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Williston 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.
Williston Police Department starts at $71,032 a year — about $34.15 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $4,347 above the median of the 2,288 agencies on this list, and $2,892 above the median for municipal agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in Vermont run about 2% below the national average, so this goes about as far as $72,513 would somewhere at average prices — $1,481 more than the headline figure. That average hides a wide spread: utilities at 126, 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 isWilliston Police Department reported 14 sworn officers and 6 civilian staff to the FBI for 2025. That is 1.4 officers per 1,000 residents, over a population of 10,075.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 Williston says about itself
The Williston Police Department is a dedicated group of professionals who are committed to working with the community to make the Town of Williston a safe and desirable place to live, work, or visit.
What Williston does
The Williston Police Department has 17 sworn officers and four civilian support staff, and is home to a community justice center supported by a town-appointed community justice board. It polices a town of farms and big-box retail a few miles from Lake Champlain and a short drive from Burlington - Walmart, Home Depot, Best Buy and Dick's Sporting Goods among them - which the Town describes as the second largest retail base in Vermont, alongside a large employer base that includes substantial federal office space. The Town hired an experienced chief in October 2017 whose stated aim was a community-oriented department providing services fairly and impartially.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 1 September 2026. Williston Police Department recruitment page: "Starting wage as of July 1, 2025 $71,032 ($34.15 an hour)" — open the source document
$71,032, stated by the Department as the starting wage effective 1 July 2025, with the hourly equivalent given as $34.15. Trainee class: NO - it is the patrol officer starting wage, and the Department advertises a $10,000 sign-on bonus for patrol officer applicants without requiring prior service. Checked 1 September 2026. Longevity bonuses run from $1,000 at five years to $2,000 at fifteen; retirement is VMERS Group D with a 457 available alongside. The 1 July 2025 date is the Department's own effective date, so the next annual step is the thing to look for.
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 Williston 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. Williston starts at $71,032, so $2,892 above the municipal middle.
How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Williston Police Department officer make?
Williston Police Department starts a new officer on $71,032 a year, about $34.15 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 Williston Police Department recruitment page: "Starting wage as of July 1, 2025 $71,032 ($34.15 an hour)".
Is that good pay for a police officer in Vermont?
It ranks #4 of 16 agencies we have verified in Vermont — 12 pay less, 3 pay more in the state — and #873 of 2,288 nationally. Against the national median it is $4,347 above, and against other municipal agencies $2,892 above.
Compare with another department
Put Williston 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 VT
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Williston | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vermont State Police | State | 256 | $84,160 | +$13,128 | #370 |
| 2 | Burlington Police Department | Municipal | 59 | $81,653 | +$10,621 | #435 |
| 3 | Montpelier Police Department | Municipal | 15 | $80,870 | +$9,838 | #466 |
| 5 | Brandon Police Department | Municipal | 2 | $70,720 | −$312 | #899 |
| 6 | Rutland City Police Department | Municipal | — | $67,600 | −$3,432 | #1,089 |
| 7 | Colchester Police Department | Municipal | 27 | $66,560 | −$4,472 | #1,156 |
| 8 | South Burlington Police Department | Municipal | 33 | $64,668 | −$6,364 | #1,282 |
| 9 | Winooski Police Department | Municipal | 15 | $63,752 | −$7,280 | #1,333 |
| 10 | Barre Town Police Department | Municipal | 6 | $61,194 | −$9,838 | #1,491 |
| 11 | Stowe Police Department | Municipal | 13 | $60,070 | −$10,962 | #1,560 |
| 12 | Shelburne Police Department | Municipal | 10 | $59,613 | −$11,419 | #1,604 |
| 13 | Barre City Police Department | Municipal | — | $58,531 | −$12,501 | #1,651 |
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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