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Park 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.
Park County Sheriff's Office starts at $60,029 a year — about $28.86 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $8,361 below the median of the 1,681 agencies on this list, and $5,346 below the median for county agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in rural Montana run about 8% below the national average, so this goes about as far as $65,521 would somewhere at average prices — $5,492 more than the headline figure. Most of that is rent, at 71 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 isPark County Sheriff's Office reported 17 sworn officers and 2 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 Park County says about itself
The purpose and mission of Park County Sheriff's Office is to serve and protect the persons and property in Park County and to enforce the laws of the United States.
What Park County does
Park County describes the Sheriff Deputy as a full-time law-enforcement team member who protects and serves Park County and Montana. The deputy patrols the county, enforces laws and ordinances, serves warrants and civil papers, conducts investigations, participates in search and rescue and assists other law-enforcement agencies
Where the figure comes from
Checked 10 August 2026. Park County Human Resources Sheriff Deputy recruitment — open the source document
Their source is effective 30 October 2024.
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 Park 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. Park County starts at $60,029, so $5,345 below the county middle.
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How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Park County Sheriff's Office officer make?
Park County Sheriff's Office starts a new officer on $60,029 a year, about $28.86 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 Park County Human Resources Sheriff Deputy recruitment.
Is that good pay for a police officer in Montana?
It ranks #18 of 23 agencies we have verified in Montana — 5 pay less, 17 pay more in the state — and #1,234 of 1,681 nationally. Against the national median it is $8,361 below, and against other county agencies $5,346 below.
Compare with another department
Put Park 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 MT
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Park | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Missoula Police Department | Municipal | 117 | $95,326 | +$35,298 | #142 |
| 2 | Bozeman Police Department | Municipal | 73 | $79,581 | +$19,552 | #416 |
| 3 | Gallatin County Sheriff's Office | County | 72 | $79,456 | +$19,427 | #421 |
| 4 | Kalispell Police Department | Municipal | 52 | $79,334 | +$19,305 | #424 |
| 5 | Missoula County Sheriff's Office | County | 59 | $77,563 | +$17,534 | #468 |
| 6 | Great Falls Police Department | Municipal | 90 | $76,253 | +$16,224 | #504 |
| 7 | Cascade County Sheriff's Office | County | 43 | $73,778 | +$13,749 | #603 |
| 8 | Yellowstone County Sheriff's Office | County | 65 | $72,800 | +$12,771 | #637 |
| 9 | Belgrade Police Department | Municipal | 26 | $71,761 | +$11,732 | #682 |
| 10 | Montana Highway Patrol | State | 225 | $71,240 | +$11,211 | #712 |
| 11 | Lewis and Clark County Sheriff's Office | County | 54 | $69,285 | +$9,256 | #799 |
| 12 | Billings Police Department | Municipal | 164 | $69,056 | +$9,027 | #812 |
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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