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Johnson 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.
Johnson County Sheriff's Office starts at $70,871 a year — about $34.07 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $2,481 above the median of the 1,681 agencies on this list, and $5,497 above the median for county agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in Iowa City, IA run about 8% below the national average, so this goes about as far as $77,447 would somewhere at average prices — $6,576 more than the headline figure. Most of that is utilities, at 84 against a national average of 100, where goods are 94. 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 isJohnson County Sheriff's Office reported 81 sworn officers and 19 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 Johnson County says about itself
The Sheriff is the county's principal peace officer for the unincorporated areas who is elected every four years. The mission of the Sheriff's Office is to provide citizens with the highest level of law enforcement in a fair and equitable manner.
What Johnson County does
Johnson County Deputies work in Jail, Patrol, Civil, Detective, Courthouse Security and Transportation assignments. Patrol deputies provide contracted law enforcement to several municipalities and patrol the county; deputies also investigate serious crimes, serve court process and provide courthouse security
Where the figure comes from
Checked 10 August 2026. Johnson County Sheriff's Office Career Opportunities / Deputy Sheriff Civil Service Testing — open the source document
The official Sheriff's recruitment page states "Starting salary is $70,871/annually" and separately says current certified law-enforcement officers may start at an advanced wage. The page is expressly directed to applicants "just starting out" as well as experienced candidates, so prior police experience/certification is not a minimum requirement Johnson County uses a single Deputy Sheriff classification across Jail, Patrol, Civil, Detective, Courthouse Security and Transportation assignments. County records identify these employees as sworn deputies and the Sheriff's Office provides contracted and countywide law-enforcement services
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 Johnson 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. Johnson County starts at $70,871, so $5,497 above the county middle.
How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Johnson County Sheriff's Office officer make?
Johnson County Sheriff's Office starts a new officer on $70,871 a year, about $34.07 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 Johnson County Sheriff's Office Career Opportunities / Deputy Sheriff Civil Service Testing.
Is that good pay for a police officer in Iowa?
It ranks #10 of 28 agencies we have verified in Iowa — 18 pay less, 9 pay more in the state — and #732 of 1,681 nationally. Against the national median it is $2,481 above, and against other county agencies $5,497 above.
Compare with another department
Put Johnson 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 IA
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Johnson | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Iowa County Sheriff's Office | County | 14 | $85,550 | +$14,679 | #281 |
| 2 | Des Moines Police Department | Municipal | 367 | $84,635 | +$13,764 | #297 |
| 3 | Norwalk Police Department | Municipal | 22 | $76,710 | +$5,839 | #486 |
| 4 | Ankeny Police Department | Municipal | 78 | $76,648 | +$5,777 | #491 |
| 5 | Urbandale Police Department | Municipal | 58 | $76,028 | +$5,157 | #516 |
| 6 | Woodbury County Sheriff's Office | County | 44 | $73,944 | +$3,073 | #597 |
| 7 | Linn County Sheriff's Office | County | 120 | $73,216 | +$2,345 | #616 |
| 8 | Chickasaw County Sheriff's Office | County | 10 | $71,822 | +$951 | #678 |
| 9 | Mason City Police Department | Municipal | 40 | $71,448 | +$577 | #698 |
| 11 | Iowa Department of Natural Resources — Conservation Law Enforcement | State | — | $70,574 | −$297 | #742 |
| 12 | Davenport Police Department | Municipal | 143 | $70,322 | −$549 | #752 |
| 13 | Clinton County Sheriff's Office | County | 30 | $70,200 | −$671 | #759 |
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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