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Tippecanoe 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.
Tippecanoe County Sheriff's Office starts at $68,339 a year — about $32.86 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $51 below the median of the 1,681 agencies on this list, and $2,965 above the median for county agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in Lafayette-West Lafayette, IN run about 7% below the national average, so this goes about as far as $73,145 would somewhere at average prices — $4,806 more than the headline figure. Most of that is rent, 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 isTippecanoe County Sheriff's Office reported 67 sworn officers and 114 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 Tippecanoe County says about itself
The Tippecanoe County Sheriff's Office employs over 180 personnel who have various responsibilities. We operate in three divisions. Administration, Patrol, and Corrections.
What Tippecanoe County does
The Sheriff's Office employs more than 180 personnel and operates Administration, Patrol and Corrections divisions. Its Patrol Division includes merit deputies, dispatch, detectives, courthouse and animal control, and its Enforcement Division states that it works to ensure public safety through law enforcement, community protection and enforcement of local laws
Where the figure comes from
Checked 10 August 2026. Tippecanoe County 2026 Budget Hearings, Proposed Pay Grids; Sheriff's Employment page — open the source document
Their source is effective 28 July 2025.
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 Tippecanoe 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. Tippecanoe County starts at $68,339, so $2,965 above the county middle.
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How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Tippecanoe County Sheriff's Office officer make?
Tippecanoe County Sheriff's Office starts a new officer on $68,339 a year, about $32.86 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 Tippecanoe County 2026 Budget Hearings, Proposed Pay Grids; Sheriff's Employment page.
Is that good pay for a police officer in Indiana?
It ranks #13 of 39 agencies we have verified in Indiana — 26 pay less, 12 pay more in the state — and #845 of 1,681 nationally. Against the national median it is $51 below, and against other county agencies $2,965 above.
Compare with another department
Put Tippecanoe 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 IN
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Tippecanoe | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bloomington Police Department | Municipal | 95 | $81,234 | +$12,895 | #372 |
| 2 | MSD Wayne Township School Police Department | Special jurisdiction | — | $77,700 | +$9,361 | #464 |
| 3 | Columbus Police Department | Municipal | 88 | $74,984 | +$6,645 | #562 |
| 4 | Fishers Police Department | Municipal | 124 | $74,560 | +$6,221 | #575 |
| 5 | Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department | Municipal | — | $74,459 | +$6,120 | #581 |
| 6 | Lafayette Police Department | Municipal | 142 | $72,539 | +$4,200 | #646 |
| 7 | West Lafayette Police Department | Municipal | 47 | $72,391 | +$4,052 | #649 |
| 8 | Purdue University Police Department | Special jurisdiction | — | $72,137 | +$3,798 | #659 |
| 9 | Carmel Police Department | Municipal | 147 | $72,000 | +$3,661 | #667 |
| 10 | Indiana State Police | State | 1,171 | $70,000 | +$1,661 | #769 |
| 11 | Indiana Gaming Commission — Enforcement Division | State | — | $70,000 | +$1,661 | #770 |
| 12 | Hamilton County Sheriff's Office | County | 62 | $70,000 | +$1,661 | #775 |
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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