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Woonsocket 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.
Woonsocket Police Department starts at $53,674 a year — about $25.80 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $13,010 below the median of the 2,288 agencies on this list, and $14,466 below the median for municipal agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in Rhode Island run about 2% above the national average, so this is worth roughly $52,478 somewhere at average prices — $1,196 less than the headline figure. That average hides a wide spread: utilities at 147, 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 isWoonsocket Police Department reported 87 sworn officers and 19 civilian staff to the FBI for 2025. That is 1.9 officers per 1,000 residents, over a population of 44,779.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 Woonsocket says about itself
The Woonsocket Police Department ensures that deaf and hard-of-hearing people have full and equal enjoyment of its services, privileges, facilities, advantages and accommodations, and it will provide Auxiliary Aids and Services at no cost to ensure Effective Communication with these individuals.
What Woonsocket does
The Woonsocket Police Department serves a Blackstone Valley city of about 43,000 from 242 Clinton Street. It runs bike patrol, a violent crime patrol, SWAT, an honour guard and BCI forensics, with detective and supervisory promotion opportunities from three and five years of service and field training officer roles from three years. The department has its own outdoor firearms range and a multizone fitness center, and trains in-house in use of force, Brazilian jiu-jitsu and lock-up technique. It states that it ensures deaf and hard-of-hearing people have full and equal enjoyment of its services and provides auxiliary aids at no cost to ensure effective communication
Where the figure comes from
Checked 6 September 2026. Woonsocket Police Department recruiting announcement, August 2026, published by the Rhode Island Municipal Police Academy — open the source document
The Department's own recruiting announcement of August 2026, on its Clinton Street letterhead and hosted by the Rhode Island Municipal Police Academy, read 6 September 2026: the probationary salary rate is $1,032.20 a week, so $1,032.20 x 52 = $53,674.40 a year. After probation the rate is $1,411.69 a week ($73,407.88), with step 2 at $1,439.93 and a further raise stated for 30 June 2027. The city runs an open competitive examination and asks only for age 18, US citizenship, a driver's license, a high school diploma or equivalent and no felony convictions, sponsoring successful candidates to the January 2027 Rhode Island Municipal Police Academy - so no certification or prior sworn service. Longevity of 10% after five years, 15 paid holidays and detail work are excluded
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 Woonsocket 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. Woonsocket starts at $53,674, so $14,466 below the municipal middle.
How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Woonsocket Police Department officer make?
Woonsocket Police Department starts a new officer on $53,674 a year, about $25.80 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 Woonsocket Police Department recruiting announcement, August 2026, published by the Rhode Island Municipal Police Academy.
Is that good pay for a police officer in Rhode Island?
It ranks #17 of 17 agencies we have verified in Rhode Island — 0 pay less, 16 pay more in the state — and #1,930 of 2,288 nationally. Against the national median it is $13,010 below, and against other municipal agencies $14,466 below.
Compare with another department
Put Woonsocket 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 RI
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Woonsocket | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management — Division of Law Enforcement / Environmental Police | State | 32 | $90,850 | +$37,176 | #249 |
| 2 | Smithfield Police Department | Municipal | 46 | $82,885 | +$29,210 | #407 |
| 3 | Rhode Island State Police | State | 267 | $81,579 | +$27,905 | #437 |
| 4 | Providence Police Department | Municipal | 435 | $81,468 | +$27,794 | #441 |
| 5 | North Providence Police Department | Municipal | — | $71,787 | +$18,113 | #829 |
| 6 | Burrillville Police Department | Municipal | 24 | $70,484 | +$16,810 | #908 |
| 7 | East Providence Police Department | Municipal | 86 | $69,155 | +$15,480 | #983 |
| 8 | Lincoln Police Department | Municipal | 40 | $69,000 | +$15,326 | #991 |
| 9 | Pawtucket Police Department | Municipal | 145 | $66,402 | +$12,727 | #1,167 |
| 10 | Warwick Police Department | Municipal | 169 | $65,739 | +$12,065 | #1,204 |
| 11 | North Kingstown Police Department | Municipal | — | $65,012 | +$11,338 | #1,255 |
| 12 | Portsmouth Police Department | Municipal | 39 | $64,358 | +$10,684 | #1,297 |
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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