A county’s sheriff is the highest law-enforcement official in the county and performs duties that are roughly equivalent to those handled by a chief of police in a city’s police force. Deputy sheriffs perform the same patrol functions as a uniformed police officer does in a city police force. Their earnings are very different, however.

Average Salaries

The average salary for sheriff’s patrol officers in New York is $60,620 as of May 2009, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, or BLS. Half of all deputy sheriffs on patrol earn salaries between $45,090 and $72,690. Like many law enforcement officers, deputy sheriffs are often paid on an hourly basis. When they're in New York, they receive average hourly wages of $28.93.

Sheriff Salaries by Region

Proper sheriffs earn much higher salaries than those on their patrol force; those salaries vary greatly around the state. In New York City, sheriffs earn the highest average annual salary of those in the state, receiving $112,961 annually as of January 2011, according to Salary.com. In Buffalo, a sheriff earns $93,953, while a sheriff in Nassau County earns $100,480. Sheriffs who serve in Poughkeepsie earn $103,701 annually.

Comparison to National Average Salaries

Deputy sheriffs in New York earn higher salaries than the national average for patrol officers. Nationwide, sheriffs earn an average annual salary of $53,210 annually as of May 2009, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Half of all patrol officers earn between $40,450 and $67,990 each year. The average annual earnings for New York sheriffs is 114 percent of the national average for the position, and their average hourly wage is 112 percent that of the national average.

Comparison to City Averages

Law enforcement officers tend to receive higher salaries in urban areas than in rural ones, so the statewide average salary for sheriff’s officers in New York is lower than those found in many large cities. Deputy sheriffs earn $76,446 in Chicago, $69,286 in Phoenix and $70,033 in Houston as of January 2011, according to Salary Expert. In contrast, deputies who work in New York City earn the highest average wages in the nation, receiving $75,663 each year.