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Iowa Department of Natural Resources — Conservation Law Enforcement 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.
Iowa Department of Natural Resources — Conservation Law Enforcement starts at $70,574 a year — about $33.93 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $3,890 above the median of the 2,288 agencies on this list, and $5,408 above the median for state agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in Iowa run about 12% below the national average, so this goes about as far as $80,416 would somewhere at average prices — $9,841 more than the headline figure. Most of that is rent, at 65 against a national average of 100, where goods are 94. 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.
What Iowa Department of Natural Resources — Conservation Law Enforcement says about itself
It is the mission of the Law Enforcement Bureau to protect the State's natural resources, to provide public safety and to educate and serve the public. We enhance, promote, and protect the natural resources of this state through public relations, education, and law enforcement.
What Iowa Department of Natural Resources — Conservation Law Enforcement does
Iowa DNR Conservation Officers are peace officers under Iowa law. They patrol assigned territories, enforce natural-resource, conservation, outdoor-recreation and other applicable state and federal laws, issue summonses, secure evidence and testify in court.
Shifts at Iowa Department of Natural Resources — Conservation Law Enforcement
Officers' work schedules vary with the seasons and activities. They work most weekends, particularly in hunting seasons and summer holidays, and have two days off per week. Officers are on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week by radio and telephone.
A schedule that moves with the hunting calendar and two days off that land wherever the season puts them is hard to hold in your head. BlueShifts keeps the pattern and the on-call weeks visible together.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 8 August 2026. Iowa Department of Administrative Services — 2025–2027 State Police Officers Council Agreement — open the source document
Their source is effective 1 July 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 Iowa Department of Natural Resources — Conservation Law Enforcement 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. Iowa Department of Natural Resources — Conservation Law Enforcement starts at $70,574, so $5,408 above the state middle.
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How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Iowa Department of Natural Resources — Conservation Law Enforcement officer make?
Iowa Department of Natural Resources — Conservation Law Enforcement starts a new officer on $70,574 a year, about $33.93 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 Iowa Department of Administrative Services — 2025–2027 State Police Officers Council Agreement.
Is that good pay for a police officer in Iowa?
It ranks #13 of 34 agencies we have verified in Iowa — 21 pay less, 12 pay more in the state — and #902 of 2,288 nationally. Against the national median it is $3,890 above, and against other state agencies $5,408 above.
What shifts do Iowa Department of Natural Resources — Conservation Law Enforcement officers work?
Officers' work schedules vary with the seasons and activities. They work most weekends, particularly in hunting seasons and summer holidays, and have two days off per week. Officers are on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week by radio and telephone. That is the agency's own published wording; the pattern is drawn on this page.
Compare with another department
Put Iowa Department of Natural Resources — Conservation Law Enforcement 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 IA
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Iowa | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Iowa County Sheriff's Office | County | 14 | $85,550 | +$14,976 | #342 |
| 2 | Des Moines Police Department | Municipal | 367 | $84,635 | +$14,061 | #359 |
| 3 | Norwalk Police Department | Municipal | 22 | $76,710 | +$6,136 | #593 |
| 4 | Ankeny Police Department | Municipal | 78 | $76,648 | +$6,074 | #599 |
| 5 | Urbandale Police Department | Municipal | 58 | $76,028 | +$5,454 | #625 |
| 6 | Waterloo Police Department | Municipal | 124 | $74,776 | +$4,202 | #683 |
| 7 | Woodbury County Sheriff's Office | County | 44 | $73,944 | +$3,370 | #721 |
| 8 | Linn County Sheriff's Office | County | 120 | $73,216 | +$2,642 | #746 |
| 9 | Chickasaw County Sheriff's Office | County | 10 | $71,822 | +$1,248 | #827 |
| 10 | Mason City Police Department | Municipal | 40 | $71,448 | +$874 | #847 |
| 11 | Dubuque County Sheriff's Office | County | 75 | $70,970 | +$395 | #881 |
| 12 | Johnson County Sheriff's Office | County | 81 | $70,871 | +$297 | #889 |
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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