Research · November 2026
Rookie cop or new teacher: who gets paid more?
In 37 of 42 big cities, a rookie police officer’s first paycheck beats a new teacher’s. In Seattle, the gap is $53,034 a year.
From official pay schedules for 44 city police departments and the school districts in the same cities, 2025–26 and 2026–27. Base pay only. How we did this
- Cities where the rookie cop starts higher
- 37 of 42
- Biggest gap, Seattle
- $53,034
- Recruits in training who out-earn a new teacher
- 19 of 27
- Cities where the teacher starts higher
- 5
Rookie cop starting pay vs. a new teacher with a bachelor’s degree
$117,792 for the cop vs. $64,758 for the teacher
Cities that publish academy pay, before the recruit is sworn in
Atlanta, San Antonio, New Orleans, Chicago, New York
Check your city
Paid to train
Seattle pays a police recruit $14,920 more to sit in the academy than it pays a first-year teacher
A Seattle recruit earns $79,678 a year in training, before they are sworn in. A new teacher in Seattle Public Schools starts at $64,758. Recruits out-earn new teachers in 19 of the 27 cities that publish academy pay.
Day one vs. the top
In Tampa, a rookie cop’s first year pays more than a teacher at the very top of the scale
A new Tampa officer starts at $77,937. A Hillsborough County Public Schools teacher with a master’s degree, on the highest step, earns $74,341. It’s the same in Honolulu and Arlington.
Where teachers win
New York flips it: the new teacher starts $12,734 ahead
A new NYC teacher starts at $71,314. A rookie NYPD officer starts at $58,580. Teachers start ahead in only 5 cities: Atlanta, San Antonio, New Orleans, Chicago, New York.
Start vs. top
Cops start ahead almost everywhere. At the top of the scale, it gets close.
Rookie cops start higher in 37 of 42 cities. Compare the top step for a cop with the top step for a teacher with a master’s degree, and cops lead in 19 of 29.
The finish line
Riverside cops reach top pay in 4.5 years. In Chicago it takes 25.
The top step is the most a regular officer earns in base pay, before longevity and extra pay. How fast you get there depends a lot on the city.
Every city: starting pay
Rookie cop New teacher (bachelor’s)
The map: who starts ahead
Cop starts higher Teacher starts higher · bigger dot, bigger gap
The full table
Starting pay is a rookie sworn officer vs. a new teacher with a bachelor’s degree. Top pay is the top police step vs. the top step for a teacher with a master’s degree. Click a department or district for the full pay schedule. Download the CSV
| City | Rookie cop | New teacher | Gap at start | Top cop step | Top teacher step |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seattle, WA | $117,792 | $64,758 | Cop +$53,034 | $154,248 | $121,803 |
| San Francisco, CA | $121,654 | $77,499 | Cop +$44,155 | $154,934 | — |
| Santa Ana, CA | $110,052 | $72,692 | Cop +$37,360 | $133,776 | $142,258 |
| Irvine, CA | $106,766 | $71,665 | Cop +$35,101 | $171,309 | — |
| Honolulu, HI | $87,108 | $55,259 | Cop +$31,849 | $118,680 | $85,018 |
| Minneapolis, MN | $86,588 | $55,796 | Cop +$30,792 | $112,166 | $97,679 |
| Tampa, FL | $77,937 | $48,351 | Cop +$29,586 | $126,547 | $74,341 |
| Portland, OR | $84,053 | $57,206 | Cop +$26,847 | $119,662 | $97,526 |
| Riverside, CA | $100,980 | $74,796 | Cop +$26,184 | $128,844 | $121,572 |
| Sacramento, CA | $89,383 | $64,225 | Cop +$25,158 | $119,781 | $95,127 |
| Lincoln, NE | $74,568 | $50,156 | Cop +$24,412 | $105,414 | $87,189 |
| Arlington, TX | $90,499 | $66,100 | Cop +$24,399 | $115,540 | $84,600 |
| Anchorage, AK | $85,405 | $61,454 | Cop +$23,951 | — | — |
| Long Beach, CA | $97,635 | $74,069 | Cop +$23,566 | $126,942 | $139,095 |
| Denver, CO | $81,046 | $58,667 | Cop +$22,379 | $115,780 | $103,342 |
| Oklahoma City, OK | $67,735 | $45,550 | Cop +$22,185 | $81,933 | $71,535 |
| Colorado Springs, CO | $73,548 | $52,025 | Cop +$21,523 | $102,396 | $75,612 |
| Austin, TX | $78,627 | $58,069 | Cop +$20,558 | $143,578 | — |
| Mesa, AZ | $76,418 | $55,886 | Cop +$20,532 | $107,260 | — |
| Albuquerque, NM | $79,248 | $59,210 | Cop +$20,038 | $86,091 | $86,844 |
| Wichita, KS | $70,975 | $52,401 | Cop +$18,574 | — | $73,962 |
| Los Angeles, CA | $93,730 | $75,311 | Cop +$18,419 | $127,660 | $130,794 |
| Philadelphia, PA | $74,831 | $57,444 | Cop +$17,387 | $104,191 | $96,832 |
| Louisville, KY | $66,768 | $49,480 | Cop +$17,288 | $100,318 | $90,369 |
| Nashville, TN | $70,904 | $54,521 | Cop +$16,383 | $109,168 | $85,036 |
| Columbus, OH | $74,227 | $57,862 | Cop +$16,365 | $113,706 | $117,784 |
| Pittsburgh, PA | $68,952 | $53,229 | Cop +$15,723 | $84,864 | $108,836 |
| San Diego, CA | $77,688 | $62,503 | Cop +$15,185 | $119,725 | $132,292 |
| Memphis, TN | $66,975 | $51,828 | Cop +$15,147 | $81,001 | $78,621 |
| Tucson, AZ | $65,499 | $51,400 | Cop +$14,099 | — | — |
| Lexington, KY | $64,424 | $50,586 | Cop +$13,838 | — | $93,396 |
| Dallas, TX | $81,232 | $68,000 | Cop +$13,232 | $102,304 | — |
| Fresno, CA | $81,120 | $69,251 | Cop +$11,869 | $121,080 | — |
| Fort Worth, TX | $78,358 | $67,725 | Cop +$10,633 | $109,857 | $87,302 |
| Charlotte, NC | $59,502 | $48,943 | Cop +$10,559 | $96,703 | $77,972 |
| Bakersfield, CA | $74,152 | $65,429 | Cop +$8,723 | $90,318 | $91,521 |
| Virginia Beach, VA | $61,734 | $57,801 | Cop +$3,933 | $109,512 | — |
| Atlanta, GA | $60,987 | $62,434 | Teacher +$1,447 | $82,435 | $103,596 |
| San Antonio, TX | $58,452 | $61,000 | Teacher +$2,548 | $79,620 | $79,490 |
| New Orleans, LA | $54,421 | $57,500 | Teacher +$3,079 | — | $77,870 |
| Chicago, IL | $63,636 | $69,731 | Teacher +$6,095 | $127,146 | — |
| New York, NY | $58,580 | $71,314 | Teacher +$12,734 | $121,589 | $141,384 |
| Baltimore, MD | $68,359 | Not in our data | — | $124,316 | — |
| Detroit, MI | Not in our data | $55,000 | — | — | $93,000 |
How we did this
We matched each city police department in our data to the public school district in the same city. When a city has more than one district, we used the one named for the city, or the largest. San Antonio uses Northside ISD, the largest district in the city. Phoenix is left out because no single district covers most of the city.
All numbers are base pay from the official pay schedules linked on each department and district page. They leave out overtime, extra pay, longevity pay, and benefits. Police “top pay” is the top step for a regular officer. Teacher top pay is the top step for a teacher with a master’s degree, since most career teachers move up to that lane.
Caveats
- Teachers are paid for a school-year contract. Officers work all year. We compare yearly base pay as published.
- Some cities pay recruits the same rate in the academy as after they are sworn in.
- Detroit police pay is left out. The department posts a pay range, not starting and top steps.
- Chicago teacher pay is the salary row. The contract also lists a “total comp” figure that adds a 7% pension pickup.
- Philadelphia’s starting cop pay is the sworn rate after six months. Recruits earn less in the academy.
- New Orleans teacher pay is the NOLA Public Schools scale for schools the district runs itself. Most New Orleans schools are charters with their own pay.
- Hillsborough County (Tampa) and Detroit schools had not posted 2026–27 teacher schedules, so we used 2025–26.
- Years to top pay are shown only where the official schedule states them.
- Bakersfield’s teacher figures are from Kern High School District, which covers grades 9 to 12.
- When a number is not in our data, we say so. We don’t estimate it.
Teacher pay comes from our sister site, Teacher Salary Schedules, which publishes district pay schedules for every state.