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Union 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.
Union County Sheriff's Office starts at $55,120 a year — about $26.50 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $12,147 below the median of the 2,053 agencies on this list, and $9,318 below the median for county agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in South Dakota run about 11% below the national average, so this goes about as far as $62,222 would somewhere at average prices — $7,102 more than the headline figure. Most of that is rent, at 68 against a national average of 100, where goods are 95. Based on state-wide price levels, because this agency is not tied to a single metro 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 isUnion County Sheriff's Office reported 13 sworn officers and 21 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.
About Union County
The Union County Sheriff's Office polices Union County in the far south-eastern corner of South Dakota from the courthouse at Elk Point, covering Alcester, Beresford, Jefferson, North Sioux City, Dakota Dunes and the surrounding townships. Its 2026 sworn establishment is the Sheriff, a Chief Deputy/Investigator, two sergeants and seven deputies, alongside three special deputies, a 911 director with seven dispatchers, and a jail staffed by a chief correctional officer and correctional officers. The office runs the county's 911 communications center and the county jail as well as patrol.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 8 September 2026. Union County Board of Commissioners, minutes of 6 January 2026 — 2026 salaries published under SDCL 6-1-10 — open the source document
Read 8 September 2026 from the County's own published salary list, which South Dakota requires under SDCL 6-1-10: the commissioners publish every employee by name, title and rate at the first meeting of the year. The sworn ranks run Deputy, Deputy II and Sergeant; the single officer at the entry rank of Deputy is paid $26.50 an hour, against $28.50 for each of the six Deputy IIs and $28.50-$30.50 for the sergeants. $26.50 x 2,080 = $55,120.00. That hourly figure is exactly the rate the County advertises to uncertified applicants - its Deputy Sheriff posting reads 'pay $26.50 uncertified per hour depending on experience', with a $0.50 evening and $0.60 overnight differential excluded here - so the entry rank in the published list and the advertised uncertified rate are the same number. The posting itself has since closed and survives only in aggregator copies, which is why the statutory salary publication is the source and the posting only the corroboration.
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 Union 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 | $68,786 | $163,619 | 1372 |
| County | $35,000 | $64,438 | $132,263 | 459 |
| Special jurisdiction | $31,200 | $60,204 | $107,954 | 71 |
| State | $33,994 | $65,400 | $110,916 | 144 |
| 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 $4,700 more than the middle municipal agency and about $9,100 more than the middle county agency and about $13,300 more than the middle special jurisdiction agency and about $8,100 more than the middle state agency and about $45,300 more than the middle territory agency. Union County starts at $55,120, so $9,318 below the county middle.
How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Union County Sheriff's Office officer make?
Union County Sheriff's Office starts a new officer on $55,120 a year, about $26.50 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 Union County Board of Commissioners, minutes of 6 January 2026 — 2026 salaries published under SDCL 6-1-10.
Is that good pay for a police officer in South Dakota?
It ranks #13 of 17 agencies we have verified in South Dakota — 4 pay less, 12 pay more in the state — and #1,670 of 2,053 nationally. Against the national median it is $12,147 below, and against other county agencies $9,318 below.
Compare with another department
Put Union 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 SD
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Union | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sioux Falls Police Department | Municipal | 284 | $72,030 | +$16,910 | #744 |
| 2 | Rapid City Police Department | Municipal | 157 | $70,491 | +$15,371 | #835 |
| 3 | Spearfish Police Department | Municipal | 19 | $68,307 | +$13,187 | #953 |
| 4 | Pierre Police Department | Municipal | 20 | $68,307 | +$13,187 | #954 |
| 5 | Minnehaha County Sheriff's Office | County | 86 | $66,893 | +$11,773 | #1,044 |
| 6 | South Dakota Highway Patrol | State | 150 | $64,251 | +$9,131 | #1,201 |
| 7 | Mitchell Police Department | Municipal | 26 | $63,492 | +$8,372 | #1,240 |
| 8 | Pennington County Sheriff's Office | County | 217 | $63,357 | +$8,237 | #1,250 |
| 9 | Aberdeen Police Department | Municipal | 54 | $62,587 | +$7,467 | #1,291 |
| 10 | Yankton Police Department | Municipal | 30 | $58,253 | +$3,133 | #1,512 |
| 11 | Edmunds County Sheriff's Office | County | 8 | $58,136 | +$3,016 | #1,520 |
| 12 | Brown County Sheriff's Office | County | 21 | $55,578 | +$458 | #1,645 |
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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