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Marshall 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.
Marshall County Sheriff's Office starts at $66,300 a year — about $31.88 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $2,090 below the median of the 1,681 agencies on this list, and $926 above the median for county agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in rural Iowa run about 16% below the national average, so this goes about as far as $78,856 would somewhere at average prices — $12,556 more than the headline figure. Most of that is rent, at 51 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 isMarshall County Sheriff's Office reported 18 sworn officers and 37 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 Marshall County says about itself
The men and women of the Marshall County Sheriff's Office, in partnership with the citizens of this community, are committed to providing quality, professional law enforcement services to our citizens and visitors through the preservation of peace, order, safety, problem resolution, and education.
What Marshall County does
Marshall County Sheriff's Office provides county law-enforcement service through civil-service deputy sheriffs. Its official recruitment establishes an entry route for applicants meeting Iowa Law Enforcement Academy standards, while separating the standard entry position from higher-paid lateral placement.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 8 August 2026. Marshall County Sheriff's Office official Civil Servi | 14 Aug 2026: COMPLETED THE 8 AUG TRUNCATION - the row ended '/careers/civil_service_deputy_' and the full path is '/careers/civil_service_deputy_sheriff/'. **THE STORED $66,300 IS CORROBORATED, NOT CONTRADICTED**: the same page states lateral transfers with more than two years post-academy service start between $68,974.10 and $81,040.70, which sits sensibly just above an entry wage of $66,300. For scale, the county's 2022 posting gave $53,350 ($24.17/hr). **DO NOT CONFUSE WITH THE JAILER WAGE** - the same site's careers index gives $24.36/hour from 1 July 2025 for JAILERS, a different role. **BEWARE MARSHALL COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA (marshallcountywv.gov, entry deputy $16.25/hour) and MARSHALL COUNTY, ALABAMA - three Marshall County sheriffs in the results.** — open the source document
Current official recruitment page printed 19 July 2026; stated starting wage $66,300
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 Marshall 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. Marshall County starts at $66,300, so $926 above the county middle.
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How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Marshall County Sheriff's Office officer make?
Marshall County Sheriff's Office starts a new officer on $66,300 a year, about $31.88 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 Marshall County Sheriff's Office official Civil Servi | 14 Aug 2026: COMPLETED THE 8 AUG TRUNCATION - the row ended '/careers/civil_service_deputy_' and the full path is '/careers/civil_service_deputy_sheriff/'. **THE STORED $66,300 IS CORROBORATED, NOT CONTRADICTED**: the same page states lateral transfers with more than two years post-academy service start between $68,974.10 and $81,040.70, which sits sensibly just above an entry wage of $66,300. For scale, the county's 2022 posting gave $53,350 ($24.17/hr). **DO NOT CONFUSE WITH THE JAILER WAGE** - the same site's careers index gives $24.36/hour from 1 July 2025 for JAILERS, a different role. **BEWARE MARSHALL COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA (marshallcountywv.gov, entry deputy $16.25/hour) and MARSHALL COUNTY, ALABAMA - three Marshall County sheriffs in the results.**.
Is that good pay for a police officer in Iowa?
It ranks #22 of 28 agencies we have verified in Iowa — 6 pay less, 21 pay more in the state — and #957 of 1,681 nationally. Against the national median it is $2,090 below, and against other county agencies $926 above.
Compare with another department
Put Marshall 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 IA
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Marshall | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Iowa County Sheriff's Office | County | 14 | $85,550 | +$19,250 | #281 |
| 2 | Des Moines Police Department | Municipal | 367 | $84,635 | +$18,335 | #297 |
| 3 | Norwalk Police Department | Municipal | 22 | $76,710 | +$10,410 | #486 |
| 4 | Ankeny Police Department | Municipal | 78 | $76,648 | +$10,348 | #491 |
| 5 | Urbandale Police Department | Municipal | 58 | $76,028 | +$9,728 | #516 |
| 6 | Woodbury County Sheriff's Office | County | 44 | $73,944 | +$7,644 | #597 |
| 7 | Linn County Sheriff's Office | County | 120 | $73,216 | +$6,916 | #616 |
| 8 | Chickasaw County Sheriff's Office | County | 10 | $71,822 | +$5,522 | #678 |
| 9 | Mason City Police Department | Municipal | 40 | $71,448 | +$5,148 | #698 |
| 10 | Johnson County Sheriff's Office | County | 81 | $70,871 | +$4,571 | #732 |
| 11 | Iowa Department of Natural Resources — Conservation Law Enforcement | State | — | $70,574 | +$4,274 | #742 |
| 12 | Davenport Police Department | Municipal | 143 | $70,322 | +$4,022 | #752 |
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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