EFFECTIVE APRIL 1, 2025
NYS Court Officer salary (2026)
A NYS Court Officer-Trainee earns $58,100 a year at academy entry, effective April 1, 2025, and $68,593 on promotion to NYS Court Officer after the two-year traineeship. In New York City that is $65,555 and $76,048 a year once location pay and the two annual allowances are added.
The full compensation picture
Base pay is only part of it. Location pay depends on the county where you work, and allowances are added on top.
| Component | Amount |
|---|---|
Base salary — Court Officer-Trainee (JG-16) Academy entry, effective April 1, 2025 | $58,100 |
Location pay (higher tier) NYC, Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester, Rockland | +$4,920 |
Location pay (second tier) Orange, Dutchess, Putnam | +$2,460 |
Uniform & equipment allowance Per year | +$1,660 |
SLED differential Per year | +$875 |
Base salary — Court Officer (JG-19) Starting, after the 2-year traineeship | $68,593 |
The court system publishes these as six separate components and never adds them up. The section below does — the uniform allowance and the SLED differential are annual payments stated separately from the Judicial Grade rate, so both figures are given for each county tier.
What it comes to, by county
Base salary is the same statewide; location pay is not. These are the same published figures added together — nothing here is an estimate, a job-board average or a projection.
New York City & the higher location-pay counties
NYC (all five boroughs), Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester, Rockland
- Court Officer-Trainee (JG-16)
- $63,020
- $65,555 with allowances
- NYS Court Officer (JG-19)
- $73,513
- $76,048 with allowances
Second-tier location-pay counties
Orange, Dutchess, Putnam
- Court Officer-Trainee (JG-16)
- $60,560
- $63,095 with allowances
- NYS Court Officer (JG-19)
- $71,053
- $73,588 with allowances
The rest of New York State
Every county not listed above — no location pay is added
- Court Officer-Trainee (JG-16)
- $58,100
- $60,635 with allowances
- NYS Court Officer (JG-19)
- $68,593
- $71,128 with allowances
You choose one of two appointment regions when you self-schedule, not a county, so which tier you land in is decided at appointment. The eligible list explainer covers how that canvass works.
Benefits
- ✓NYS Health Insurance Plan
- ✓NYS Employees' Retirement System (pension)
- ✓20 vacation days
- ✓12 paid holidays
The career path
Pay rises as you move up. The first two steps have published figures; the promotional ranks above them do not, so we describe them without inventing numbers. Your first months on the payroll are spent in paid training — how long the Court Officers Academy lasts and what it covers.
Court Officer-Trainee (JG-16)
Where everyone starts. A two-year traineeship that includes about four months of paid academy training. Starting salary $58,100 plus location pay.
Court Officer (JG-19)
After completing the traineeship, you become a full Court Officer. Starting salary $68,593.
Sergeant, then Lieutenant
Promotional ranks above Court Officer, reached through separate promotional exams and time in service. These come with higher pay grades; specific figures are not part of the 45-857 announcement, so we do not quote a number here.
Comparing this against the other uniformed titles hiring in New York? The NYC Police Officer exam 7313 page carries that department's own pay and eligibility terms as published in its official notice — a different grade structure, a different academy and a different list.
NYS Court Officer salary — common questions
How much does a NYS Court Officer make?
A NYS Court Officer-Trainee starts at $58,100 a year at Judicial Grade 16, effective April 1, 2025, and is promoted to NYS Court Officer at Judicial Grade 19 on $68,593 after completing the two-year traineeship. Location pay of $2,460 or $4,920 is added on top in fourteen counties, and every trainee and officer also receives a $1,660 annual uniform and equipment allowance and an $875 annual Security and Law Enforcement Differential. Those are the only pay figures the court system publishes for exam 45-857.
How much does a NYS Court Officer make in New York City?
In New York City a Court Officer-Trainee's base salary is $63,020 — the $58,100 Judicial Grade 16 rate plus $4,920 in location pay — and $65,555 a year once the uniform allowance and SLED differential are counted. After the traineeship a NYC-assigned Court Officer is at $73,513 base, or $76,048 with the same two allowances. The identical location-pay rate applies in Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester and Rockland.
What is the NYS Court Officer pay scale for 2026?
There are two published grades, both effective April 1, 2025 and both current for the 2026 exam cycle: Judicial Grade 16 at $58,100 for the Court Officer-Trainee title, and Judicial Grade 19 at $68,593 for NYS Court Officer after the two-year traineeship. The court system publishes these as starting rates for each grade. It does not publish a step-by-step increment table for either grade in its exam 45-857 material, so this page does not show one.
How much does a NYS Court Officer make after 5 years?
The court system does not publish a five-year figure for this title, and neither do we. What its own material does establish is the shape of the first two years: you spend roughly two years as a Court Officer-Trainee at $58,100, then move to $68,593 as a NYS Court Officer, so a candidate appointed off the 45-857 list is at the Judicial Grade 19 rate by about year three, before location pay. Pay beyond that comes from salary increments and promotions to Sergeant and Lieutenant, which are set by collective bargaining and separate promotional exams rather than by the 45-857 announcement. Any site quoting an exact five-year salary for this title is not quoting the court system.
What is the starting salary of a Court Officer-Trainee?
$58,100, at Judicial Grade 16, effective April 1, 2025. That is the rate you enter the academy on — academy training is paid — and it rises to between $60,635 and $65,555 a year depending on which county you are assigned to, once location pay and the two annual allowances are added.
Do court officers get a pension?
Yes. NYS Court Officer-Trainees are eligible to participate in the New York State Employees' Retirement System and the New York State Health Insurance Plan, and earn 20 paid vacation days and 12 paid holidays a year, per the court system's own candidate FAQ.
Where these numbers come from
Every figure on this page is taken from the New York State Unified Court System's own published material for Court Officer-Trainee exam 45-857 — not from job boards, salary aggregators or estimates. Pay is set by the JG-16 and JG-19 salary grades and is the same for everyone hired off the list.
- NYS Court Officer-Trainee Exam (Statewide) FAQs — nycourts.gov
Source for the $58,100 JG-16 starting salary, the $68,593 JG-19 salary after the traineeship, both location-pay tiers, the $1,660 uniform & equipment allowance, the $875 SLED differential, and the health-insurance, retirement-system, vacation and paid-holiday entitlements. Figures stated as effective April 1, 2025.
- NYS Court Officer candidates — job overview, nycourts.gov
Source for the two-year traineeship structure and the four-month paid academy.
Last verified: 2026-08-11. Every figure above was re-checked against the two linked pages on that date; the check corrected the paid-holiday count from 13 to the 12 the FAQ states. Salary grades are periodically renegotiated; if a figure here ever disagrees with nycourts.gov, the official page is correct. DutyRank is an independent prep product and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the New York State Unified Court System.
The salary is fixed. Your rank isn't.
Everyone hired off this list earns the same starting pay. What you control is how soon you are hired — and that comes down to where you land on the ranked eligible list. Find out where you stand today.
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