7,950 | #1,342 |
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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