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Lemhi 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.
Lemhi County Sheriff's Office starts at $52,000 a year — about $25.00 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $14,685 below the median of the 2,288 agencies on this list, and $11,560 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 $54,454 would somewhere at average prices — $2,454 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 isLemhi County Sheriff's Office reported 8 sworn officers and 15 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 Lemhi County says about itself
The primary function of Patrol Deputy is to enforce state and local laws and ordinances, respond to calls for the protection of life and property, conduct criminal and non-criminal investigations, and make arrests and to perform other assigned law enforcement and public safety duties.
What Lemhi County does
Lemhi County Sheriff's Office provides countywide law enforcement from Salmon in east-central Idaho, covering patrol and traffic across a large rural county, criminal and non-criminal investigation, marine patrol, civil process and specialist assignments.
Shifts at Lemhi County
Lemhi County's posting states a standard schedule of four 10-hour shifts.
This cycle has its own page: how it works, and how to build it.
Four tens is a three-day weekend that walks through the week. BlueShifts draws it out months ahead so the days off can be planned around rather than counted on your fingers.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 23 August 2026. This figure was advertised on the state POST job board on that date; postings there rotate, so the listing itself may since have closed. Idaho POST Agency Job Portal, agency-submitted posting — open the source document
$25.00/hour non-POST-certified entry Patrol Deputy, per the county's Idaho POST portal posting (open until filled). Standard schedule 4 x 10-hour shifts.
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 Lemhi 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. Lemhi County starts at $52,000, so $11,565 below the county middle.
How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Lemhi County Sheriff's Office officer make?
Lemhi County Sheriff's Office starts a new officer on $52,000 a year, about $25.00 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 Idaho POST Agency Job Portal, agency-submitted posting.
Is that good pay for a police officer in Idaho?
It ranks #35 of 54 agencies we have verified in Idaho — 19 pay less, 34 pay more in the state — and #1,986 of 2,288 nationally. Against the national median it is $14,685 below, and against other county agencies $11,560 below.
What shifts do Lemhi County Sheriff's Office officers work?
Lemhi County's posting states a standard schedule of four 10-hour shifts. That is the agency's own published wording; the pattern is drawn on this page.
Compare with another department
Put Lemhi 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 Lemhi | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sun Valley Police Department | Municipal | 12 | $75,005 | +$23,005 | #675 |
| 2 | Blaine County Sheriff's Office | County | 20 | $74,526 | +$22,526 | #697 |
| 3 | Hailey Police Department | Municipal | — | $72,280 | +$20,280 | #797 |
| 4 | Boise Police Department | Municipal | 326 | $69,514 | +$17,514 | #965 |
| 5 | Meridian Police Department | Municipal | 109 | $67,621 | +$15,621 | #1,085 |
| 6 | Post Falls Police Department | Municipal | 52 | $67,330 | +$15,330 | #1,106 |
| 7 | Coeur d'Alene Police Department | Municipal | 94 | $66,872 | +$14,872 | #1,130 |
| 8 | Kootenai County Sheriff's Office | County | 104 | $65,291 | +$13,291 | #1,239 |
| 9 | Ada County Sheriff's Office | County | 220 | $64,896 | +$12,896 | #1,270 |
| 10 | Nampa Police Department | Municipal | 154 | $64,626 | +$12,626 | #1,286 |
| 11 | McCall Police Department | Municipal | 12 | $63,773 | +$11,773 | #1,332 |
| 12 | Moscow Police Department | Municipal | 30 | $63,544 | +$11,544 | #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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