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Clinton 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.
Clinton County Sheriff's Office starts at $70,200 a year — about $33.75 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $3,515 above the median of the 2,288 agencies on this list, and $6,640 above the median for county agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in rural Iowa run about 16% below the national average, so this goes about as far as $83,495 would somewhere at average prices — $13,295 more than the headline figure. Most of that is rent, at 51 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 isClinton County Sheriff's Office reported 30 sworn officers and 26 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 Clinton County says about itself
The Clinton County Sheriff's Office serves the county from the Law Center at 241 Seventh Avenue North in Clinton, with a satellite office in DeWitt, through five divisions: General Services, Operations, Jail, Civil and Records. Its work includes patrol and operations, jail administration, civil process and sheriff's sales, records, weapon permits, fingerprinting, the sex offender registry, Crime Stoppers, a K-9 unit, a Sheriff's Reserve, a Seniors vs. Crime programme and the D.A.R.E. and school resource officer programmes. The office publishes both an employee and agency compliment form and a formal citizen complaint form, and its office is open Monday to Friday from 8am to 4pm, through the lunch hour.
What Clinton County does
Clinton County describes Deputy Sheriff work as law-enforcement and public-safety work protecting life and property through enforcement of laws and ordinances. Assignments include corrections, patrol and traffic enforcement, criminal investigation, civil process, public-safety education and community-service programs. The Sheriff's Office identifies its divisions as General Services, Operations, Jail, Civil and Records.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 8 August 2026. Clinton County, Iowa — Deputy Sheriff employment posting — open the source document
Posted 3 February 2026; starting salary $33.75/hour; official posting expressly provides a separate application/testing path for applicants who are NOT certified Iowa peace officers and requires Law Enforcement Basic Academy certification within the first six months of employment
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.
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How this level compares
Where Clinton 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. Clinton County starts at $70,200, so $6,635 above the county middle.
How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Clinton County Sheriff's Office officer make?
Clinton County Sheriff's Office starts a new officer on $70,200 a year, about $33.75 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 Clinton County, Iowa — Deputy Sheriff employment posting.
Is that good pay for a police officer in Iowa?
It ranks #15 of 34 agencies we have verified in Iowa — 19 pay less, 14 pay more in the state — and #927 of 2,288 nationally. Against the national median it is $3,515 above, and against other county agencies $6,640 above.
Compare with another department
Put Clinton 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 IA
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Clinton | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Iowa County Sheriff's Office | County | 14 | $85,550 | +$15,350 | #342 |
| 2 | Des Moines Police Department | Municipal | 367 | $84,635 | +$14,435 | #359 |
| 3 | Norwalk Police Department | Municipal | 22 | $76,710 | +$6,510 | #593 |
| 4 | Ankeny Police Department | Municipal | 78 | $76,648 | +$6,448 | #599 |
| 5 | Urbandale Police Department | Municipal | 58 | $76,028 | +$5,828 | #625 |
| 6 | Waterloo Police Department | Municipal | 124 | $74,776 | +$4,576 | #683 |
| 7 | Woodbury County Sheriff's Office | County | 44 | $73,944 | +$3,744 | #721 |
| 8 | Linn County Sheriff's Office | County | 120 | $73,216 | +$3,016 | #746 |
| 9 | Chickasaw County Sheriff's Office | County | 10 | $71,822 | +$1,622 | #827 |
| 10 | Mason City Police Department | Municipal | 40 | $71,448 | +$1,248 | #847 |
| 11 | Dubuque County Sheriff's Office | County | 75 | $70,970 | +$770 | #881 |
| 12 | Johnson County Sheriff's Office | County | 81 | $70,871 | +$671 | #889 |
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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