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Onondaga 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.
Onondaga County Sheriff's Office starts at $71,764 a year — about $34.50 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $3,374 above the median of the 1,681 agencies on this list, and $6,390 above the median for county agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in Syracuse, NY run about 4% below the national average, so this goes about as far as $74,956 would somewhere at average prices — $3,192 more than the headline figure. Most of that is utilities, at 133 against a national average of 100, where goods are 100. 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 isOnondaga County Sheriff's Office reported 217 sworn officers and 44 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 Onondaga County says about itself
It is the Mission of the Onondaga County Sheriff's Office Police Department to provide the citizens of Onondaga County a full service professional law enforcement agency to protect life and property, reduce the opportunity for crime and disorder, enforce all laws, assist victims and provide other police-related services as required by the community.
What Onondaga County does
Onondaga County Sheriff's Office provides law-enforcement, custody, civil, court-security and specialized public-safety services. Official County materials emphasize protecting the community, professional service, integrity and accountability.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 8 August 2026. Onondaga County official open competitive announcement — Police Officer/Deputy Sheriff (Police) — open the source document
Opening 14 July 2026; closes 1 September 2026; exam 17 October 2026; Sheriff's Office range $71,764-$98,039
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 Onondaga 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. Onondaga County starts at $71,764, so $6,390 above the county middle.
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How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Onondaga County Sheriff's Office officer make?
Onondaga County Sheriff's Office starts a new officer on $71,764 a year, about $34.50 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 Onondaga County official open competitive announcement — Police Officer/Deputy Sheriff (Police).
Is that good pay for a police officer in New York?
It ranks #4 of 23 agencies we have verified in New York — 19 pay less, 3 pay more in the state — and #681 of 1,681 nationally. Against the national median it is $3,374 above, and against other county agencies $6,390 above.
Compare with another department
Put Onondaga 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 NY
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Onondaga | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New York State Department of Financial Services — Investigations | State | — | $86,681 | +$14,917 | #269 |
| 2 | New York State Police | State | 5,373 | $85,292 | +$13,528 | #288 |
| 3 | New York State Park Police | State | 269 | $73,796 | +$2,032 | #602 |
| 5 | Yonkers Police Department | Municipal | 625 | $70,229 | −$1,535 | #755 |
| 6 | Erie County Sheriff's Office | County | 175 | $69,274 | −$2,490 | #800 |
| 7 | Livingston County Sheriff's Office | County | 66 | $67,808 | −$3,956 | #871 |
| 8 | New York State Department of Environmental Conservation — Forest Rangers | State | — | $67,796 | −$3,968 | #872 |
| 9 | Yates County Sheriff's Office | County | 27 | $66,389 | −$5,375 | #956 |
| 10 | Albany Police Department | Municipal | 269 | $65,066 | −$6,698 | #1,017 |
| 11 | Rochester Police Department | Municipal | 622 | $63,812 | −$7,952 | #1,068 |
| 12 | Nassau County Sheriff's Department | County | 2,591 | $62,657 | −$9,107 | #1,123 |
| 13 | Monroe County Sheriff's Office | County | 346 | $62,086 | −$9,678 | #1,153 |
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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