Looking for a fresh start and a $20,000 bonus? Jackson, MI, is offering a big payday – but only if you’re up for a challenging job.
The small Midwestern city – named after President Andrew Jackson, who is featured on the $20 bill – has a population of about 32,000 and sits 75 miles west of Detroit.
While once known for its quiet charm, including hosting weekend farmers’ markets, Jackson has been evolving, with a growing downtown and new businesses popping up.
Now, city officials are scrambling to fill police department vacancies and are offering a hefty incentive: move to Jackson, join the force, and pocket $20,000 after earning your badge.
Lieutenant Pete Postma, a 23-year veteran of the department, says one person has just been hired and they are seeing an uptick in applications.
‘If they are qualified and come over here and we hire them, we give them a $20,000 signing bonus and incentive,’ he tells Daily Mail.
Both Michigan residents and out-of-staters are encouraged to apply.
No prior law enforcement experience is required, but applicants must attend a police academy before they can join the force.
Jackson, MI, has a police force with 50 officers and is actively looking for more
Lieutenant Pete Postma, says they are currently seeing an uptick in applications
In Jackson, before you start as an officer, all you have to do is complete a field training program customized to the city. (Like all police officers, they also have to complete a background investigation, a psychological evaluation and have U.S. citizenship.)
‘That’s our law enforcement standard. So if they are a police officer within the state of Michigan, then they are already certified. If they’re coming from a different state, there’s a course that they take as like an abbreviated academy,’ Postma says.
‘Once you’re certified, you’d be entitled to that bonus if we hired you.’
Postma, who was promoted to lieutenant in 2023 and has received the Medal of Valor Award, says with the low cost of living in Jackson, the over $55,000 starting salary is considered competitive.
The JPD job also comes with a comprehensive benefits package that includes a pension program, deferred compensation, health insurance, longevity pay, holiday pay, vacation and sick time, comp time, tuition reimbursement, and gym membership reimbursement.
According to Postma, every day on the job brings its own unique challenges.
‘Every day’s different, obviously. You never know what it’s gonna bring you. In a single day our officers may respond to barking dog complaints, a missing child, domestics all the way up to shots fired, shootings, homicides. We get all ranges of crimes. It’s a full variety,’ he says.
Postma calls the JPD ‘unique,’ and describes it as a medium sized department with around 50 sworn police officers.
Jackson has a population of around 32,000 and sits 75 miles west of Detroit
Jackson has multiple parks and walking trails for residents to enjoy
The department is making sure they have enough officers out there to not only protect the city, but make it safe for the officers to work
Jackson has come a long way in the past 10 years, and is experiencing a revitalization, especially downtown, which has beautiful parks and many restaurants
He says handing out the bonuses is actually a lower cost than training someone who has never had any experience.
‘Hiring somebody that needs to still attend the police academy is a very lengthy process. From the time you hire them to when they complete the police academy to when they complete their field training program to where they make it to solo patrol, it’s roughly ten months,’ he says.
‘So being able to shorten that down to 16 weeks from the day we hire them is a huge incentive for us.’
There’s an ‘immediate need’ for more officers, Postma says, since the department never fully recovered from layoffs during the 2008 recession.
‘When the mortgage crisis happened all cities kind of lost a lot of their budget, their taxable base was gone,’ he says. ‘We had to lay off quite a few people.’
The JPD also offers lateral transfers for officers already on the job across the US, so depending on how many years of service you already have as a police officer, they will pay you four years higher than your rank.
For example, in Jackson, that equals a $64,834 salary for someone with two years of experience, $67,974 for three years, and $71,198 for four years. Those would normally pay $5,000 to $10,000 less at JPD.
As for Jackson, Postma says it’s come a long way in the past 10 years, and is experiencing a revitalization, especially downtown, which has beautiful parks and a rich culture.
Downtown also has many restaurants and holds events, festivals, and kid-friendly things to do most weekends when the weather is warmer. There is also a winter beer and a hot air balloon festival in town.
‘And the cost of living is very reasonable,’ Postma says.
‘Now we’re making sure we have enough officers out there to not only protect the city, but make it safe for the officers to work.’
Outside the Jackson Police Department, which is actively recruiting police officers
The small Kansas town of Neodesha is offering tempting incentives reaching up to $35,000 for people who work remotely to move there in an attempt to bring people back to rural communities
The Midwestern town, which lies roughly two hours from both Kansas City and Wichita, is a charming community home to a little more than 2,300 people
Jackson’s not the only city in the US that is offering cash incentives to move there.
A small Kansas town named Neodesha is offering up to $35,000, tax waivers and quirky incentives to encourage people to move to their rural community.
Neodesha lies roughly two hours from both Kansas City and Wichita. It is a charming town home to a little more than 2,300 people, and it’s now looking to grow.
Like many small communities across the country, the town has experienced a population decline and an aging housing district for years, despite its excellent education opportunities and small-town charm.
These factors combined led to the town being labeled as a ‘brain drain’ – a term used to describe an influx of young, native residents leaving their hometowns in search for other jobs as they pack their bags to pursue new opportunities elsewhere.
Along with the cash, new residents can also receive up to $15,000 in student loan repayment assistance as well as an 100 percent Kansas state income tax waiver through 2026.
