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La Plata 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.
La Plata County Sheriff's Office starts at $64,605 a year — about $31.06 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $2,080 below the median of the 2,288 agencies on this list, and $1,045 above the median for county agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in rural Colorado run about 2% below the national average, so this goes about as far as $66,258 would somewhere at average prices — $1,653 more than the headline figure. That average hides a wide spread: utilities at 82, where goods are 96. 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 isLa Plata County Sheriff's Office reported 93 sworn officers and 25 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 La Plata County says about itself
The La Plata County Sheriff's Office is the front line provider of emergency peacekeeping and criminal investigation services for over 50,000 citizens of La Plata County.
What La Plata County does
La Plata County Sheriff's Office provides patrol, investigations, detention, court-security, civil, search-and-rescue and emergency services. Official County materials emphasize professional service, integrity, public safety and partnership with the community.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 8 August 2026. La Plata County official GovernmentJobs posting — Deputy Sheriff — open the source document
Opening 11 February 2026; closed 8 March 2026; official annual minimum $64,604.80
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 La Plata 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. La Plata County starts at $64,605, so $1,040 above the county middle.
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How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a La Plata County Sheriff's Office officer make?
La Plata County Sheriff's Office starts a new officer on $64,605 a year, about $31.06 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 La Plata County official GovernmentJobs posting — Deputy Sheriff.
Is that good pay for a police officer in Colorado?
It ranks #38 of 46 agencies we have verified in Colorado — 8 pay less, 37 pay more in the state — and #1,287 of 2,288 nationally. Against the national median it is $2,080 below, and against other county agencies $1,045 above.
Compare with another department
Put La Plata 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 CO
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs La | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fort Collins Police Services | Municipal | 241 | $103,544 | +$38,939 | #93 |
| 2 | Loveland Police Department | Municipal | 116 | $93,696 | +$29,091 | #199 |
| 3 | Colorado State Patrol | State | 706 | $91,620 | +$27,015 | #233 |
| 4 | Arvada Police Department | Municipal | 159 | $90,555 | +$25,950 | #258 |
| 5 | Parker Police Department | Municipal | 89 | $89,898 | +$25,293 | #271 |
| 6 | Longmont Police Department | Municipal | 150 | $87,312 | +$22,707 | #317 |
| 7 | Johnstown Police Department | Municipal | 26 | $86,944 | +$22,339 | #324 |
| 8 | Broomfield Police Department | Municipal | 135 | $86,029 | +$21,424 | #337 |
| 9 | Castle Rock Police Department | Municipal | 94 | $85,488 | +$20,883 | #346 |
| 10 | Golden Police Department | Municipal | 53 | $85,321 | +$20,716 | #350 |
| 11 | Lakewood Police Department | Municipal | 274 | $85,093 | +$20,488 | #353 |
| 12 | Breckenridge Police Department | Municipal | 25 | $83,990 | +$19,386 | #375 |
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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