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Okeechobee 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.
Okeechobee County Sheriff's Office starts at $50,000 a year — about $24.04 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $18,390 below the median of the 1,681 agencies on this list, and $15,374 below the median for county agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in rural Florida run about 6% below the national average, so this goes about as far as $53,219 would somewhere at average prices — $3,219 more than the headline figure. Most of that is rent, at 81 against a national average of 100, where goods are 96. 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 isOkeechobee County Sheriff's Office reported 107 sworn officers and 67 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 Okeechobee County
Okeechobee County Sheriff's Office has served this inland south-central Florida county since 1917, covering 744 square miles of ranch and lake country north of Lake Okeechobee. Its Uniform Division works two rotating 12-hour shifts, 6am to 6pm and 6pm to 6am, each crewed by a sergeant, a corporal and seven deputies, with one traffic unit assigned per shift to investigate crashes. A school resource unit of a sergeant and five deputies is based in the county's schools and supervises its five civilian crossing guards, and the office also fields a dive team, a special response team and a 22-member emergency response team trained as a mobile field force. It runs the county jail alongside its law enforcement work.
Shifts at Okeechobee County
Okeechobee's Uniform Division runs two rotating 12-hour shifts, 6am to 6pm and 6pm to 6am, each crewed by a sergeant, a corporal and seven deputies covering 744 square miles.
Rotating between a 6am start and a 6pm start turns your whole week around, and the shift that ends at 6am belongs to the day before. BlueShifts handles shifts crossing midnight and marks days and nights differently, so the month reads correctly either way.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 10 August 2026. Okeechobee County Sheriff's Office official Employment page — open the source document
2026 page; Law Enforcement Officer (Certified) starting pay $50,000, with a higher hiring range dependent on experience. The floor is the no-prior-experience certified entry base.
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 Okeechobee 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. Okeechobee County starts at $50,000, so $15,374 below the county middle.
How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Okeechobee County Sheriff's Office officer make?
Okeechobee County Sheriff's Office starts a new officer on $50,000 a year, about $24.04 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 Okeechobee County Sheriff's Office official Employment page.
Is that good pay for a police officer in Florida?
It ranks #135 of 141 agencies we have verified in Florida — 6 pay less, 134 pay more in the state — and #1,568 of 1,681 nationally. Against the national median it is $18,390 below, and against other county agencies $15,374 below.
What shifts do Okeechobee County Sheriff's Office officers work?
Okeechobee's Uniform Division runs two rotating 12-hour shifts, 6am to 6pm and 6pm to 6am, each crewed by a sergeant, a corporal and seven deputies covering 744 square miles. That is the agency's own published wording; the pattern is drawn on this page.
Compare with another department
Put Okeechobee 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 Okeechobee | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Boca Raton Police Services Department | Municipal | 195 | $86,674 | +$36,674 | #270 |
| 2 | Fort Lauderdale Police Department | Municipal | 565 | $81,723 | +$31,723 | #354 |
| 3 | Plantation Police Department | Municipal | 164 | $81,000 | +$31,000 | #379 |
| 4 | Pinecrest Police Department | Municipal | 47 | $80,912 | +$30,912 | #383 |
| 5 | Sunny Isles Beach Police Department | Municipal | 65 | $80,000 | +$30,000 | #411 |
| 6 | Aventura Police Department | Municipal | 91 | $78,556 | +$28,556 | #441 |
| 7 | Coral Springs Police Department | Municipal | 222 | $77,516 | +$27,516 | #470 |
| 8 | Boynton Beach Police Department | Municipal | 173 | $76,650 | +$26,650 | #490 |
| 9 | North Palm Beach Police Department | Municipal | 37 | $76,378 | +$26,378 | #497 |
| 10 | Naples Police Department | Municipal | 74 | $76,320 | +$26,320 | #501 |
| 11 | West Palm Beach Police Department | Municipal | 295 | $75,921 | +$25,921 | #524 |
| 12 | Bay Harbor Islands Police Department | Municipal | 24 | $75,836 | +$25,836 | #528 |
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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