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Polk 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.
Polk County Sheriff's Office starts at $71,552 a year — about $34.40 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $3,162 above the median of the 1,681 agencies on this list, and $6,178 above the median for county agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in Salem, OR run about 4% above the national average, so this is worth roughly $69,033 somewhere at average prices — $2,519 less than the headline figure. Most of that is rent, at 110 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 isPolk County Sheriff's Office reported 27 sworn officers and 42 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 Polk County says about itself
The mission of the Polk County Sheriff's Office is to demonstrate leadership through honoring public trust and developing partnerships within the communities we serve by providing effective law enforcement services which we promote, preserve and deliver public safety and security.
What Polk County does
Polk County Sheriff's Office provides patrol, investigations, corrections, civil, court-security, search-and-rescue and emergency services. Official County materials emphasize professional service, public safety and partnership with the community.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 8 August 2026. Polk County official employment source — Patrol Deputy / entry-level recruitment — open the source document
$71,552. Current 2026 official county recruitment information; verified 8 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.
How this level compares
Where Polk 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. Polk County starts at $71,552, so $6,178 above the county middle.
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How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Polk County Sheriff's Office officer make?
Polk County Sheriff's Office starts a new officer on $71,552 a year, about $34.40 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 Polk County official employment source — Patrol Deputy / entry-level recruitment.
Is that good pay for a police officer in Oregon?
It ranks #32 of 46 agencies we have verified in Oregon — 14 pay less, 31 pay more in the state — and #694 of 1,681 nationally. Against the national median it is $3,162 above, and against other county agencies $6,178 above.
Compare with another department
Put Polk 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 OR
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Polk | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tigard Police Department | Municipal | 71 | $86,596 | +$15,044 | #271 |
| 2 | Bend Police Department | Municipal | 107 | $86,432 | +$14,880 | #273 |
| 3 | Washington County Sheriff's Office | County | 219 | $85,738 | +$14,186 | #280 |
| 4 | Gresham Police Department | Municipal | 123 | $84,968 | +$13,416 | #292 |
| 5 | Portland Police Bureau | Municipal | 809 | $84,000 | +$12,448 | #308 |
| 6 | Hillsboro Police Department | Municipal | 144 | $83,988 | +$12,436 | #311 |
| 7 | Corvallis Police Department | Municipal | 67 | $82,747 | +$11,195 | #337 |
| 8 | Lane County Sheriff's Office | County | 75 | $82,181 | +$10,629 | #344 |
| 9 | Multnomah County Sheriff's Office | County | 132 | $82,035 | +$10,483 | #348 |
| 10 | Tualatin Police Department | Municipal | 38 | $81,973 | +$10,421 | #349 |
| 11 | Oregon City Police Department | Municipal | 38 | $81,564 | +$10,012 | #359 |
| 12 | Salem Police Department | Municipal | 185 | $81,349 | +$9,797 | #366 |
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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