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Buncombe 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.
Buncombe County Sheriff's Office starts at $45,469 a year — about $21.86 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $22,921 below the median of the 1,681 agencies on this list, and $19,906 below the median for county agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in Asheville, NC run about 3% below the national average, so this goes about as far as $47,115 would somewhere at average prices — $1,646 more than the headline figure. Most of that is utilities, at 89 against a national average of 100, where goods are 97. 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 isBuncombe County Sheriff's Office reported 188 sworn officers and 146 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 Buncombe County says about itself
To serve our community as the premier law enforcement leader into the 21st century and beyond.
What Buncombe County does
Buncombe County Sheriff's Office provides patrol, investigations, detention, court-security, civil-process and specialized public-safety services. Official County materials emphasize professional law enforcement, public safety, accountability and community partnership.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 8 August 2026. Buncombe County official Workday posting — Sheriff Deputy — open the source document
Current official recruitment verified 8 August 2026; external hiring range begins $21.86/hour, annualized at $45,468.80; BLET-completed entry-level sworn applicants accepted
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 Buncombe 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. Buncombe County starts at $45,469, so $19,905 below the county middle.
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How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Buncombe County Sheriff's Office officer make?
Buncombe County Sheriff's Office starts a new officer on $45,469 a year, about $21.86 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 Buncombe County official Workday posting — Sheriff Deputy.
Is that good pay for a police officer in North Carolina?
It ranks #40 of 40 agencies we have verified in North Carolina — 0 pay less, 39 pay more in the state — and #1,624 of 1,681 nationally. Against the national median it is $22,921 below, and against other county agencies $19,906 below.
Compare with another department
Put Buncombe 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 NC
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Buncombe | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Knightdale Police Department | Municipal | 45 | $67,363 | +$21,894 | #902 |
| 2 | Cary Police Department | Municipal | 194 | $65,104 | +$19,635 | #1,012 |
| 3 | Wake Forest Police Department | Municipal | 96 | $65,093 | +$19,624 | #1,013 |
| 4 | Appalachian State University Police Department | Special jurisdiction | 36 | $64,084 | +$18,615 | #1,057 |
| 5 | North Carolina State Highway Patrol | State | — | $63,250 | +$17,781 | #1,100 |
| 6 | Johnston County Sheriff's Office | County | 124 | $62,213 | +$16,744 | #1,147 |
| 7 | Chapel Hill Police Department | Municipal | 82 | $61,451 | +$15,982 | #1,176 |
| 8 | Raleigh Police Department | Municipal | 713 | $61,417 | +$15,948 | #1,177 |
| 9 | Duke University Police Department | Special jurisdiction | 57 | $60,195 | +$14,726 | #1,227 |
| 10 | Greensboro Police Department | Municipal | 582 | $59,509 | +$14,040 | #1,268 |
| 11 | Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department | Municipal | 1,702 | $59,502 | +$14,033 | #1,269 |
| 12 | Rolesville Police Department | Municipal | 25 | $59,304 | +$13,835 | #1,274 |
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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