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Adams County Sheriff's Office entry pay
What this agency pays a new officer to start, and how that compares with the rest of the country.
Entry pay onlyEvery salary here is what an officer is paid on day one, out of the academy — base pay on a 40-hour week, with no overtime, shift differential, specialty or education pay counted. Nobody stays on it.
Adams County Sheriff's Office starts at $66,581 a year — about $32.01 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $1,809 below the median of the 1,681 agencies on this list, and $1,206 above the median for county agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in rural Wisconsin run about 10% below the national average, so this goes about as far as $74,328 would somewhere at average prices — $7,747 more than the headline figure. Most of that is rent, at 63 against a national average of 100, where goods are 94. Based on price levels for the non-metropolitan part of this state, because this agency is outside every metro area, from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, 2024. The salary above is what the employer publishes; this line is our arithmetic on it, and nothing on this site is ranked on it.
How big the department isAdams County Sheriff's Office reported 27 sworn officers and 28 civilian staff to the FBI for 2025.No rate is shown: this agency does not police a single population the FBI publishes a figure for. Reporting to the FBI is voluntary, so a count can reflect a partial return as easily as a small agency, and the FBI asks that agencies not be compared on staffing. Source: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, Full-time Law Enforcement Employees, 2025.
About Adams County
Adams County Sheriff's Office covers central Wisconsin's seventeen townships plus the Village of Friendship and the City of Adams, and assists the police departments in Adams, the Township of Rome and Wisconsin Dells. Its deputies enforce the law, serve civil process, investigate complaints and crashes and make referrals to the District Attorney. Two full-time deputies are assigned to the Adams-Friendship School District, and a full-time recreation enforcement deputy covers boat, snowmobile and ATV patrol across the county's 26 lakes — work funded largely through a state DNR reimbursement programme. The office also runs the county jail and a 911 dispatch center.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 8 August 2026. Wisconsin Department of Justice WILENET official employment posting — — open the source document
2026 recruitment; application deadline 13 July 2026; salary range $32.01-$46.41
Entry-level base salary only. Overtime, bonuses, education incentives, shift
differentials, locality pay and lateral rates are excluded, so most officers earn more
than this.
How this level compares
Where Adams County sits is partly about the agency and partly about which level of policing it belongs to. The three levels do not pay the same.
| Level | Lowest | Median | Highest | Agencies |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Municipal | $35,006 | $71,287 | $163,619 | 1046 |
| County | $36,492 | $65,374 | $132,263 | 416 |
| Special jurisdiction | $31,200 | $60,195 | $107,954 | 69 |
| State | $33,994 | $64,998 | $102,692 | 143 |
| Federal | $70,477 | $73,502 | $86,530 | 5 |
| Territory | $16,640 | $28,236 | $43,354 | 9 |
Federal agencies pay the most to start
The middle federal agency starts at $73,502 — about $2,200 more than the middle municipal agency and about $8,100 more than the middle county agency and about $13,300 more than the middle special jurisdiction agency and about $8,500 more than the middle state agency and about $45,300 more than the middle territory agency. Adams County starts at $66,581, so $1,207 above the county middle.
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How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Adams County Sheriff's Office officer make?
Adams County Sheriff's Office starts a new officer on $66,581 a year, about $32.01 an hour on a 2,080-hour year. That is base salary before overtime, bonuses, education incentives, shift differentials and locality pay, so most serving officers earn more. The figure comes from Wisconsin Department of Justice WILENET official employment posting —.
Is that good pay for a police officer in Wisconsin?
It ranks #43 of 74 agencies we have verified in Wisconsin — 31 pay less, 42 pay more in the state — and #942 of 1,681 nationally. Against the national median it is $1,809 below, and against other county agencies $1,206 above.
Compare with another department
Put Adams County Sheriff's Office side by side with any other agency on the site — the two salaries, what each is worth once local prices are counted, and which comes out ahead.
The agencies either side of it
Other agencies in WI
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Adams | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Menomonee Falls Police Department | Municipal | 59 | $82,618 | +$16,037 | #339 |
| 2 | Fitchburg Police Department | Municipal | 50 | $78,790 | +$12,210 | #432 |
| 3 | Brookfield Police Department | Municipal | 80 | $78,666 | +$12,085 | #438 |
| 4 | Cedarburg Police Department | Municipal | 24 | $77,561 | +$10,980 | #469 |
| 5 | Stoughton Police Department | Municipal | 23 | $76,378 | +$9,797 | #498 |
| 6 | Waukesha County Sheriff's Office | County | 158 | $76,128 | +$9,547 | #505 |
| 7 | River Falls Police Department | Municipal | 27 | $75,525 | +$8,944 | #535 |
| 8 | Grafton Police Department | Municipal | 22 | $75,102 | +$8,521 | #555 |
| 9 | Dodge County Sheriff's Office | County | 64 | $75,088 | +$8,507 | #556 |
| 10 | St. Croix County Sheriff's Office | County | 98 | $74,695 | +$8,115 | #568 |
| 11 | Kenosha Police Department | Municipal | 231 | $74,640 | +$8,059 | #572 |
| 12 | Glendale Police Department | Municipal | 39 | $74,040 | +$7,459 | #592 |
Base pay is only part of the year
Whatever the figure above, the rotation is what decides your year — which weekends you lose, when the changeovers land, what you can plan around. Save yours once and BlueShifts shows it a year ahead, with the off-duty jobs you take and what each one paid.
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