How To Become A County Sheriff: What It Is and Career Path

What is a county sheriff and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

Quoted Expert

Dr. Janet Brewer

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a county sheriff. For example, did you know that they make an average of $22.81 an hour? That's $47,451 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 3% and produce 20,600 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to a County Sheriff?

Dr. Janet Brewer

Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice & Sociology, Governors State University

Market yourself as someone who can increase revenue or decrease workload for that entity. Use your school's alumni network to its fullest.

ScoreCounty SheriffUS Average

Salary

3.7

Avg. Salary $47,451

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

10.0

Growth Rate 3%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.1

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.91%

Asian 3.74%

Black or African American 12.27%

Hispanic or Latino 18.73%

Unknown 4.38%

White 59.96%

Gender

female 32.93%

male 67.07%

Age - 39

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 39

Stress Level

10.0

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

9.1

Complexity Level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

4.8

Work Life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a county sheriff

Explore county sheriff education requirements

Most common county sheriff degrees

Bachelor's

38.9 %

Associate

24.8 %

High School Diploma

20.4 %

Start to develop specific county sheriff skills

Skills	Percentages
Patrol	21.56%
Public Safety	12.06%
Emergency Situations	10.80%
Law Enforcement Agencies	5.34%
Correctional Facility	4.35%

Complete relevant county sheriff training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New county sheriffs learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a county sheriff based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real county sheriff resumes.

Research county sheriff duties and responsibilities

Hire and manage credit officers responsible for Citigroup's new commodity derivatives business in Houston.
Second in command of sheriffs office.
Train in incident command; NIMS.
Serve warrants, civil papers, subpoenas and court orders.

Prepare your county sheriff resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your county sheriff resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a county sheriff resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose From 10+ Customizable County Sheriff Resume templates

Build a professional County Sheriff resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your County Sheriff resume.

Apply for county sheriff jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a county sheriff job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do county sheriffs rate their job?

-/5

5 Stars

4 Stars

3 Stars

2 Stars

1 Star

County Sheriff reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on May 2019

Pros

Variety and independence

Cons

Petty politics,nepotism and corrupt institutional practices and policies