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Dodge 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.
Dodge County Sheriff's Office starts at $75,088 a year — about $36.10 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $8,403 above the median of the 2,288 agencies on this list, and $11,528 above 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 $83,825 would somewhere at average prices — $8,737 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 isDodge County Sheriff's Office reported 64 sworn officers and 104 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 Dodge County says about itself
At the Dodge County Sheriff's Office, we are driven by a shared mission to make Dodge County a safe place to live, work and visit. We believe that through effective teamwork and a strong commitment to our core values, we can achieve our goal of protecting the constitutional rights of every citizen in our community. The Sheriff's Office has a rich history: older than the State of Wisconsin itself, it is the foundation of enforcement in Dodge County.
What Dodge County does
Dodge County Sheriff's Office states that its mission is to make Dodge County a safe place to live, work and visit through teamwork and commitment to protecting the constitutional rights of citizens. The deputy position performs traffic enforcement, criminal investigation, response to calls for service and maintenance of peace and public order.
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 19 June 2026; salary range $36.10-$40.62
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 Dodge 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. Dodge County starts at $75,088, so $11,523 above the county middle.
How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Dodge County Sheriff's Office officer make?
Dodge County Sheriff's Office starts a new officer on $75,088 a year, about $36.10 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 #10 of 81 agencies we have verified in Wisconsin — 71 pay less, 9 pay more in the state — and #673 of 2,288 nationally. Against the national median it is $8,403 above, and against other county agencies $11,528 above.
Compare with another department
Put Dodge 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 Dodge | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Menomonee Falls Police Department | Municipal | 59 | $82,618 | +$7,530 | #414 |
| 2 | Fitchburg Police Department | Municipal | 50 | $78,790 | +$3,702 | #527 |
| 3 | Brookfield Police Department | Municipal | 80 | $78,666 | +$3,578 | #533 |
| 4 | Cedarburg Police Department | Municipal | 24 | $77,561 | +$2,473 | #571 |
| 5 | Stoughton Police Department | Municipal | 23 | $76,378 | +$1,290 | #607 |
| 6 | Waukesha County Sheriff's Office | County | 158 | $76,128 | +$1,040 | #614 |
| 7 | River Falls Police Department | Municipal | 27 | $75,525 | +$437 | #647 |
| 8 | Wisconsin State Patrol | State | 445 | $75,462 | +$374 | #650 |
| 9 | Grafton Police Department | Municipal | 22 | $75,102 | +$14 | #672 |
| 11 | St. Croix County Sheriff's Office | County | 98 | $74,695 | −$393 | #688 |
| 12 | Kenosha Police Department | Municipal | 231 | $74,640 | −$448 | #692 |
| 13 | Glendale Police Department | Municipal | 39 | $74,040 | −$1,048 | #715 |
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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