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DeSoto 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.
DeSoto County Sheriff's Office starts at $65,564 a year — about $31.52 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $1,121 below the median of the 2,288 agencies on this list, and $2,004 above the median for county agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in Mississippi run about 13% below the national average, so this goes about as far as $75,401 would somewhere at average prices — $9,838 more than the headline figure. Most of that is rent, at 56 against a national average of 100, where goods are 96. Based on state-wide price levels, because this agency is not tied to a single 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 isDeSoto County Sheriff's Office reported 185 sworn officers and 148 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 DeSoto County says about itself
The DeSoto County Sheriff's Office strives to eradicate criminal conditions to ensure an excellent quality of life
What DeSoto County does
The DeSoto County Sheriff's Office is the sheriff's office for DeSoto County in north-west Mississippi, south of Memphis. It hires patrol deputies, dispatchers and school resource officers and runs criminal investigations, K-9, motors, aviation and court services.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 25 September 2026. DeSoto County Sheriff's Office recruiting site, Deputy Sheriff page, "Pay Rates": "Certified: $65,563.68". — open the source document
The office prints three rates - "Uncertified: $50,690.64 (Entry Level)", "Certified: $65,563.68" and "Senior Certified: $73,076.64". The certified rate is the first rate a certified deputy is paid and is the figure; the uncertified rate is paid before the academy and Senior Certified needs prior service, so neither is. Printed as annuals; no pay period is stated. servedesoto.com carries the office's own copyright and says it is "Designed and Maintained by the DeSoto County Sheriff's Office Information Technology Division"; the office's main site and the County site both refused the fetcher, so the link from them could not be read. Footer dated 2025. Excluded: the fitness incentive of up to $2,500, PERS and benefits.
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 DeSoto 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. DeSoto County starts at $65,564, so $1,999 above the county middle.
How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a DeSoto County Sheriff's Office officer make?
DeSoto County Sheriff's Office starts a new officer on $65,564 a year, about $31.52 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 DeSoto County Sheriff's Office recruiting site, Deputy Sheriff page, "Pay Rates": "Certified: $65,563.68"..
Is that good pay for a police officer in Mississippi?
It ranks #1 of 12 agencies we have verified in Mississippi — the highest in the state in the state — and #1,216 of 2,288 nationally. Against the national median it is $1,121 below, and against other county agencies $2,004 above.
Compare with another department
Put DeSoto 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 MS
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs DeSoto | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Southaven Police Department | Municipal | 150 | $61,982 | −$3,582 | #1,451 |
| 3 | Hattiesburg Police Department | Municipal | 92 | $55,000 | −$10,564 | #1,853 |
| 4 | Mississippi Highway Safety Patrol | State | 397 | $54,000 | −$11,564 | #1,910 |
| 5 | Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics | State | — | $54,000 | −$11,564 | #1,911 |
| 6 | Oxford Police Department | Municipal | 106 | $52,531 | −$13,033 | #1,967 |
| 7 | Gulfport Police Department | Municipal | 134 | $51,241 | −$14,322 | #2,024 |
| 8 | Mississippi Department of Revenue - Alcoholic Beverage Control Bureau of Enforcement | State | — | $50,000 | −$15,564 | #2,077 |
| 9 | Biloxi Police Department | Municipal | 122 | $48,300 | −$17,264 | #2,136 |
| 10 | Mississippi Capitol Police | State | — | $46,700 | −$18,864 | #2,175 |
| 11 | Ocean Springs Police Department | Municipal | 39 | $45,474 | −$20,090 | #2,196 |
| 12 | Mississippi Department of Marine Resources - Marine Patrol | State | — | $45,000 | −$20,564 | #2,208 |
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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