Home › Police pay › Montana › Gallatin County Sheriff's Office
Gallatin 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.
Gallatin County Sheriff's Office starts at $79,456 a year — about $38.20 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $11,066 above the median of the 1,681 agencies on this list, and $14,082 above the median for county agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in Bozeman, MT run about 3% above the national average, so this is worth roughly $77,510 somewhere at average prices — $1,946 less than the headline figure. That average hides a wide spread: rent at 139, where goods are 96. 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 isGallatin County Sheriff's Office reported 72 sworn officers and 55 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 Gallatin County says about itself
Our mission is clear: as proud members of this Office, we are dedicated to protecting and serving the citizens and visitors of Gallatin County.
What Gallatin County does
Gallatin County describes the Deputy Sheriff role as performing law-enforcement and public-safety functions through teamwork and partnership with the community. Deputies protect life and property, enforce laws, maintain public safety and provide law-enforcement service throughout Gallatin County.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 8 August 2026. Gallatin County official GovernmentJobs posting — Deputy Sheriff — open the source document
Opening 30 June 2026; closed 27 July 2026; official starting rate $38.20/hour
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 Gallatin 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. Gallatin County starts at $79,456, so $14,082 above the county middle.
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.
How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Gallatin County Sheriff's Office officer make?
Gallatin County Sheriff's Office starts a new officer on $79,456 a year, about $38.20 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 Gallatin County official GovernmentJobs posting — Deputy Sheriff.
Is that good pay for a police officer in Montana?
It ranks #3 of 23 agencies we have verified in Montana — 20 pay less, 2 pay more in the state — and #421 of 1,681 nationally. Against the national median it is $11,066 above, and against other county agencies $14,082 above.
Compare with another department
Put Gallatin 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 MT
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Gallatin | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Missoula Police Department | Municipal | 117 | $95,326 | +$15,870 | #142 |
| 2 | Bozeman Police Department | Municipal | 73 | $79,581 | +$125 | #416 |
| 4 | Kalispell Police Department | Municipal | 52 | $79,334 | −$122 | #424 |
| 5 | Missoula County Sheriff's Office | County | 59 | $77,563 | −$1,893 | #468 |
| 6 | Great Falls Police Department | Municipal | 90 | $76,253 | −$3,203 | #504 |
| 7 | Cascade County Sheriff's Office | County | 43 | $73,778 | −$5,678 | #603 |
| 8 | Yellowstone County Sheriff's Office | County | 65 | $72,800 | −$6,656 | #637 |
| 9 | Belgrade Police Department | Municipal | 26 | $71,761 | −$7,695 | #682 |
| 10 | Montana Highway Patrol | State | 225 | $71,240 | −$8,216 | #712 |
| 11 | Lewis and Clark County Sheriff's Office | County | 54 | $69,285 | −$10,171 | #799 |
| 12 | Billings Police Department | Municipal | 164 | $69,056 | −$10,400 | #812 |
| 13 | Butte-Silver Bow Law Enforcement Department | Municipal | — | $67,648 | −$11,808 | #882 |
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.
Scan to install
