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St. Louis 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.
St. Louis County Sheriff's Office starts at $67,475 a year — about $32.44 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $790 above the median of the 2,288 agencies on this list, and $3,916 above the median for county agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in Duluth, MN-WI run about 11% below the national average, so this goes about as far as $76,013 would somewhere at average prices — $8,538 more than the headline figure. Most of that is rent, at 71 against a national average of 100, where goods are 95. 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 isSt. Louis County Sheriff's Office reported 109 sworn officers and 165 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 St. Louis County says about itself
The St. Louis County Sheriff's Office is responsible for all law enforcement activity in the unincorporated areas of St. Louis County and for providing boat and water safety enforcement and maintaining the county jail and range lockups. The sheriff is elected by the people for a four-year term, with duties defined by Minnesota Statute 387.03, and shall have the charge and custody of the county jail and receive and safely keep all persons lawfully committed thereto. The office serves over 200,000 residents from offices in Duluth, Ely, Cook, Mountain Iron, Rice Lake, Hibbing and Virginia.
What St. Louis County does
St. Louis County Sheriff's Office provides patrol, investigations, corrections, civil, court-security, emergency communications, water patrol and search-and-rescue services. Official County materials emphasize professional public safety, service and partnership with communities across the county.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 8 August 2026. St. Louis County official GovernmentJobs posting — Deputy Sheriff — open the source document
Continuous official recruitment; current minimum $32.44/hour verified 8 August 2026 and annualized at 2,080 hours; higher lateral placement excluded
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.
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How this level compares
Where St. Louis 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. St. Louis County starts at $67,475, so $3,910 above the county middle.
How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a St. Louis County Sheriff's Office officer make?
St. Louis County Sheriff's Office starts a new officer on $67,475 a year, about $32.44 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 St. Louis County official GovernmentJobs posting — Deputy Sheriff.
Is that good pay for a police officer in Minnesota?
It ranks #89 of 102 agencies we have verified in Minnesota — 13 pay less, 88 pay more in the state — and #1,095 of 2,288 nationally. Against the national median it is $790 above, and against other county agencies $3,916 above.
Compare with another department
Put St. Louis 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 MN
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs St. | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Blaine Police Department | Municipal | 80 | $101,733 | +$34,258 | #111 |
| 2 | Stillwater Police Department | Municipal | 26 | $94,328 | +$26,853 | #193 |
| 3 | Columbia Heights Police Department | Municipal | 29 | $93,725 | +$26,250 | #198 |
| 4 | Carver County Sheriff's Office | County | 77 | $93,683 | +$26,208 | #200 |
| 5 | Oakdale Police Department | Municipal | 39 | $93,538 | +$26,062 | #203 |
| 6 | Richfield Police Department | Municipal | 45 | $93,226 | +$25,750 | #205 |
| 7 | Maplewood Police Department | Municipal | 56 | $93,038 | +$25,563 | #209 |
| 8 | Forest Lake Police Department | Municipal | 20 | $92,789 | +$25,314 | #212 |
| 9 | Apple Valley Police Department | Municipal | 59 | $92,768 | +$25,293 | #213 |
| 10 | Coon Rapids Police Department | Municipal | 73 | $92,123 | +$24,648 | #226 |
| 11 | Saint Paul Police Department | Municipal | 562 | $91,291 | +$23,816 | #237 |
| 12 | Woodbury Police Department | Municipal | 80 | $91,187 | +$23,712 | #239 |
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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