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Cowlitz 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.
Cowlitz County Sheriff's Office starts at $80,392 a year — about $38.65 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $12,002 above the median of the 1,681 agencies on this list, and $15,018 above the median for county agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in Longview-Kelso, WA run about 2% below the national average, so this goes about as far as $82,415 would somewhere at average prices — $2,023 more than the headline figure. That average hides a wide spread: rent at 83, 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 isCowlitz County Sheriff's Office reported 47 sworn officers and 25 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 Cowlitz County
Cowlitz County Sheriff's Office provides patrol, investigations, corrections, civil, court-security, marine and search-and-rescue services. Official County materials emphasize professional public safety, service and partnership with the community.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 8 August 2026. Cowlitz County official GovernmentJobs recruitment — Deputy Sheriff Entry Level — open the source document
$80,392. Current official county recruitment information; verified 8 August 2026
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 Cowlitz 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. Cowlitz County starts at $80,392, so $15,018 above the county middle.
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How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Cowlitz County Sheriff's Office officer make?
Cowlitz County Sheriff's Office starts a new officer on $80,392 a year, about $38.65 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 Cowlitz County official GovernmentJobs recruitment — Deputy Sheriff Entry Level.
Is that good pay for a police officer in Washington?
It ranks #57 of 76 agencies we have verified in Washington — 19 pay less, 56 pay more in the state — and #398 of 1,681 nationally. Against the national median it is $12,002 above, and against other county agencies $15,018 above.
Compare with another department
Put Cowlitz 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 Cowlitz | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Seattle Police Department | Municipal | 1,064 | $117,792 | +$37,400 | #35 |
| 2 | Redmond Police Department | Municipal | 81 | $110,435 | +$30,043 | #52 |
| 3 | Auburn Police Department | Municipal | 120 | $108,386 | +$27,994 | #57 |
| 4 | Everett Police Department | Municipal | 207 | $102,516 | +$22,124 | #81 |
| 5 | Vancouver Police Department | Municipal | 226 | $101,832 | +$21,440 | #85 |
| 6 | Kirkland Police Department | Municipal | 108 | $101,218 | +$20,826 | #92 |
| 7 | Tukwila Police Department | Municipal | 76 | $101,064 | +$20,672 | #94 |
| 8 | Mount Vernon Police Department | Municipal | 43 | $100,836 | +$20,444 | #97 |
| 9 | Edmonds Police Department | Municipal | 48 | $99,168 | +$18,776 | #108 |
| 10 | Tacoma Police Department | Municipal | 343 | $98,571 | +$18,179 | #111 |
| 11 | Issaquah Police Department | Municipal | 36 | $98,150 | +$17,758 | #114 |
| 12 | Renton Police Department | Municipal | 132 | $97,692 | +$17,300 | #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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