Look Behind The Raw Numbers On Michigan Police Pay

The employment website ZipRecruiter reports that Michigan police officers, on average, collect a base rate of $20.60 an hour, or $42,487 a year.

The figures do not include overtime pay that can greatly increase the gross salary of many if not most officers. Overtime is a regular part of the job for public safety employees.

For example, the city of Wyoming’s police department serves a population of more than 75,000 people, who have a median household income of $50,971, according to the U.S. Census. The total compensation of Wyoming “police officers” (the label the city uses to distinguish line officers from executive and administrative staff) was almost 50% higher than the median household income of the population they serve. Those salary numbers include the base salary plus overtime and any other cash payments received. It does not include fringe benefits like insurance.

The average total salary paid to Wyoming police officers in 2018-19 fiscal year was $74,400, according to the city’s response to an open records request. The highest-paid Wyoming police officer made $99,511.

Wyoming’s director of police and fire services collected $132,379 in 2018-19. The average pay for the city’s two police captains was $118,713. Its five police lieutenants averaged $107,420 in total salary. The 13 police sergeants had an average pay of $96,082.

ZipRecruiter is an online employment marketplace that serves more than one million employers, according to its website. It gets its salary data from 7.5 million jobs that employers post to it every day.