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Latah 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.
Latah County Sheriff's Office starts at $36,492 a year — about $17.54 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $30,193 below the median of the 2,288 agencies on this list, and $27,068 below the median for county agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in Idaho run about 5% below the national average, so this goes about as far as $38,214 would somewhere at average prices — $1,722 more than the headline figure. Most of that is utilities, at 70 against a national average of 100, where goods are 96. Based on state-wide price levels, because this agency is not tied to a single 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 isLatah County Sheriff's Office reported 29 sworn officers and 18 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 Latah County says about itself
The Latah County Sheriff's Office is committed to protecting the lives, property and constitutional rights of all, to maintain order and to enforce the law in an ethical and professional manner. We are committed to being a leader in law enforcement: we will develop the best trained, equipped, and committed professionals who demonstrate the highest standards of performance in partnership with our community. Service - we will meet the needs of the public through problem solving, driven by honesty and compassion. Teamwork - we will work as a part of our community, providing open communication to successfully achieve goals together. Accountability - we will lead by example, holding each other and the community to a high standard of integrity and transparency.
What Latah County does
Latah County Sheriff's Office provides countywide law enforcement from Moscow in the northern Idaho panhandle, operating 24 hours a day alongside jail transportation, 911 dispatch, search and rescue, crime prevention, civil process and concealed weapons permits.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 27 August 2026. Latah County, Sheriff's Office Patrol Deputy vacancy, county jobs page — open the source document
Minimum salary $36,492 (range $36,492-$52,572) plus a $2,700 per year flat fringe benefit, per the County's own Patrol Deputy vacancy listing. FLAGGED FOR RECHECK: this works out at $17.54/hr, well below every other Idaho deputy figure held here ($22-30/hr), so the county listing may be stale. The Idaho POST portal carries only the LATERAL posting at $30.16-$40.80/hr, which is not an entry figure.
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 Latah 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. Latah County starts at $36,492, so $27,073 below the county middle.
How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Latah County Sheriff's Office officer make?
Latah County Sheriff's Office starts a new officer on $36,492 a year, about $17.54 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 Latah County, Sheriff's Office Patrol Deputy vacancy, county jobs page.
Is that good pay for a police officer in Idaho?
It ranks #54 of 54 agencies we have verified in Idaho — 0 pay less, 53 pay more in the state — and #2,268 of 2,288 nationally. Against the national median it is $30,193 below, and against other county agencies $27,068 below.
Compare with another department
Put Latah 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 ID
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Latah | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sun Valley Police Department | Municipal | 12 | $75,005 | +$38,513 | #675 |
| 2 | Blaine County Sheriff's Office | County | 20 | $74,526 | +$38,034 | #697 |
| 3 | Hailey Police Department | Municipal | — | $72,280 | +$35,788 | #797 |
| 4 | Boise Police Department | Municipal | 326 | $69,514 | +$33,022 | #965 |
| 5 | Meridian Police Department | Municipal | 109 | $67,621 | +$31,129 | #1,085 |
| 6 | Post Falls Police Department | Municipal | 52 | $67,330 | +$30,838 | #1,106 |
| 7 | Coeur d'Alene Police Department | Municipal | 94 | $66,872 | +$30,380 | #1,130 |
| 8 | Kootenai County Sheriff's Office | County | 104 | $65,291 | +$28,799 | #1,239 |
| 9 | Ada County Sheriff's Office | County | 220 | $64,896 | +$28,404 | #1,270 |
| 10 | Nampa Police Department | Municipal | 154 | $64,626 | +$28,134 | #1,286 |
| 11 | McCall Police Department | Municipal | 12 | $63,773 | +$27,281 | #1,332 |
| 12 | Moscow Police Department | Municipal | 30 | $63,544 | +$27,052 | #1,344 |
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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