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Madison 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.
Madison County Sheriff's Office starts at $57,391 a year — about $27.59 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $10,999 below the median of the 1,681 agencies on this list, and $7,983 below the median for county agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in rural Nebraska run about 14% below the national average, so this goes about as far as $66,483 would somewhere at average prices — $9,092 more than the headline figure. Most of that is rent, at 55 against a national average of 100, where goods are 94. 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 isMadison County Sheriff's Office reported 20 sworn officers and 4 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.
About Madison County
Madison County Sheriff's Department describes itself as a full-service law-enforcement, corrections and civil-process agency serving county residents and the cities of Battle Creek, Madison, Meadow Grove, Newman Grove, Norfolk and Tilden. It also provides contract law-enforcement services to Meadow Grove and Newman Grove and assists other local law-enforcement agencies.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 8 August 2026. Madison County Sheriff's Department — Employment Opportunity, Deputy Sheriff — open the source document
Posted 11 May 2026; starting probationary salary $57,391.00; Nebraska law-enforcement certification is explicitly not required and candidates must be able to enter and complete the Nebraska Law Enforcement Training Center Basic Training Academy
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 Madison 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. Madison County starts at $57,391, so $7,983 below the county middle.
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How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Madison County Sheriff's Office officer make?
Madison County Sheriff's Office starts a new officer on $57,391 a year, about $27.59 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 Madison County Sheriff's Department — Employment Opportunity, Deputy Sheriff.
Is that good pay for a police officer in Nebraska?
It ranks #14 of 17 agencies we have verified in Nebraska — 3 pay less, 13 pay more in the state — and #1,363 of 1,681 nationally. Against the national median it is $10,999 below, and against other county agencies $7,983 below.
Compare with another department
Put Madison 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 NE
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Madison | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lincoln Police Department | Municipal | 351 | $74,568 | +$17,177 | #574 |
| 2 | Sarpy County Sheriff's Office | County | 114 | $73,861 | +$16,470 | #600 |
| 3 | La Vista Police Department | Municipal | 42 | $73,653 | +$16,262 | #605 |
| 4 | Lancaster County Sheriff's Office | County | 86 | $72,280 | +$14,889 | #653 |
| 5 | Nebraska State Patrol | State | 410 | $70,195 | +$12,804 | #760 |
| 6 | University of Nebraska-Lincoln Police Department | Special jurisdiction | 30 | $70,042 | +$12,651 | #766 |
| 7 | Papillion Police Department | Municipal | 48 | $69,086 | +$11,695 | #809 |
| 8 | Douglas County Sheriff's Office | County | 155 | $68,744 | +$11,353 | #827 |
| 9 | Grand Island Police Department | Municipal | 89 | $67,621 | +$10,230 | #886 |
| 10 | Columbus Police Department | Municipal | 37 | $65,340 | +$7,949 | #1,003 |
| 11 | Hall County Sheriff's Office | County | 34 | $61,027 | +$3,636 | #1,191 |
| 12 | Nebraska Game and Parks Commission — Law Enforcement Division | State | — | $58,947 | +$1,556 | #1,288 |
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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