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Sarasota 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.
Sarasota County Sheriff's Office starts at $75,457 a year — about $36.28 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $8,772 above the median of the 2,288 agencies on this list, and $11,897 above the median for county agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota, FL run about 2% above the national average, so this is worth roughly $73,676 somewhere at average prices — $1,781 less than the headline figure. That average hides a wide spread: rent at 128, where goods are 96. 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 isSarasota County Sheriff's Office reported 490 sworn officers and 567 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 Sarasota County says about itself
Our mission is to provide effective and efficient service in partnership with our community. Our vision is a professional agency guided by our values and united with the community to make Sarasota County a safe place to live, work and visit.
What Sarasota County does
Sarasota County Sheriff's Office says deputies ensure the laws of Sarasota County and the State of Florida are administered, patrolling designated zones to prevent crime and preserve law and order, conducting preliminary investigations, gathering evidence, identifying witnesses, making arrests and testifying in court.
Shifts at Sarasota County
Sarasota County deputies work 12-hour shifts around the clock, every day including weekends and holidays, with a $1,500 a year midnight shift differential; the Emergency Operations Bureau runs a 0700-1900 day shift and a 1900-0700 night shift, bid on seniority every six months. Deputies are also available for private hire off duty, at published hourly rates.
The agency publishes the shift length but not a named cycle. These are the 12-hour rotations departments most often build on it: Pitman, 4 on, 4 off, DuPont, Panama, 3-4-4-3.
Twelve-hour shifts, a six-monthly re-bid and off-duty details all in one year is a lot to keep straight. BlueShifts builds the rotation, and its off-duty statistical calculator tracks what the detail work is actually adding up to.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 11 August 2026. Sarasota County Sheriff's Office official Deputy Sheriff recruiting page — open the source document
Live page; Florida Law Enforcement Certified salary $75,457-$95,113 overall minimum to maximum, the minimum taken as the no-prior-experience entry rate. The page states expressly that salary is BASED ON 12-HOUR SHIFTS, so the annual assumes about 2,184 hours rather than 2,080 - the same basis as Fernandina Beach. Later steps are experience-gated at 36, 72 and 96 months. Sponsored Recruit is a separate non-certified rate at $30.31 an hour, and a $1,500 midnight shift differential is excluded from base pay. CORRECTS $64,500, which came from a careers-root citation that could not be reopened.
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.
BlueShifts. Plan Your Year. Own Your Time.
The shift calendar built for your rotation, off-duty work, and life on and off the clock.
Save your shift schedule once and BlueShifts fills the rest of the year in.
How this level compares
Where Sarasota 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 | $33,280 | $68,140 | $163,619 | 1549 |
| County | $35,000 | $63,565 | $132,263 | 516 |
| Special jurisdiction | $31,200 | $60,204 | $107,954 | 71 |
| State | $33,994 | $65,166 | $110,916 | 145 |
| 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 $5,400 more than the middle municipal agency and about $9,900 more than the middle county agency and about $13,300 more than the middle special jurisdiction agency and about $8,300 more than the middle state agency and about $45,300 more than the middle territory agency. Sarasota County starts at $75,457, so $11,892 above the county middle.
How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Sarasota County Sheriff's Office officer make?
Sarasota County Sheriff's Office starts a new officer on $75,457 a year, about $36.28 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 Sarasota County Sheriff's Office official Deputy Sheriff recruiting page.
Is that good pay for a police officer in Florida?
It ranks #23 of 303 agencies we have verified in Florida — 280 pay less, 22 pay more in the state — and #651 of 2,288 nationally. Against the national median it is $8,772 above, and against other county agencies $11,897 above.
What shifts do Sarasota County Sheriff's Office officers work?
Sarasota County deputies work 12-hour shifts around the clock, every day including weekends and holidays, with a $1,500 a year midnight shift differential; the Emergency Operations Bureau runs a 0700-1900 day shift and a 1900-0700 night shift, bid on seniority every six months. Deputies are also available for private hire off duty, at published hourly rates. That is the agency's own published wording; the pattern is drawn on this page.
Compare with another department
Put Sarasota 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 Sarasota | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Boca Raton Police Services Department | Municipal | 195 | $91,007 | +$15,550 | #244 |
| 2 | Fort Lauderdale Police Department | Municipal | 565 | $81,723 | +$6,266 | #433 |
| 3 | Plantation Police Department | Municipal | 164 | $81,000 | +$5,543 | #459 |
| 4 | Hillsboro Beach Police Department | Municipal | 15 | $80,954 | +$5,497 | #461 |
| 5 | Pinecrest Police Department | Municipal | 47 | $80,912 | +$5,455 | #464 |
| 6 | Sunny Isles Beach Police Department | Municipal | 65 | $80,000 | +$4,543 | #496 |
| 7 | Indian Creek Village Public Safety Department | Municipal | 10 | $79,850 | +$4,393 | #500 |
| 8 | Sunrise Police Department | Municipal | 190 | $79,071 | +$3,614 | #520 |
| 9 | Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office | County | 1,720 | $78,828 | +$3,371 | #526 |
| 10 | Aventura Police Department | Municipal | 91 | $78,556 | +$3,099 | #536 |
| 11 | Longboat Key Police Department | Municipal | 19 | $78,430 | +$2,973 | #543 |
| 12 | Manalapan Police Department | Municipal | 13 | $78,280 | +$2,823 | #549 |
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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