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Highlands 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.
Highlands County Sheriff's Office starts at $55,386 a year — about $26.63 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $11,299 below the median of the 2,288 agencies on this list, and $8,174 below the median for county agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in Sebring, FL run about 8% below the national average, so this goes about as far as $59,896 would somewhere at average prices — $4,510 more than the headline figure. Most of that is rent, at 73 against a national average of 100, 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 isHighlands County Sheriff's Office reported 155 sworn officers and 189 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 Highlands County says about itself
Our vision is a safer Highlands County where citizens and law enforcement are joined together; the rights of all persons are respected; and community values are reflected. Our mission is to protect life, property and individual rights while maintaining peace and order. Our promise is to deliver ethical and effective services to all of Highlands County in a professional and responsive manner that demonstrates our commitment to honouring the public trust.
What Highlands County does
Highlands County Sheriff's Office publishes a four-band sworn pay plan - Deputies, Detectives and FTOs, Sergeants and Lieutenants - with an annual and hourly rate for each step of service.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 11 August 2026. Highlands County Sheriff's Office official Sworn Pay Plan Scale (full-time only) — open the source document
Pay plan dated 1 October 2025. SWORN A, Deputies: the pre-step rate for less than one year of service is $55,385.72 annually, $24.77 hourly, rising to Step 1 at $57,018.00 after a year and to $74,369.36 at Step 10. Detectives and FTOs are a separate SWORN B scale and are not the entry class.
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 Highlands 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. Highlands County starts at $55,386, so $8,179 below the county middle.
How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Highlands County Sheriff's Office officer make?
Highlands County Sheriff's Office starts a new officer on $55,386 a year, about $26.63 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 Highlands County Sheriff's Office official Sworn Pay Plan Scale (full-time only).
Is that good pay for a police officer in Florida?
It ranks #198 of 303 agencies we have verified in Florida — 105 pay less, 197 pay more in the state — and #1,829 of 2,288 nationally. Against the national median it is $11,299 below, and against other county agencies $8,174 below.
Compare with another department
Put Highlands 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 FL
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Highlands | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Boca Raton Police Services Department | Municipal | 195 | $91,007 | +$35,621 | #244 |
| 2 | Fort Lauderdale Police Department | Municipal | 565 | $81,723 | +$26,337 | #433 |
| 3 | Plantation Police Department | Municipal | 164 | $81,000 | +$25,614 | #459 |
| 4 | Hillsboro Beach Police Department | Municipal | 15 | $80,954 | +$25,568 | #461 |
| 5 | Pinecrest Police Department | Municipal | 47 | $80,912 | +$25,526 | #464 |
| 6 | Sunny Isles Beach Police Department | Municipal | 65 | $80,000 | +$24,614 | #496 |
| 7 | Indian Creek Village Public Safety Department | Municipal | 10 | $79,850 | +$24,464 | #500 |
| 8 | Sunrise Police Department | Municipal | 190 | $79,071 | +$23,685 | #520 |
| 9 | Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office | County | 1,720 | $78,828 | +$23,442 | #526 |
| 10 | Aventura Police Department | Municipal | 91 | $78,556 | +$23,170 | #536 |
| 11 | Longboat Key Police Department | Municipal | 19 | $78,430 | +$23,044 | #543 |
| 12 | Manalapan Police Department | Municipal | 13 | $78,280 | +$22,894 | #549 |
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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