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Chester 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.
Chester County Sheriff's Office starts at $57,720 a year — about $27.75 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $10,670 below the median of the 1,681 agencies on this list, and $7,654 below the median for county agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD run about 3% above the national average, so this is worth roughly $56,283 somewhere at average prices — $1,437 less than the headline figure. That average hides a wide spread: utilities at 114, 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 isChester County Sheriff's Office reported 59 sworn officers and 27 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 Chester County says about itself
Established in 1676 with the appointment of the first Sheriff, our office honors a rich history while embracing modern practices to ensure public safety. We pride ourselves on integrity, professionalism, and community engagement, striving to build trust and foster a safe environment for all.
What Chester County does
The Chester County Sheriff's Office describes itself as a full-service law-enforcement agency serving Chester County with sworn deputies, civilian personnel and specialized units. Its services include court security and warrant enforcement, fugitive apprehension, protective intelligence, K-9, mobile field force, law enforcement and community engagement
Where the figure comes from
Checked 10 August 2026. Chester County Deputy Sheriff I continuous recruitment — open the source document
Their source is effective 3 April 2025.
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 Chester 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. Chester County starts at $57,720, so $7,654 below the county middle.
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How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Chester County Sheriff's Office officer make?
Chester County Sheriff's Office starts a new officer on $57,720 a year, about $27.75 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 Chester County Deputy Sheriff I continuous recruitment.
Is that good pay for a police officer in Pennsylvania?
It ranks #13 of 23 agencies we have verified in Pennsylvania — 10 pay less, 12 pay more in the state — and #1,344 of 1,681 nationally. Against the national median it is $10,670 below, and against other county agencies $7,654 below.
Compare with another department
Put Chester 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 PA
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Chester | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Abington Township Police Department | Municipal | — | $103,421 | +$45,701 | #71 |
| 2 | Lower Merion Township Police Department | Municipal | 118 | $90,162 | +$32,442 | #212 |
| 3 | Pennsylvania State Police | State | 4,634 | $73,087 | +$15,367 | #624 |
| 4 | Philadelphia Police Department | Municipal | 5,065 | $72,651 | +$14,931 | #643 |
| 5 | Allentown Police Department | Municipal | 215 | $72,607 | +$14,887 | #645 |
| 6 | Manheim Township Police Department | Municipal | 63 | $72,334 | +$14,614 | #651 |
| 7 | Pittsburgh Bureau of Police | Municipal | — | $68,952 | +$11,232 | #817 |
| 8 | Gettysburg Borough Police Department | Municipal | — | $63,232 | +$5,512 | #1,101 |
| 9 | Northampton County Sheriff's Department | County | 59 | $60,606 | +$2,886 | #1,209 |
| 10 | York County Sheriff's Office | County | 107 | $58,344 | +$624 | #1,303 |
| 11 | Harrisburg Bureau of Police | Municipal | — | $58,100 | +$380 | #1,316 |
| 12 | Lancaster County Sheriff's Office | County | 55 | $57,803 | +$83 | #1,338 |
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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