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Police pay in Montana
Entry pay in Montana runs from $44,949 to $95,326 a year. Verified at 23 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 Montana agency starts officers on $69,056, above the national middle of $68,390 — 15th of the 50 states we can rank.
How Montana 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 MT agency | Middle US agency | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| All agencies | $69,056 | $68,390 | +1% |
| City departments | $67,648 | $71,302 | −5% |
| Sheriff's offices | $72,800 | $65,374 | +11% |
The best-paid agency in Montana starts officers on 2.1 times what the lowest-paid one does — $95,326 against $44,949. Overall, Montana ranks 15th of the 50 states we can rank.
By level
Municipal14 agencies
Lowest$50,370
Middle$67,648
Highest$95,326
Across 14 city departments in Montana.
Sheriff7 agencies
Lowest$44,949
Middle$72,800
Highest$79,456
Across 7 sheriff's offices in Montana.
State2 agencies
Montana Highway Patrol$71,240
Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife & Parks — Law Enforcement Division / Game Wardens$63,898
Only two verified here, so we name them rather than give a middle figure.
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Every Montana agency we have verified
Across the state line
What the middle agency starts on in the states Montana 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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