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Police pay in Alabama
Entry pay in Alabama runs from $33,049 to $62,920 a year. Verified at 35 agencies, each figure taken from that employer's own published document and dated on its page.
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.
The middle Alabama agency starts officers on $49,941, below the national middle of $66,706 — 49th of the 50 states we can rank.
How Alabama compares
Every figure below is a starting salary — what an agency pays an officer in their first year, before overtime. Each one is the middle agency of its group: half pay more, half pay less.
| Agencies compared | Middle AL agency | Middle US agency | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| All agencies | $49,941 | $66,706 | −25% |
| City departments | $50,679 | $68,140 | −26% |
| Sheriff's offices | $50,526 | $63,565 | −21% |
The best-paid agency in Alabama starts officers on 1.9 times what the lowest-paid one does — $62,920 against $33,049. Overall, Alabama ranks 49th of the 50 states we can rank.
By level
Municipal20 agencies
Lowest$42,224
Middle$50,679
Highest$62,920
Across 20 city departments in Alabama.
Sheriff9 agencies
Lowest$39,790
Middle$50,526
Highest$57,408
Across 9 sheriff's offices in Alabama.
State1 agency
Alabama Highway Patrol$56,726
Only one verified here, so we name it rather than give a middle figure.
Special jurisdiction5 agencies
Lowest$33,049
Middle$39,759
Highest$49,920
Across 5 special jurisdiction agencies in Alabama.
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Every Alabama agency we have verified
Across the state line
What the middle agency starts on in the states Alabama borders.
Also for Alabama: What Alabama agencies say about off-duty work Taken from each agency's own published policy.
Also: Every agency we have verified The statistics Municipal departments Sheriff's offices
Figures checked between 8 August 2026 and 21 September 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 the figure shown. Where an agency publishes both an academy rate and a post-academy rate, the post-academy rate is used. A missing agency has not been checked, not found to pay less.
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