City of Boston / Boston Police Department / Police Detective
Job-title file
Enforce laws and maintain public safety — patrol, respond to incidents, investigate crimes, and make arrests.
265 employees hold this title in Boston Police Department. Median total compensation for the role is $213,203, above the department median of $178,751.
What the records show
How total compensation varies among the 265 people in this role. Even for one job title, pay differs with seniority, step, overtime, and tenure. Each bar is a pay range; the far-right bar collects the highest earners.
Compared with the local labor market
Across all employers in the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH area, the median wage for Detectives and Criminal Investigators — about 1,110 people — is $110,150. Boston Police Department pays a median base salary of $129,284 for this role, 17% above that figure — about the 62nd percentile of local pay for the occupation.
The bar is the range of annual wages for Detectives and Criminal Investigators across every employer in the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH area, from the 10th to the 90th percentile, with the middle 50% highlighted. The marker shows Boston Police Department’s median base salary for this role. Both figures are base pay only.
And across the country
Nationwide, the median wage for Detectives and Criminal Investigators — about 114,430 people — is $93,790. Boston Police Department’s median base salary is 38% above that national figure, about the 78th percentile of pay for the occupation nationally.
Local and national wages differ for reasons beyond how well a job pays — cost of living, the mix of employers, and local demand for the occupation all move the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH range relative to the national one.
Computed over the 254 of 265 people in this role paid at least $25,000in base salary. The rest are part-year or part-time records, whose actual pay isn’t comparable to a full-time annual wage.
Median total compensation for this role at Boston Police Department is $213,203, which includes overtime and employer-paid benefits. The benchmark above excludes both, so total compensation is deliberately not compared against it.
Benchmark: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (May 2025). BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) covers all employers in the area — private, non-profit, and government alike — so this is a comparison against the whole local labor market for the occupation, not against private-sector pay. OEWS wages are straight-time pay and exclude overtime, shift differentials, and employer-paid benefits, so the government figure shown here is base pay on the same basis. Total compensation is not comparable to it. Job titles are matched to the closest standard occupation, so the comparison is between similar work rather than an identical job classification.
Compare jurisdictions
This role is reported in 2 jurisdictions. In City of Boston, the median of $213,203 ranks #2 of 2. See Police Detective across all of City of Boston →
Median total compensation for comparable Police Detectiveroles in other jurisdictions. Titles are matched by normalized name across sources, not identical job classification, and pay is not cost-of-living adjusted. Each bar links to that jurisdiction’s page for the role.
Record list
Page 1
Police Detective/Boston Police Department
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Timothy Lawless holds the role of Police Detective at Boston Police Department. In 2024, their total compensation was $169,788.
Police Detective/Boston Police Department
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At Boston Police Department, Mary Rooney serves as a Police Detective. Their 2024 pay totaled $168,823.
Police Detective/Boston Police Department
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David Williams is a Police Detective at Boston Police Department. 2024 total compensation came to $167,362.
Police Detective/Boston Police Department
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At Boston Police Department, Matthew Albanese serves as a Police Detective. Their 2024 pay totaled $167,079.
Police Detective/Boston Police Department
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At Boston Police Department, Kenneth Curley serves as a Police Detective. Their 2024 pay totaled $166,732.
Police Detective/Boston Police Department
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At Boston Police Department, Amy Hamilton serves as a Police Detective. Their 2024 pay totaled $166,364.
Police Detective/Boston Police Department
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David Hyslip holds the role of Police Detective at Boston Police Department. In 2024, their total compensation was $164,201.
Police Detective/Boston Police Department
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John Woods holds the role of Police Detective at Boston Police Department. In 2024, their total compensation was $161,617.
Police Detective/Boston Police Department
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Jeffrey Callahan is a Police Detective at Boston Police Department. 2024 total compensation came to $161,524.
Police Detective/Boston Police Department
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Tisha Murphy holds the role of Police Detective at Boston Police Department. In 2024, their total compensation was $160,703.
Police Detective/Boston Police Department
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Jessica Gardner works as a Police Detective for Boston Police Department. Jessica earned $159,405 in 2024.
Police Detective/Boston Police Department
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At Boston Police Department, Peter Zographos serves as a Police Detective. Their 2024 pay totaled $158,526.
Police Detective/Boston Police Department
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Joanna Sariles holds the role of Police Detective at Boston Police Department. In 2024, their total compensation was $155,671.