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Chelan 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.
Chelan County Sheriff's Office starts at $82,143 a year — about $39.49 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $13,753 above the median of the 1,681 agencies on this list, and $16,769 above the median for county agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in Wenatchee-East Wenatchee, WA run about 4% above the national average, so this is worth roughly $79,094 somewhere at average prices — $3,049 less than the headline figure. Most of that is rent, at 115 against a national average of 100, where goods are 105. 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 isChelan County Sheriff's Office reported 61 sworn officers and 18 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 Chelan County
Chelan County Sheriff's Office provides patrol, investigations, corrections, civil, court-security, marine, search-and-rescue and emergency services. Official County materials emphasize professional public safety, service, integrity and community partnership.
Shifts at Chelan County
Chelan County deputies work 12-hour shifts, with an 18-month probationary period for entry-level deputies and 12 months for laterals.
The agency publishes the shift length but not a named cycle. These are the 12-hour rotations departments most often build on it: Pitman, 4 on, 4 off, DuPont, Panama.
A 12-hour rotation drifts across the week, so the day you are free is different every month. Build the pattern once in BlueShifts and the calendar fills itself as far ahead as you want to look — and the deputies here accrue 8 hours of Kelly time a month for working 12s, which is the kind of thing worth having on the same screen as the shifts that earned it.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 15 August 2026. Chelan County Human Resources — Field Deputy posting, salary range by step — open the source document
Chelan County publishes the deputy scale in monthly steps: steps 1-3 $6,845.29 to $7,546.74 and steps 4-6 $7,923.92 to $8,735.59, plus longevity from ten years under the Teamsters contract. Step 1 at $6,845.29 a month is $82,143.48 a year. The county runs 12-hour shifts.
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.
BlueShifts. Plan Your Year. Own Your Time.
The shift calendar built for your rotation, off-duty work, and life on and off the clock.
Save your shift schedule once and BlueShifts fills the rest of the year in.
How this level compares
Where Chelan 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. Chelan County starts at $82,143, so $16,769 above the county middle.
How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Chelan County Sheriff's Office officer make?
Chelan County Sheriff's Office starts a new officer on $82,143 a year, about $39.49 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 Chelan County Human Resources — Field Deputy posting, salary range by step.
Is that good pay for a police officer in Washington?
It ranks #52 of 76 agencies we have verified in Washington — 24 pay less, 51 pay more in the state — and #345 of 1,681 nationally. Against the national median it is $13,753 above, and against other county agencies $16,769 above.
What shifts do Chelan County Sheriff's Office officers work?
Chelan County deputies work 12-hour shifts, with an 18-month probationary period for entry-level deputies and 12 months for laterals. That is the agency's own published wording; the pattern is drawn on this page.
Compare with another department
Put Chelan 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 WA
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Chelan | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Seattle Police Department | Municipal | 1,064 | $117,792 | +$35,649 | #35 |
| 2 | Redmond Police Department | Municipal | 81 | $110,435 | +$28,292 | #52 |
| 3 | Auburn Police Department | Municipal | 120 | $108,386 | +$26,243 | #57 |
| 4 | Everett Police Department | Municipal | 207 | $102,516 | +$20,373 | #81 |
| 5 | Vancouver Police Department | Municipal | 226 | $101,832 | +$19,689 | #85 |
| 6 | Kirkland Police Department | Municipal | 108 | $101,218 | +$19,074 | #92 |
| 7 | Tukwila Police Department | Municipal | 76 | $101,064 | +$18,921 | #94 |
| 8 | Mount Vernon Police Department | Municipal | 43 | $100,836 | +$18,693 | #97 |
| 9 | Edmonds Police Department | Municipal | 48 | $99,168 | +$17,025 | #108 |
| 10 | Tacoma Police Department | Municipal | 343 | $98,571 | +$16,428 | #111 |
| 11 | Issaquah Police Department | Municipal | 36 | $98,150 | +$16,007 | #114 |
| 12 | Renton Police Department | Municipal | 132 | $97,692 | +$15,549 | #117 |
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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