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Clark 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.
Clark County Sheriff's Office starts at $60,070 a year — about $28.88 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $6,614 below the median of the 2,288 agencies on this list, and $3,489 below the median for county agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in rural Wisconsin run about 10% below the national average, so this goes about as far as $67,060 would somewhere at average prices — $6,990 more than the headline figure. Most of that is rent, at 63 against a national average of 100, where goods are 94. Based on price levels for the non-metropolitan part of this state, because this agency is outside every metro 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 isClark County Sheriff's Office reported 31 sworn officers and 29 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 Clark County says about itself
The safety of Clark County's 34 townships and 15 cities and villages rests at the hands of our committed and highly trained communications deputies 24 hours a day, 365 days per year. They are the central nervous system of the county, keeping the flow of communication open between the fine citizens of our county and the emergent and non-emergent service we are able to provide. The Communications Center is staffed by 12 full-time deputies whose experience spans from two months to 25 years.
What Clark County does
Clark County Sheriff's Office polices a large rural county in west-central Wisconsin from Neillsville, covering seven cities, five villages, 33 townships and 23 unincorporated communities. Its patrol division is 19 deputies — among them four shift sergeants, two recreational deputies, a K-9 deputy and two courthouse security deputies — working four rotating 12-hour shifts on a 2-3-2 rotation. A detective division of a captain and six detectives carries specialised training in internet crimes against children, sensitive crimes and arson, with one detective working as drug investigator on the West Central Drug Task Force.
Clark County’s rotation, in BlueShifts
Clark County runs four rotating 12-hour shifts on a 2-3-2 rotation — two on, two off, three on, two off, two on, three off.
The rotation template screen — enter the cycle and the start date, and you are done.
DayNight24 hrsOff
Every month, already filled in — no typing, however far ahead you look.
September 2026
This cycle has its own page: how it works, and how to build it.
Four platoons on a 2-3-2 rotation means the team you work with and the days you are off both move through the cycle. BlueShifts holds the pattern and shares it, so the people who need to know when you are on can see it.
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.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 8 August 2026. Wisconsin Department of Justice WILENET official employment posting — — open the source document
2026 recruitment; application deadline 12 June 2026; $28.88-$33.82
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 Clark 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 | $33,280 | $68,140 | $163,619 | 1549 |
| County | $35,000 | $63,565 | $132,263 | 516 |
| Special jurisdiction | $31,200 | $60,204 | $107,954 | 71 |
| State | $33,994 | $65,166 | $110,916 | 145 |
| 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 $5,400 more than the middle municipal agency and about $9,900 more than the middle county agency and about $13,300 more than the middle special jurisdiction agency and about $8,300 more than the middle state agency and about $45,300 more than the middle territory agency. Clark County starts at $60,070, so $3,495 below the county middle.
How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Clark County Sheriff's Office officer make?
Clark County Sheriff's Office starts a new officer on $60,070 a year, about $28.88 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 Wisconsin Department of Justice WILENET official employment posting —.
Is that good pay for a police officer in Wisconsin?
It ranks #74 of 81 agencies we have verified in Wisconsin — 7 pay less, 73 pay more in the state — and #1,559 of 2,288 nationally. Against the national median it is $6,614 below, and against other county agencies $3,489 below.
What shifts do Clark County Sheriff's Office officers work?
Clark County runs four rotating 12-hour shifts on a 2-3-2 rotation — two on, two off, three on, two off, two on, three off. That is the agency's own published wording; the pattern is drawn on this page.
Compare with another department
Put Clark 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 WI
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Clark | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Menomonee Falls Police Department | Municipal | 59 | $82,618 | +$22,547 | #414 |
| 2 | Fitchburg Police Department | Municipal | 50 | $78,790 | +$18,720 | #527 |
| 3 | Brookfield Police Department | Municipal | 80 | $78,666 | +$18,595 | #533 |
| 4 | Cedarburg Police Department | Municipal | 24 | $77,561 | +$17,491 | #571 |
| 5 | Stoughton Police Department | Municipal | 23 | $76,378 | +$16,307 | #607 |
| 6 | Waukesha County Sheriff's Office | County | 158 | $76,128 | +$16,058 | #614 |
| 7 | River Falls Police Department | Municipal | 27 | $75,525 | +$15,454 | #647 |
| 8 | Wisconsin State Patrol | State | 445 | $75,462 | +$15,392 | #650 |
| 9 | Grafton Police Department | Municipal | 22 | $75,102 | +$15,032 | #672 |
| 10 | Dodge County Sheriff's Office | County | 64 | $75,088 | +$15,018 | #673 |
| 11 | St. Croix County Sheriff's Office | County | 98 | $74,695 | +$14,625 | #688 |
| 12 | Kenosha Police Department | Municipal | 231 | $74,640 | +$14,570 | #692 |
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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