Police Officer Salary in Missouri (2026)

Worth knowing: Kansas City Police Department's state-controlled governance is the structural anomaly most national police-market surveys miss. Unlike virtually every major US city, KCPD is governed by a five-member Board of Police Commissioners appointed by the Missouri Governor (with the KC mayor as an ex-officio member) — a legacy of post-Civil War Reconstruction-era state intervention that has persisted to present day, making KC the only major US city where the local mayor cannot directly control the police department. St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department returned to local mayoral control in 2013 via Proposition A (a separate Prop A from the 2018 RTW referendum — Missouri voters approve a lot of Propositions). MO Highway Patrol operates statewide with troopers earning $65-115K w/OT including investigative specialty premiums. The 2025 OBBBA No Tax on Overtime federal deduction applies through 2028 — police officer extra-duty + court overtime + special-events policing pay qualifies, producing $3,500-5,500 annual federal savings at typical senior officer comp tiers. The 1% city earnings tax in St. Louis AND Kansas City applies to officer wages earned within city limits — STL Metro PD officers and KCPD officers pay the additional 1% on city-earned wages; suburban PD officers and MO Highway Patrol troopers based outside the two major cities avoid it.