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Shelby 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.
Shelby County Sheriff's Office starts at $57,408 a year — about $27.60 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $10,982 below the median of the 1,681 agencies on this list, and $7,966 below the median for county agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in Birmingham, AL run about 8% below the national average, so this goes about as far as $62,642 would somewhere at average prices — $5,234 more than the headline figure. Most of that is rent, at 72 against a national average of 100, 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 isShelby County Sheriff's Office reported 147 sworn officers and 83 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 Shelby County says about itself
The Shelby County Sheriff's Office is committed to upholding the Constitution and protecting the lives, rights, and property of everyone through excellence in law enforcement, jail operations, and service to the public.
What Shelby County does
The Patrol Division represents the front line of the Sheriff's Office. The Patrol Section conducts highly visible patrols of all Shelby County.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 9 August 2026. Shelby County Law Enforcement Personnel Board 2026 pay scale — open the source document
Their source is effective 1 July 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 Shelby 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. Shelby County starts at $57,408, so $7,966 below the county middle.
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How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Shelby County Sheriff's Office officer make?
Shelby County Sheriff's Office starts a new officer on $57,408 a year, about $27.60 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 Shelby County Law Enforcement Personnel Board 2026 pay scale.
Is that good pay for a police officer in Alabama?
It ranks #3 of 21 agencies we have verified in Alabama — 18 pay less, 2 pay more in the state — and #1,362 of 1,681 nationally. Against the national median it is $10,982 below, and against other county agencies $7,966 below.
Compare with another department
Put Shelby 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 AL
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Shelby | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Madison Police Department | Municipal | 88 | $60,195 | +$2,787 | #1,226 |
| 2 | Huntsville Police Department | Municipal | 432 | $58,614 | +$1,206 | #1,300 |
| 4 | Alabama Highway Patrol | State | — | $56,726 | −$682 | #1,376 |
| 5 | Madison County Sheriff's Office | County | 184 | $55,390 | −$2,018 | #1,415 |
| 6 | Montgomery Police Department | Municipal | 259 | $55,168 | −$2,240 | #1,420 |
| 7 | Baldwin County Sheriff's Office | County | 174 | $53,768 | −$3,640 | #1,476 |
| 8 | Tuscaloosa County Sheriff's Office | County | 112 | $51,888 | −$5,520 | #1,521 |
| 9 | Prattville Police Department | Municipal | 96 | $50,679 | −$6,729 | #1,544 |
| 10 | Mobile County Sheriff's Office | County | 236 | $50,526 | −$6,882 | #1,551 |
| 11 | University of Alabama at Birmingham Police Department | Special jurisdiction | — | $49,920 | −$7,488 | #1,577 |
| 12 | Fairhope Police Department | Municipal | 44 | $47,840 | −$9,568 | #1,601 |
| 13 | Jefferson County Sheriff's Office | County | 466 | $47,736 | −$9,672 | #1,604 |
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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