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Pottawattamie 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.
Pottawattamie County Sheriff's Office starts at $67,642 a year — about $32.52 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $748 below the median of the 1,681 agencies on this list, and $2,267 above the median for county agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in Omaha, NE-IA run about 8% below the national average, so this goes about as far as $73,595 would somewhere at average prices — $5,953 more than the headline figure. Most of that is utilities, at 76 against a national average of 100, where goods are 94. 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 isPottawattamie County Sheriff's Office reported 61 sworn officers and 167 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 Pottawattamie County says about itself
It is the mission of the Pottawattamie County Sheriff's Office to fairly enforce the laws of the State of Iowa for the citizens of Pottawattamie County. Further, it is our mission to provide services to the citizens of Pottawattamie County as well as provide effective Law Enforcement; safe, humane and secure jails; and security to our courts and Judicial System.
What Pottawattamie County does
Pottawattamie County Sheriff's Office provides patrol, investigations, corrections, civil, court-security and specialized public-safety services. Official County materials emphasize professional law enforcement, service, integrity and protection of the community.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 8 August 2026. Pottawattamie County official GovernmentJobs posting — Deputy Sheriff — open the source document
Opening 1 February 2026; closed 10 April 2026; open competitive civil-service examination for Deputy Sheriff; minimum $32.52/hour annualized at 2,080 hours
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 Pottawattamie 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. Pottawattamie County starts at $67,642, so $2,268 above the county middle.
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How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Pottawattamie County Sheriff's Office officer make?
Pottawattamie County Sheriff's Office starts a new officer on $67,642 a year, about $32.52 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 Pottawattamie County official GovernmentJobs posting — Deputy Sheriff.
Is that good pay for a police officer in Iowa?
It ranks #18 of 28 agencies we have verified in Iowa — 10 pay less, 17 pay more in the state — and #883 of 1,681 nationally. Against the national median it is $748 below, and against other county agencies $2,267 above.
Compare with another department
Put Pottawattamie 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 IA
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Pottawattamie | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Iowa County Sheriff's Office | County | 14 | $85,550 | +$17,909 | #281 |
| 2 | Des Moines Police Department | Municipal | 367 | $84,635 | +$16,994 | #297 |
| 3 | Norwalk Police Department | Municipal | 22 | $76,710 | +$9,069 | #486 |
| 4 | Ankeny Police Department | Municipal | 78 | $76,648 | +$9,006 | #491 |
| 5 | Urbandale Police Department | Municipal | 58 | $76,028 | +$8,386 | #516 |
| 6 | Woodbury County Sheriff's Office | County | 44 | $73,944 | +$6,302 | #597 |
| 7 | Linn County Sheriff's Office | County | 120 | $73,216 | +$5,574 | #616 |
| 8 | Chickasaw County Sheriff's Office | County | 10 | $71,822 | +$4,181 | #678 |
| 9 | Mason City Police Department | Municipal | 40 | $71,448 | +$3,806 | #698 |
| 10 | Johnson County Sheriff's Office | County | 81 | $70,871 | +$3,229 | #732 |
| 11 | Iowa Department of Natural Resources — Conservation Law Enforcement | State | — | $70,574 | +$2,933 | #742 |
| 12 | Davenport Police Department | Municipal | 143 | $70,322 | +$2,680 | #752 |
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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