Home › Police pay › Colorado › Larimer County Sheriff's Office
Larimer 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.
Larimer County Sheriff's Office starts at $81,765 a year — about $39.31 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $13,375 above the median of the 1,681 agencies on this list, and $16,390 above the median for county agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in Fort Collins-Loveland, CO run about 1% above the national average, so this is worth roughly $80,853 somewhere at average prices — $912 less than the headline figure. That average hides a wide spread: rent at 121, 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 isLarimer County Sheriff's Office reported 228 sworn officers and 276 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 Larimer County says about itself
Our Mission is to protect and preserve life, liberty and property by providing superior public safety services in Larimer County.
What Larimer County does
Larimer County Sheriff's Office provides patrol, investigations, jail, emergency communications, civil process, emergency services and other public-safety functions. Its official materials emphasize service, integrity, respect, accountability and partnership with the community.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 8 August 2026. Larimer County official employment source — Deputy Sheriff — open the source document
$81,764.80. Current County recruitment/pay information; verified 8 August 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 Larimer 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. Larimer County starts at $81,765, so $16,391 above the county middle.
BlueShifts. Plan Your Year. Own Your Time.
The shift calendar built for your rotation, off-duty work, and life on and off the clock.
Save your shift schedule once and BlueShifts fills the rest of the year in.
How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Larimer County Sheriff's Office officer make?
Larimer County Sheriff's Office starts a new officer on $81,765 a year, about $39.31 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 Larimer County official employment source — Deputy Sheriff.
Is that good pay for a police officer in Colorado?
It ranks #10 of 35 agencies we have verified in Colorado — 25 pay less, 9 pay more in the state — and #353 of 1,681 nationally. Against the national median it is $13,375 above, and against other county agencies $16,390 above.
Compare with another department
Put Larimer 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 Larimer | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Colorado State Patrol | State | 706 | $91,620 | +$9,855 | #184 |
| 2 | Parker Police Department | Municipal | 89 | $89,898 | +$8,133 | #217 |
| 3 | Johnstown Police Department | Municipal | 26 | $86,944 | +$5,179 | #266 |
| 4 | Broomfield Police Department | Municipal | 135 | $86,029 | +$4,264 | #278 |
| 5 | Golden Police Department | Municipal | 53 | $85,321 | +$3,556 | #287 |
| 6 | Lakewood Police Department | Municipal | 274 | $85,093 | +$3,328 | #291 |
| 7 | Breckenridge Police Department | Municipal | 25 | $83,990 | +$2,226 | #310 |
| 8 | Thornton Police Department | Municipal | 243 | $82,992 | +$1,227 | #332 |
| 9 | Commerce City Police Department | Municipal | 109 | $82,327 | +$562 | #341 |
| 11 | Westminster Police Department | Municipal | 187 | $80,746 | −$1,019 | #387 |
| 12 | Boulder County Sheriff's Office | County | 106 | $80,496 | −$1,269 | #395 |
| 13 | Arapahoe County Sheriff's Office | County | 560 | $79,539 | −$2,226 | #418 |
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.
Scan to install
