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Berkeley 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.
Berkeley County Sheriff's Office starts at $59,187 a year — about $28.46 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $9,203 below the median of the 1,681 agencies on this list, and $6,187 below the median for county agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in Hagerstown-Martinsburg, MD-WV run about 6% below the national average, so this goes about as far as $62,851 would somewhere at average prices — $3,664 more than the headline figure. Most of that is rent, at 76 against a national average of 100, 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 isBerkeley County Sheriff's Office reported 64 sworn officers and 9 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 Berkeley County
Berkeley County recruits deputy sheriffs through its Civil Service Commission and provides paid academy and training, an established salary-step program, a wage increase after academy graduation, and a take-home vehicle after field training. Deputies may receive assignments including patrol-related duties, K-9, judicial security and school-resource work
Where the figure comes from
Checked 10 August 2026. Berkeley County Civil Service Commission Application Process — open the source document
Their source is effective 18 February 2026.
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 Berkeley 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. Berkeley County starts at $59,187, so $6,187 below the county middle.
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How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Berkeley County Sheriff's Office officer make?
Berkeley County Sheriff's Office starts a new officer on $59,187 a year, about $28.46 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 Berkeley County Civil Service Commission Application Process.
Is that good pay for a police officer in West Virginia?
It ranks #1 of 10 agencies we have verified in West Virginia — the highest in the state in the state — and #1,280 of 1,681 nationally. Against the national median it is $9,203 below, and against other county agencies $6,187 below.
Compare with another department
Put Berkeley 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 WV
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Berkeley | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Morgantown Police Department | Municipal | 57 | $58,157 | −$1,030 | #1,312 |
| 3 | Huntington Police Department | Municipal | 95 | $57,787 | −$1,400 | #1,340 |
| 4 | Charleston Police Department | Municipal | 152 | $57,485 | −$1,702 | #1,361 |
| 5 | Kanawha County Sheriff's Office | County | 95 | $57,054 | −$2,133 | #1,367 |
| 6 | Martinsburg Police Department | Municipal | 34 | $55,710 | −$3,477 | #1,404 |
| 7 | Jefferson County Sheriff's Office | County | 34 | $55,125 | −$4,062 | #1,424 |
| 8 | Fairmont Police Department | Municipal | 33 | $53,597 | −$5,590 | #1,484 |
| 9 | West Virginia State Police | State | 440 | $45,784 | −$13,403 | #1,617 |
| 10 | West Virginia Division of Natural Resources — Natural Resources Police | State | — | $33,994 | −$25,193 | #1,673 |
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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