The newest Illinois state troopers can count on a bigger payday.

Illinois State Police director Brendan Kelly (pictured) says graduates from the academy will get a starting salary of $90,000.

“Any young person – or even a person in the middle of changing careers – thinking about what what they want to do, they obviously have to weigh those various factors, including what their compensation is going to be,” said Kelly. “We want to make that decision a little bit easier for them, knowing that they will be receiving appropriate pay and benefits, so they can live a life an plan a life and have a good retirement as well.”

Kelly says this reflects the competition for good people, and the need to make service in the state police more of a career for everyone involved.

The new minimum is nothing to sneeze at. Says a state police spokeswoman via e-mail to WTAX News, “As of January 1, 2023, a first year trooper was earning approximately $76,500.  That’s $71,676 salary plus additional compensation (shift differential, uniform, hazardous duty pay).”

Kelly credited the state’s financial condition and string of balanced budgets for the ability to afford the higher salaries.