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Monroe 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.
Monroe County Sheriff's Office starts at $53,151 a year — about $25.55 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $13,534 below the median of the 2,288 agencies on this list, and $10,409 below the median for county agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in Florida run about 3% above the national average, so this is worth roughly $51,396 somewhere at average prices — $1,755 less than the headline figure. Most of that is rent, at 122 against a national average of 100, where goods are 98. 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 isMonroe County Sheriff's Office reported 209 sworn officers and 281 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 Monroe County says about itself
Our vision is to enhance the quality of life in the Florida Keys through strong community partnerships, in a way that maintains the public trust. The men and women of the Monroe County Sheriff's office will pursue the highest standards of Law Enforcement Excellence in everything we do. It is the mission of the Monroe County Sheriff's Office to suppress, prevent and deter crime with the relentless pursuit of all criminals as a top priority. We will operate safe and professional detention and court security services throughout the Keys. We are dedicated to keeping our communities and roadways safe while providing the highest quality of service to our residents and visitors.
What Monroe County does
The Monroe County Sheriff's Office is the primary law enforcement agency for the Florida Keys, established in 1823, policing about 112 miles of islands from administration on Stock Island with substations on Cudjoe Key, in Marathon, Islamorada and Tavernier. It is state and nationally accredited, and its roughly 544 staff include road patrol and detectives, corrections officers, support staff and the Sheriff's Office-managed High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area group. Key West city has its own police department, which is separately on this site.
Shifts at Monroe County
The Monroe County Sheriff's Office works twelve-hour shifts, with the Florida Retirement System and paid holidays, vacation and sick time.
The agency publishes the shift length but not a named cycle. These are the 12-hour rotations departments most often build on it: Pitman, 4 on, 4 off, DuPont, Panama, 3-4-4-3.
Twelve-hour tours across the Keys make for long runs on and long runs off. BlueShifts holds the cycle and counts the holidays that land inside your worked days rather than beside them.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 30 August 2026. Deputy Sheriff Trainee, Monroe County Sheriff's Office recruitment. — open the source document
Their source is effective 28 August 2026.
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.
BlueShifts. Plan Your Year. Own Your Time.
The shift calendar built for your rotation, off-duty work, and life on and off the clock.
Save your shift schedule once and BlueShifts fills the rest of the year in.
How this level compares
Where Monroe 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. Monroe County starts at $53,151, so $10,414 below the county middle.
How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Monroe County Sheriff's Office officer make?
Monroe County Sheriff's Office starts a new officer on $53,151 a year, about $25.55 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 Deputy Sheriff Trainee, Monroe County Sheriff's Office recruitment..
Is that good pay for a police officer in Florida?
It ranks #222 of 303 agencies we have verified in Florida — 81 pay less, 221 pay more in the state — and #1,954 of 2,288 nationally. Against the national median it is $13,534 below, and against other county agencies $10,409 below.
What shifts do Monroe County Sheriff's Office officers work?
The Monroe County Sheriff's Office works twelve-hour shifts, with the Florida Retirement System and paid holidays, vacation and sick time. That is the agency's own published wording; the pattern is drawn on this page.
Compare with another department
Put Monroe 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 FL
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Monroe | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Boca Raton Police Services Department | Municipal | 195 | $91,007 | +$37,856 | #244 |
| 2 | Fort Lauderdale Police Department | Municipal | 565 | $81,723 | +$28,572 | #433 |
| 3 | Plantation Police Department | Municipal | 164 | $81,000 | +$27,849 | #459 |
| 4 | Hillsboro Beach Police Department | Municipal | 15 | $80,954 | +$27,803 | #461 |
| 5 | Pinecrest Police Department | Municipal | 47 | $80,912 | +$27,761 | #464 |
| 6 | Sunny Isles Beach Police Department | Municipal | 65 | $80,000 | +$26,849 | #496 |
| 7 | Indian Creek Village Public Safety Department | Municipal | 10 | $79,850 | +$26,699 | #500 |
| 8 | Sunrise Police Department | Municipal | 190 | $79,071 | +$25,920 | #520 |
| 9 | Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office | County | 1,720 | $78,828 | +$25,677 | #526 |
| 10 | Aventura Police Department | Municipal | 91 | $78,556 | +$25,405 | #536 |
| 11 | Longboat Key Police Department | Municipal | 19 | $78,430 | +$25,279 | #543 |
| 12 | Manalapan Police Department | Municipal | 13 | $78,280 | +$25,129 | #549 |
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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