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Monongalia 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.
Monongalia County Sheriff's Office starts at $56,300 a year — about $27.07 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $10,385 below the median of the 2,288 agencies on this list, and $7,260 below the median for county agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in West Virginia run about 11% below the national average, so this goes about as far as $62,907 would somewhere at average prices — $6,607 more than the headline figure. Most of that is rent, at 54 against a national average of 100, where goods are 97. 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 isMonongalia County Sheriff's Office reported 35 sworn officers and 1 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 Monongalia County says about itself
This team includes 39 Law Enforcement officers, alongside personnel in the Detective Division, Tax Office, Court Security, School Safety Officers, Transportation Services, Home Confinement Division, both Administrative and Secretarial staff, all of which serve the 107,000 citizens of Monongalia County.
What Monongalia County does
The Monongalia County Sheriff's Office is the sheriff's office for Monongalia County, West Virginia, home to Morgantown and West Virginia University. Under Sheriff Todd Forbes about 120 staff, 39 of them law enforcement officers, serve the county's 107,000 residents across patrol, detectives, court security, school safety, transport and home confinement.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 25 September 2026. Monongalia County Sheriff's Office, Deputy Sheriff Examination notice, January 2026: "Starting Salary $56,300.00 which increases to $57,500.00 after one year of service". — open the source document
One starting salary for every new deputy, printed as an annual and used as printed. The notice is for the examination of Saturday 10 January 2026 and is linked from the office's Employment page; certified officers take only the written test and uncertified applicants also take the physical test, but both are hired on this rate. Excluded: the $57,500 rate after one year, overtime and benefits.
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 Monongalia 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. Monongalia County starts at $56,300, so $7,265 below the county middle.
How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Monongalia County Sheriff's Office officer make?
Monongalia County Sheriff's Office starts a new officer on $56,300 a year, about $27.07 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 Monongalia County Sheriff's Office, Deputy Sheriff Examination notice, January 2026: "Starting Salary $56,300.00 which increases to $57,500.00 after one year of service"..
Is that good pay for a police officer in West Virginia?
It ranks #8 of 16 agencies we have verified in West Virginia — 8 pay less, 7 pay more in the state — and #1,781 of 2,288 nationally. Against the national median it is $10,385 below, and against other county agencies $7,260 below.
Compare with another department
Put Monongalia 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 WV
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Monongalia | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Virginia State Police | State | 440 | $60,984 | +$4,684 | #1,507 |
| 2 | Berkeley County Sheriff's Office | County | 64 | $59,187 | +$2,887 | #1,621 |
| 3 | Morgantown Police Department | Municipal | 57 | $58,157 | +$1,857 | #1,666 |
| 4 | Huntington Police Department | Municipal | 95 | $57,787 | +$1,487 | #1,702 |
| 5 | Charleston Police Department | Municipal | 152 | $57,485 | +$1,185 | #1,730 |
| 6 | Charles Town Police Department | Municipal | 16 | $57,462 | +$1,162 | #1,732 |
| 7 | Kanawha County Sheriff's Office | County | 95 | $57,054 | +$754 | #1,747 |
| 9 | Martinsburg Police Department | Municipal | 34 | $55,710 | −$590 | #1,809 |
| 10 | Wheeling Police Department | Municipal | 68 | $55,161 | −$1,139 | #1,842 |
| 11 | Jefferson County Sheriff's Office | County | 34 | $55,125 | −$1,175 | #1,844 |
| 12 | Moundsville Police Department | Municipal | 15 | $54,621 | −$1,679 | #1,882 |
| 13 | Fairmont Police Department | Municipal | 33 | $53,597 | −$2,703 | #1,935 |
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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