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Lincoln 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.
Lincoln County Sheriff's Office starts at $56,160 a year — about $27.00 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $12,230 below the median of the 1,681 agencies on this list, and $9,214 below the median for county agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in rural Idaho run about 8% below the national average, so this goes about as far as $61,134 would somewhere at average prices — $4,974 more than the headline figure. Most of that is utilities, at 70 against a national average of 100, where goods are 97. 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 isLincoln County Sheriff's Office reported 12 sworn officers and 2 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 Lincoln County says about itself
Deputies respond to general emergencies related to crime, public safety, traffic accidents, investigations, disturbances along with other calls. Patrols roadways and enforces state laws. Provides 24 hour a day emergency response, communicates with citizens, suspects, victims, and coworkers in a team environment for successful resolution of incidents.
What Lincoln County does
Lincoln County Sheriff's Office serves about 5,100 people across 1,200 square miles of south-central Idaho, from Shoshone out to Dietrich and Richfield, and also polices the city of Shoshone itself. It issues concealed carry licences to county residents only under Idaho Code 18-3302(6), runs the handgun safety training that satisfies the state education requirement, serves civil papers for a set fee on a letter of instruction, and operates a shooting range the public can book through dispatch.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 8 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 Peace Officer Standards and Training official Law Enforcement Job Postings — Patrol Deputy — open the source document
Open 17 June 2026–1 October 2026; official salary $27.00/hour
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 Lincoln 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. Lincoln County starts at $56,160, so $9,214 below the county middle.
How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Lincoln County Sheriff's Office officer make?
Lincoln County Sheriff's Office starts a new officer on $56,160 a year, about $27.00 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 Peace Officer Standards and Training official Law Enforcement Job Postings — Patrol Deputy.
Is that good pay for a police officer in Idaho?
It ranks #22 of 51 agencies we have verified in Idaho — 29 pay less, 21 pay more in the state — and #1,392 of 1,681 nationally. Against the national median it is $12,230 below, and against other county agencies $9,214 below.
Compare with another department
Put Lincoln 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 Lincoln | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sun Valley Police Department | Municipal | — | $75,005 | +$18,845 | #558 |
| 2 | Blaine County Sheriff's Office | County | 20 | $74,526 | +$18,366 | #577 |
| 3 | Boise Police Department | Municipal | 326 | $69,514 | +$13,354 | #791 |
| 4 | Meridian Police Department | Municipal | 109 | $67,621 | +$11,461 | #885 |
| 5 | Post Falls Police Department | Municipal | 52 | $67,330 | +$11,170 | #904 |
| 6 | Coeur d'Alene Police Department | Municipal | 94 | $66,872 | +$10,712 | #925 |
| 7 | Kootenai County Sheriff's Office | County | 104 | $65,291 | +$9,131 | #1,006 |
| 8 | Ada County Sheriff's Office | County | 220 | $64,896 | +$8,736 | #1,030 |
| 9 | McCall Police Department | Municipal | 12 | $63,773 | +$7,613 | #1,069 |
| 10 | Moscow Police Department | Municipal | 30 | $63,544 | +$7,384 | #1,079 |
| 11 | Lewiston Police Department | Municipal | 46 | $63,321 | +$7,161 | #1,094 |
| 12 | Idaho State Police | State | 311 | $62,546 | +$6,386 | #1,128 |
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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