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Iron 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.
Iron County Sheriff's Office starts at $65,853 a year — about $31.66 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $832 below the median of the 2,288 agencies on this list, and $2,293 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 $73,515 would somewhere at average prices — $7,662 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 isIron County Sheriff's Office reported 11 sworn officers and 11 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 Iron County says about itself
The mission of Iron County Sheriff's Office is to enhance the quality of life in our community by providing professional and responsive law enforcement services. We are committed to safeguarding life and property, protecting our citizens and their belongings through proactive policing, community engagement and effective crime prevention strategies; promoting justice by upholding the law impartially, ensuring that justice is served fairly and equitably to all members of the community; building community trust; providing support and resources to individuals and families; and upholding integrity and professionalism, conducting ourselves with the highest ethical standards, accountability, and respect.
What Iron County does
Iron County Sheriff's Office serves one of Wisconsin's smallest and most northerly counties — around 6,000 people across 919 square miles on the Michigan border, from Hurley. It states its mission as enhancing quality of life through professional and responsive law enforcement, committing itself to safeguarding life and property, upholding the law impartially, building community trust through transparency, and offering support and resources to individuals and families. Deputies work largely independently across the county's distances, which the office says calls for a high degree of self-discipline and judgement; the deputy sheriff post is a union position.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 8 August 2026. Wisconsin Department of Justice WILENET official employment posting — — open the source document
Current 2026 recruitment; salary range $31.66-$35.16
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 Iron 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. Iron County starts at $65,853, so $2,288 above the county middle.
How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Iron County Sheriff's Office officer make?
Iron County Sheriff's Office starts a new officer on $65,853 a year, about $31.66 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 #53 of 81 agencies we have verified in Wisconsin — 28 pay less, 52 pay more in the state — and #1,196 of 2,288 nationally. Against the national median it is $832 below, and against other county agencies $2,293 above.
Compare with another department
Put Iron 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 Iron | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Menomonee Falls Police Department | Municipal | 59 | $82,618 | +$16,765 | #414 |
| 2 | Fitchburg Police Department | Municipal | 50 | $78,790 | +$12,938 | #527 |
| 3 | Brookfield Police Department | Municipal | 80 | $78,666 | +$12,813 | #533 |
| 4 | Cedarburg Police Department | Municipal | 24 | $77,561 | +$11,708 | #571 |
| 5 | Stoughton Police Department | Municipal | 23 | $76,378 | +$10,525 | #607 |
| 6 | Waukesha County Sheriff's Office | County | 158 | $76,128 | +$10,275 | #614 |
| 7 | River Falls Police Department | Municipal | 27 | $75,525 | +$9,672 | #647 |
| 8 | Wisconsin State Patrol | State | 445 | $75,462 | +$9,610 | #650 |
| 9 | Grafton Police Department | Municipal | 22 | $75,102 | +$9,249 | #672 |
| 10 | Dodge County Sheriff's Office | County | 64 | $75,088 | +$9,235 | #673 |
| 11 | St. Croix County Sheriff's Office | County | 98 | $74,695 | +$8,843 | #688 |
| 12 | Kenosha Police Department | Municipal | 231 | $74,640 | +$8,787 | #692 |
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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