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Wisconsin 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.
Wisconsin State Patrol starts at $75,462 a year — about $36.28 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $8,778 above the median of the 2,288 agencies on this list, and $10,296 above the median for state agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in Wisconsin run about 6% below the national average, so this goes about as far as $80,198 would somewhere at average prices — $4,736 more than the headline figure. Most of that is rent, at 79 against a national average of 100, where goods are 94. 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 isWisconsin State Patrol reported 445 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 Wisconsin State Patrol says about itself
Our mission is to provide exceptional public safety services. Our vision: strive for excellence in all we do to be the premier public safety agency in the nation. Our values are honour, leadership, integrity, professionalism, character, innovation, compassion and diversity. The Wisconsin State Patrol enforces traffic and criminal laws, conducts criminal highway interdiction programmes, oversees motor carrier safety and weight facilities, inspects and regulates motor carriers, school buses and ambulances, helps motorists in need, and helps local law enforcement agencies with traffic safety, civil disturbances and disasters, natural and man-made. It was established in 1939 for the purpose of providing law enforcement services in a rapidly changing transportation environment, and it was recognised from its inception that the State Patrol would stand ready to provide public safety assistance to local, county and tribal units of government as well as our partner agencies at the state and federal levels.
What Wisconsin State Patrol does
The Wisconsin State Patrol is a statewide, multi-role law-enforcement agency covering transportation safety, criminal enforcement and specialised technical and tactical support to local, county, state and federal partners. It fields both troopers and motor carrier inspectors, the latter often working from the state's 13 Safety and Weight Enforcement Facilities.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 6 September 2026. Wisconsin State Patrol — Trooper and inspector careers, pay scale — open the source document
WSP's own careers page, read 6 September 2026: the published pay scale starts at $36.28/hour at 0 months of State Patrol experience, so $36.28 x 2,080 = $75,462.40 a year, rising by step to $50.16/hour at seven years. Supersedes the $67,454.40 the row carried. The page notes lateral hires are placed by years of service and runs a separate lateral recruit class alongside the traditional one, so no prior service is required to enter. Recruits receive six months of paid law enforcement training at the State Patrol Academy
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 Wisconsin 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 | $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. Wisconsin State Patrol starts at $75,462, so $10,296 above the state middle.
How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Wisconsin State Patrol officer make?
Wisconsin State Patrol starts a new officer on $75,462 a year, about $36.28 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 Wisconsin State Patrol — Trooper and inspector careers, pay scale.
Is that good pay for a police officer in Wisconsin?
It ranks #8 of 81 agencies we have verified in Wisconsin — 73 pay less, 7 pay more in the state — and #650 of 2,288 nationally. Against the national median it is $8,778 above, and against other state agencies $10,296 above.
Compare with another department
Put Wisconsin 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 WI
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Wisconsin | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Menomonee Falls Police Department | Municipal | 59 | $82,618 | +$7,155 | #414 |
| 2 | Fitchburg Police Department | Municipal | 50 | $78,790 | +$3,328 | #527 |
| 3 | Brookfield Police Department | Municipal | 80 | $78,666 | +$3,203 | #533 |
| 4 | Cedarburg Police Department | Municipal | 24 | $77,561 | +$2,099 | #571 |
| 5 | Stoughton Police Department | Municipal | 23 | $76,378 | +$915 | #607 |
| 6 | Waukesha County Sheriff's Office | County | 158 | $76,128 | +$666 | #614 |
| 7 | River Falls Police Department | Municipal | 27 | $75,525 | +$62 | #647 |
| 9 | Grafton Police Department | Municipal | 22 | $75,102 | −$360 | #672 |
| 10 | Dodge County Sheriff's Office | County | 64 | $75,088 | −$374 | #673 |
| 11 | St. Croix County Sheriff's Office | County | 98 | $74,695 | −$767 | #688 |
| 12 | Kenosha Police Department | Municipal | 231 | $74,640 | −$822 | #692 |
| 13 | Glendale Police Department | Municipal | 39 | $74,040 | −$1,422 | #715 |
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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