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Wilmette 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.
Wilmette Police Department 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 $21,892 above the median for municipal agencies.
What Wilmette says about itself
The Wilmette Police Department is a full-service law enforcement agency responsible for providing professional police services to residents and visitors.
What Wilmette does
WPD states it provides impartial law enforcement, community-oriented services, and police protection while maintaining high ethical and professional standards.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 13 August 2026. $93,156 annual minimum effective January 1, 2026. Official Village December 2025 entry-level information packet states the Police Officer salary range effective January 1, 2026 is $93,156-$128,545. — open the source document
December 2025 packet; salary effective January 1, 2026. $93,156 annual minimum effective January 1, 2026. Official Village December 2025 entry-level information packet states the Police Officer salary range effective January 1, 2026 is $93,156-$128,545. The entry-level packet establishes the minimum as the qualifying current entry
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.
How this level compares
Where Wilmette 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. Wilmette starts at $93,156, so $21,869 above the municipal middle.
How it ranks
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Common questions
How much does a Wilmette Police Department officer make?
Wilmette Police Department 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 $93,156 annual minimum effective January 1, 2026. Official Village December 2025 entry-level information packet states the Police Officer salary range effective January 1, 2026 is $93,156-$128,545..
Is that good pay for a police officer in Illinois?
It ranks #2 of 35 agencies we have verified in Illinois — 33 pay less, 1 pay more in the state — and #165 of 1,681 nationally. Against the national median it is $24,766 above, and against other municipal agencies $21,892 above.
Compare with another department
Put Wilmette 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 IL
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Wilmette | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vernon Hills Police Department | Municipal | 44 | $94,460 | +$1,304 | #151 |
| 3 | Aurora Police Department | Municipal | 328 | $92,248 | −$908 | #176 |
| 4 | Des Plaines Police Department | Municipal | 97 | $91,440 | −$1,716 | #186 |
| 5 | Highland Park Police Department | Municipal | 60 | $91,158 | −$1,998 | #191 |
| 6 | Illinois State Police | State | 1,821 | $90,828 | −$2,328 | #199 |
| 7 | River Forest Police Department | Municipal | 26 | $90,106 | −$3,050 | #213 |
| 8 | Elgin Police Department | Municipal | 203 | $88,274 | −$4,882 | #245 |
| 9 | Lake County Sheriff's Office | County | 113 | $87,297 | −$5,859 | #259 |
| 10 | Woodridge Police Department | Municipal | 47 | $84,781 | −$8,375 | #294 |
| 11 | DeKalb Police Department | Municipal | 72 | $83,449 | −$9,707 | #326 |
| 12 | Rolling Meadows Police Department | Municipal | 49 | $81,439 | −$11,717 | #362 |
| 13 | Bloomington Police Department | Municipal | — | $81,304 | −$11,852 | #368 |
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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