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Winston-Salem 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.
Winston-Salem Police Department starts at $56,524 a year — about $27.18 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $10,161 below the median of the 2,288 agencies on this list, and $11,616 below the median for municipal agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in North Carolina run about 6% below the national average, so this goes about as far as $59,924 would somewhere at average prices — $3,400 more than the headline figure. Most of that is rent, at 81 against a national average of 100, 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 isWinston-Salem Police Department reported 438 sworn officers and 177 civilian staff to the FBI for 2025. That is 1.7 officers per 1,000 residents, over a population of 257,431.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 Winston-Salem says about itself
The mission of the Winston-Salem Police Department is to protect life and property by providing exceptional police services to our community in partnership with the citizens of Winston-Salem. We will achieve our mission through the consistent application of our core values: individual development to transform our agency into a national model for law enforcement; accountability through open and effective communication; exceptional police services through strength, compassion, and confidence; commitment to our agency and the community it serves; unquestionable trustworthiness through fair and just application of the law; and partnering with our community to provide unparalleled service and safety. The Winston-Salem Police Department is an Internationally Accredited Agency through the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies.
What Winston-Salem does
Winston-Salem Police Department is the municipal force for North Carolina's fifth most populous city, formed in 1913 when the Winston and Salem departments merged with the cities themselves. It polices about 134 square miles through three patrol districts, with roughly 559 sworn officers and 173 civilian staff, and is internationally accredited through CALEA. Officers work rotating shift hours and serve a twelve-month probationary period with evaluations at six and twelve months, and must live within 60 miles of City Hall - the city publishes residency requirement maps.
Shifts at Winston-Salem
Winston-Salem officers work rotating shift hours and serve a twelve-month probationary period with evaluations at six and twelve months.
Rotating hours through a probationary year is when a calendar earns its keep. BlueShifts holds the rotation and the dates that go with it in one place.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 25 August 2026. Sworn Officer starting salary, City of Winston-Salem Police Officer Trainee posting. — open the source document
Their source is effective 1 January 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.
BlueShifts. Plan Your Year. Own Your Time.
The shift calendar built for your rotation, off-duty work, and life on and off the clock.
Save your shift schedule once and BlueShifts fills the rest of the year in.
How this level compares
Where Winston-Salem 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. Winston-Salem starts at $56,524, so $11,616 below the municipal middle.
How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Winston-Salem Police Department officer make?
Winston-Salem Police Department starts a new officer on $56,524 a year, about $27.18 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 Sworn Officer starting salary, City of Winston-Salem Police Officer Trainee posting..
Is that good pay for a police officer in North Carolina?
It ranks #20 of 53 agencies we have verified in North Carolina — 33 pay less, 19 pay more in the state — and #1,774 of 2,288 nationally. Against the national median it is $10,161 below, and against other municipal agencies $11,616 below.
What shifts do Winston-Salem Police Department officers work?
Winston-Salem officers work rotating shift hours and serve a twelve-month probationary period with evaluations at six and twelve months. That is the agency's own published wording; the pattern is drawn on this page.
Compare with another department
Put Winston-Salem 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 NC
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Winston-Salem | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Knightdale Police Department | Municipal | 45 | $67,363 | +$10,839 | #1,104 |
| 2 | Cary Police Department | Municipal | 194 | $65,104 | +$8,580 | #1,247 |
| 3 | Wake Forest Police Department | Municipal | 96 | $65,093 | +$8,569 | #1,248 |
| 4 | Appalachian State University Police Department | Special jurisdiction | 36 | $64,084 | +$7,560 | #1,312 |
| 5 | North Carolina State Highway Patrol | State | — | $63,250 | +$6,726 | #1,368 |
| 6 | Huntersville Police Department | Municipal | 92 | $62,647 | +$6,123 | #1,400 |
| 7 | Apex Police Department | Municipal | 104 | $62,524 | +$6,000 | #1,408 |
| 8 | Fuquay-Varina Police Department | Municipal | 70 | $62,291 | +$5,767 | #1,430 |
| 9 | Johnston County Sheriff's Office | County | 124 | $62,213 | +$5,689 | #1,436 |
| 10 | Chapel Hill Police Department | Municipal | 82 | $61,451 | +$4,927 | #1,477 |
| 11 | Raleigh Police Department | Municipal | 713 | $61,417 | +$4,893 | #1,478 |
| 12 | Duke University Police Department | Special jurisdiction | 57 | $60,195 | +$3,671 | #1,551 |
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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