Police pay in Colorado

The middle Colorado agency starts officers on $79,228, above the national middle of $66,706 — 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.

The best-paid agency in Colorado starts officers on 1.8 times what the lowest-paid one does — $103,544 against $58,952. Overall, Colorado ranks 7th of the 50 states we can rank.

By level

1. 1$103,544Fort Collins Police Services
2. 2$93,696Loveland Police Department
3. 3$91,620Colorado State Patrol
4. 4$90,555Arvada Police Department
5. 5$89,898Parker Police Department
6. 6$87,312Longmont Police Department
7. 7$86,944Johnstown Police Department
8. 8$86,029Broomfield Police Department
9. 9$85,488Castle Rock Police Department
10. 10$85,321Golden Police Department
11. 11$85,093Lakewood Police Department
12. 12$83,990Breckenridge Police Department
13. 13$83,280Littleton Police Department
14. 14$82,992Thornton Police Department
15. 15$82,555Grand Junction Police Department

Bars run from zero. Color is the level of government: city departments blue, sheriffs green, state agencies amber, special jurisdiction slate. Every agency is in the table below.

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 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.