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Police pay in Colorado
Entry pay in Colorado runs from $58,952 to $91,620 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 Colorado agency starts officers on $76,809, above the national middle of $68,390 — 7th of the 50 states we can rank.
How Colorado 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 CO agency | Middle US agency | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| All agencies | $76,809 | $68,390 | +12% |
| City departments | $80,746 | $71,302 | +13% |
| Sheriff's offices | $76,809 | $65,374 | +17% |
| State agencies | $60,372 | $65,166 | −7% |
The best-paid agency in Colorado starts officers on 1.6 times what the lowest-paid one does — $91,620 against $58,952. Overall, Colorado ranks 7th of the 50 states we can rank.
By level
Municipal18 agencies
Lowest$58,952
Middle$80,746
Highest$89,898
Across 18 city departments in Colorado.
Sheriff10 agencies
Lowest$64,605
Middle$76,809
Highest$81,765
Across 10 sheriff's offices in Colorado.
State4 agencies
Lowest$60,372
Middle$60,372
Highest$91,620
Across 4 state agencies in Colorado.
Special jurisdiction3 agencies
Lowest$62,433
Middle$63,396
Highest$63,396
Across 3 special jurisdiction agencies in Colorado.
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Every Colorado agency we have verified
Across the state line
What the middle agency starts on in the states Colorado borders.
Also for Colorado: What Colorado 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 18 August 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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