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Bay 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.
Bay County Sheriff's Office starts at $57,200 a year — about $27.50 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $11,190 below the median of the 1,681 agencies on this list, and $8,174 below the median for county agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in Panama City-Panama City Beach, FL run about 3% below the national average, so this goes about as far as $58,790 would somewhere at average prices — $1,590 more than the headline figure. That average hides a wide spread: utilities at 88, where goods are 96. Based on price levels for this metropolitan 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 isBay County Sheriff's Office reported 252 sworn officers and 289 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.
What Bay County says about itself
We will be relentless against criminals, compassionate to victims, responsive to citizens and will work with our community to keep bay county safe.
What Bay County does
Bay County Sheriff's Office describes the Deputy Sheriff role as law-enforcement work including arrests, traffic control, crash investigation, public assistance and interpretation of state law and county ordinances, requiring Florida Law Enforcement Officer certification.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 10 August 2026. Bay County Sheriff's Office official Position Vacancy Announcement, Deputy Sheriff — open the source document
Open 2025 announcement; entry-level compensation stated as $57,750, broken into $57,200 base plus $550 Retention/Longevity Pay. Base pay only, so $57,200 is recorded and the longevity element excluded.
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 Bay 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. Bay County starts at $57,200, so $8,174 below the county middle.
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How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Bay County Sheriff's Office officer make?
Bay County Sheriff's Office starts a new officer on $57,200 a year, about $27.50 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 Bay County Sheriff's Office official Position Vacancy Announcement, Deputy Sheriff.
Is that good pay for a police officer in Florida?
It ranks #110 of 141 agencies we have verified in Florida — 31 pay less, 109 pay more in the state — and #1,365 of 1,681 nationally. Against the national median it is $11,190 below, and against other county agencies $8,174 below.
Compare with another department
Put Bay 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 FL
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Bay | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Boca Raton Police Services Department | Municipal | 195 | $86,674 | +$29,474 | #270 |
| 2 | Fort Lauderdale Police Department | Municipal | 565 | $81,723 | +$24,523 | #354 |
| 3 | Plantation Police Department | Municipal | 164 | $81,000 | +$23,800 | #379 |
| 4 | Pinecrest Police Department | Municipal | 47 | $80,912 | +$23,712 | #383 |
| 5 | Sunny Isles Beach Police Department | Municipal | 65 | $80,000 | +$22,800 | #411 |
| 6 | Aventura Police Department | Municipal | 91 | $78,556 | +$21,356 | #441 |
| 7 | Coral Springs Police Department | Municipal | 222 | $77,516 | +$20,316 | #470 |
| 8 | Boynton Beach Police Department | Municipal | 173 | $76,650 | +$19,450 | #490 |
| 9 | North Palm Beach Police Department | Municipal | 37 | $76,378 | +$19,178 | #497 |
| 10 | Naples Police Department | Municipal | 74 | $76,320 | +$19,120 | #501 |
| 11 | West Palm Beach Police Department | Municipal | 295 | $75,921 | +$18,721 | #524 |
| 12 | Bay Harbor Islands Police Department | Municipal | 24 | $75,836 | +$18,636 | #528 |
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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