Why police pay is surging in the Twin Cities
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Illustration: Maura Losch/Axios
Minneapolis recently made headlines for increasing police officer pay by 21.7%, but neighboring cities have been boosting police compensation just as much.
By the numbers: Between 2022 and 2025, the average starting salary in the Twin Cities' ten largest departments is set to grow by 23.1%, according to an Axios analysis of their contracts.
Why it matters: The pay boosts are one sign of how fierce competition has become among Minnesota police departments as they struggle to attract and retain the same shrinking pool of officers.
- Departments are preparing to replace high numbers of retirement-eligible veterans, but the number of potential officers taking licensing tests is near a two-decade low.
What they're saying: "It doesn't take a mathematician to figure out that we've got a problem of robbing Peter to pay Paul," said Jim Mortenson, executive director of Law Enforcement Labor Services, the union representing most suburban officers.
Plus: Many departments are sweetening the deal with signing bonuses.
- For example, Brooklyn Park offers $5,000 for "lateral officer candidates" from other departments. Roseville and Golden Valley offer up to $10,000.
Between the lines: Job hopping used to be relatively rare — but officers who did leave were often moving to bigger departments, which offered more opportunities to advance and more work on specialized units.
- Now, the opposite is more likely, former St. Paul police chief Todd Axtell told Axios: officers are leaving for smaller departments, with fewer specialized jobs, in search of higher pay.
Zoom in: Blaine's raise is the most dramatic example, with a nearly 52% increase in starting wages between 2022 and 2023.
- Blaine officials had surveyed other suburban police agencies and discovered "we had some catching up to do," city spokesperson Ben Hayle told Axios. "We want to be known as a department of choice."
Zoom out: Police aren't alone in getting raises. Not since the Great Recession have state and local government workers seen their wages grow this fast.
The fine print: On top of their base salary, many officers already rack up big paychecks with overtime and off-duty work.
Reality check: Reform advocates have repeatedly argued that some police departments won't solve recruitment issues with higher salaries.
- Dave Bicking of Communities United Against Police Brutality said many departments struggle to attract candidates because of their culture.
- "Ironically," Bicking told Axios, "one way to increase the size of your police force would be to get rid of some of the really bad apples."