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Jefferson 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.
Jefferson County Sheriff's Office starts at $47,736 a year — about $22.95 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $20,654 below the median of the 1,681 agencies on this list, and $17,638 below the median for county agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in Birmingham, AL run about 8% below the national average, so this goes about as far as $52,089 would somewhere at average prices — $4,353 more than the headline figure. Most of that is rent, at 72 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 isJefferson County Sheriff's Office reported 466 sworn officers and 134 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 Jefferson County says about itself
The mission of the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office is to preserve the public peace, to impartially enforce the law, and to ensure the safety of residents and businesses.
What Jefferson County does
The Jefferson County Sheriff's Office is the chief law enforcement office in the county. Enforcement duties include criminal investigations and traffic-accident investigations.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 9 August 2026. Jefferson County Sheriff's Office official recruitment page — open the source document
The Sheriff's Office publishes a current Sheriff's Deputy range beginning at $47,736. Entry routes include applicants without existing APOST certification; the Jefferson County Sheriff's Academy provides basic recruit training. Current page checked 8 September 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 Jefferson 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. Jefferson County starts at $47,736, so $17,638 below the county middle.
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How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Jefferson County Sheriff's Office officer make?
Jefferson County Sheriff's Office starts a new officer on $47,736 a year, about $22.95 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 Jefferson County Sheriff's Office official recruitment page.
Is that good pay for a police officer in Alabama?
It ranks #13 of 21 agencies we have verified in Alabama — 8 pay less, 12 pay more in the state — and #1,604 of 1,681 nationally. Against the national median it is $20,654 below, and against other county agencies $17,638 below.
Compare with another department
Put Jefferson 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 AL
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Jefferson | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Madison Police Department | Municipal | 88 | $60,195 | +$12,459 | #1,226 |
| 2 | Huntsville Police Department | Municipal | 432 | $58,614 | +$10,878 | #1,300 |
| 3 | Shelby County Sheriff's Office | County | 147 | $57,408 | +$9,672 | #1,362 |
| 4 | Alabama Highway Patrol | State | — | $56,726 | +$8,990 | #1,376 |
| 5 | Madison County Sheriff's Office | County | 184 | $55,390 | +$7,654 | #1,415 |
| 6 | Montgomery Police Department | Municipal | 259 | $55,168 | +$7,432 | #1,420 |
| 7 | Baldwin County Sheriff's Office | County | 174 | $53,768 | +$6,032 | #1,476 |
| 8 | Tuscaloosa County Sheriff's Office | County | 112 | $51,888 | +$4,152 | #1,521 |
| 9 | Prattville Police Department | Municipal | 96 | $50,679 | +$2,943 | #1,544 |
| 10 | Mobile County Sheriff's Office | County | 236 | $50,526 | +$2,790 | #1,551 |
| 11 | University of Alabama at Birmingham Police Department | Special jurisdiction | — | $49,920 | +$2,184 | #1,577 |
| 12 | Fairhope Police Department | Municipal | 44 | $47,840 | +$104 | #1,601 |
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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