City of Cincinnati / Police Recruit
Role across City of Cincinnati
Police Recruit
Enforce laws and maintain public safety — patrol, respond to incidents, investigate crimes, and make arrests.
58 people hold the Police Recruit role across 1 department in City of Cincinnati, with a median total compensation of $60,242. Among 6 jurisdictions where this role is reported, City of Cincinnati ranks #2 by median pay.
- Employees
- 58
- Median pay
- $60,242
- Departments
- 1
- Cross-jurisdiction
- #2 of 6
Compared with the local labor market
Police Recruit pay vs. the Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN area
Across all employers in the Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN area, the median wage for Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers — about 3,900 people — is $80,410. City of Cincinnati pays a median base salary of $60,242 for this role, 25% below that figure — about the 16th percentile of local pay for the occupation.
Where City of Cincinnati sits in the local pay range
The bar is the range of annual wages for Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers across every employer in the Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN area, from the 10th to the 90th percentile, with the middle 50% highlighted. The marker shows City of Cincinnati’s median base salary for this role. Both figures are base pay only.
And across the country
Nationwide, the median wage for Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers — about 670,520 people — is $76,210. City of Cincinnati’s median base salary is 21% below that national figure, about the 26th 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 Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN range relative to the national one.
Median total compensation for this role at City of Cincinnati is $60,242, 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
Police Recruit pay in other jurisdictions
Where Police Recruits are paid most
Median total compensation for comparable Police Recruitroles in other jurisdictions (highest first). Titles are matched by normalized name across sources, not by identical job classification, and pay is not cost-of-living adjusted. Each bar links to that jurisdiction’s page for this role.