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Yavapai 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.
Yavapai County Sheriff's Office starts at $65,083 a year — about $31.29 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $1,602 below the median of the 2,288 agencies on this list, and $1,524 above the median for county agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in Prescott Valley-Prescott, AZ run about 2% below the national average, so this goes about as far as $66,239 would somewhere at average prices — $1,156 more than the headline figure. That average hides a wide spread: utilities at 91, 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 isYavapai County Sheriff's Office reported 129 sworn officers and 65 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 Yavapai County says about itself
The mission of the Yavapai County Sheriff's Office is to enhance the quality of life in the county by working cooperatively with the public to prevent crime, enforce the law, preserve the peace, and provide a safe environment for all.
What Yavapai County does
Yavapai County Sheriff's Office provides patrol, investigations, detention, court-security, civil, search-and-rescue and specialized law-enforcement services. Official County materials emphasize public safety, professional service, integrity and community partnership.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 8 August 2026. Yavapai County official GovernmentJobs posting — Deputy Sheriff — open the source document
Opening 2026; official minimum $31.29/hour annualized at 2,080 hours; no prior law-enforcement experience required; certification requirement applies to sworn appointment
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 Yavapai 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. Yavapai County starts at $65,083, so $1,518 above the county middle.
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How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Yavapai County Sheriff's Office officer make?
Yavapai County Sheriff's Office starts a new officer on $65,083 a year, about $31.29 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 Yavapai County official GovernmentJobs posting — Deputy Sheriff.
Is that good pay for a police officer in Arizona?
It ranks #28 of 36 agencies we have verified in Arizona — 8 pay less, 27 pay more in the state — and #1,250 of 2,288 nationally. Against the national median it is $1,602 below, and against other county agencies $1,524 above.
Compare with another department
Put Yavapai 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 AZ
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Yavapai | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Scottsdale Police Department | Municipal | 391 | $81,474 | +$16,390 | #440 |
| 2 | Tempe Police Department | Municipal | 353 | $79,977 | +$14,894 | #497 |
| 3 | Goodyear Police Department | Municipal | 174 | $77,147 | +$12,064 | #580 |
| 4 | Buckeye Police Department | Municipal | 133 | $76,003 | +$10,920 | #626 |
| 5 | Phoenix Police Department | Municipal | 2,490 | $75,847 | +$10,764 | #637 |
| 6 | Queen Creek Police Department | Municipal | 132 | $74,693 | +$9,610 | #689 |
| 7 | Chandler Police Department | Municipal | 348 | $74,610 | +$9,526 | #693 |
| 8 | Surprise Police Department | Municipal | 179 | $74,214 | +$9,131 | #707 |
| 9 | Peoria Police Department | Municipal | 234 | $74,194 | +$9,110 | #708 |
| 10 | Mesa Police Department | Municipal | 885 | $73,972 | +$8,889 | #720 |
| 11 | Glendale Police Department | Municipal | 406 | $73,389 | +$8,306 | #742 |
| 12 | Casa Grande Police Department | Municipal | 82 | $72,860 | +$7,777 | #768 |
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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