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Montgomery 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.
Montgomery County Sheriff's Office starts at $65,969 a year — about $31.72 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $716 below the median of the 2,288 agencies on this list, and $2,409 above the median for county agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV run about 9% above the national average, so this is worth roughly $60,586 somewhere at average prices — $5,383 less than the headline figure. Most of that is rent, at 151 against a national average of 100, where goods are 105. Based on price levels for this metropolitan 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 isMontgomery County Sheriff's Office reported 123 sworn officers and 38 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 Montgomery County says about itself
The Montgomery County Sheriff's Office is the law enforcement arm of the Judicial System. Our mission is to provide leadership and professional support, as required, to ensure that Court mandates are carried out in a manner, which respects individual rights and freedoms.
What Montgomery County does
Montgomery County says its Sheriff's Office provides general law enforcement, judicial enforcement and specialized public-safety services in a lawful, fair, impartial and non-discriminatory manner. It carries out court mandates while respecting individual rights and works cooperatively with courts, criminal-justice agencies and other law-enforcement organizations to support a safe and orderly community.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 8 August 2026. Montgomery County Government official GovernmentJobs posting — Deputy Sheriff Candidate, Grade G1 — open the source document
Opening 9 January 2026; official hiring salary $65,969; Experience: None
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 Montgomery 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. Montgomery County starts at $65,969, so $2,404 above the county middle.
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How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Montgomery County Sheriff's Office officer make?
Montgomery County Sheriff's Office starts a new officer on $65,969 a year, about $31.72 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 Montgomery County Government official GovernmentJobs posting — Deputy Sheriff Candidate, Grade G1.
Is that good pay for a police officer in Maryland?
It ranks #17 of 29 agencies we have verified in Maryland — 12 pay less, 16 pay more in the state — and #1,187 of 2,288 nationally. Against the national median it is $716 below, and against other county agencies $2,409 above.
Compare with another department
Put Montgomery 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 MD
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Montgomery | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rockville City Police Department | Municipal | — | $75,256 | +$9,287 | #662 |
| 2 | Maryland Transit Administration Police Force | State | — | $72,829 | +$6,860 | #772 |
| 3 | Anne Arundel County Police Department | Municipal | 776 | $72,802 | +$6,833 | #773 |
| 4 | Frederick Police Department | Municipal | 151 | $71,351 | +$5,382 | #852 |
| 5 | Maryland Transportation Authority Police | State | 392 | $71,258 | +$5,289 | #860 |
| 6 | St. Mary's County Sheriff's Office | County | 167 | $71,011 | +$5,042 | #874 |
| 7 | Laurel Police Department | Municipal | 63 | $70,269 | +$4,300 | #920 |
| 8 | Prince George's County Police Department | County | 1,343 | $70,257 | +$4,288 | #922 |
| 9 | Worcester County Sheriff's Office | County | 91 | $70,221 | +$4,252 | #925 |
| 10 | Wicomico County Sheriff's Office | County | 97 | $70,000 | +$4,031 | #937 |
| 11 | Gaithersburg Police Department | Municipal | 66 | $70,000 | +$4,031 | #940 |
| 12 | Maryland State Police | State | 1,434 | $69,360 | +$3,391 | #969 |
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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