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Police pay in Iowa
Entry pay in Iowa runs from $55,000 to $85,550 a year. Verified at 28 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 Iowa agency starts officers on $69,264, above the national middle of $68,390 — 14th of the 50 states we can rank.
How Iowa 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 IA agency | Middle US agency | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| All agencies | $69,264 | $68,390 | +1% |
| City departments | $70,322 | $71,302 | −1% |
| Sheriff's offices | $67,725 | $65,374 | +4% |
The best-paid agency in Iowa starts officers on 1.6 times what the lowest-paid one does — $85,550 against $55,000. Overall, Iowa ranks 14th of the 50 states we can rank.
By level
Municipal12 agencies
Lowest$64,346
Middle$70,322
Highest$84,635
Across 12 city departments in Iowa.
Sheriff14 agencies
Lowest$55,000
Middle$67,725
Highest$85,550
Across 14 sheriff's offices in Iowa.
State2 agencies
Iowa Department of Natural Resources — Conservation Law Enforcement$70,574
Iowa State Patrol$60,632
Only two verified here, so we name them rather than give a middle figure.
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Every Iowa agency we have verified
Across the state line
What the middle agency starts on in the states Iowa borders.
Also: Every agency we have verified The statistics Municipal departments Sheriff's offices
Figures checked between 8 August 2026 and 15 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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