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Atwater Police Department 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.
Atwater Police Department starts at $72,313 a year — about $34.77 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $3,923 above the median of the 1,681 agencies on this list, and $1,048 above the median for municipal agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in California run about 11% above the national average, so this is worth roughly $65,311 somewhere at average prices — $7,001 less than the headline figure. Most of that is utilities, at 159 against a national average of 100, where goods are 106. 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 isAtwater Police Department reported 26 sworn officers and 13 civilian staff to the FBI for 2025. That is 0.8 officers per 1,000 residents, over a population of 32,326.A rate is only meaningful for a city department, where the population served is the city’s own. 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 Atwater
Atwater's official Police Officer classification describes officers as performing law-enforcement and crime-prevention work by patrolling assigned areas, answering calls and complaints, investigating incidents and crimes, enforcing laws and ordinances, maintaining order, protecting life and property, detecting and investigating crimes, apprehending offenders, and serving people in need
Where the figure comes from
Checked 8 August 2026. City of Atwater offici — open the source document
Opening 29 June 2026. The City posting requires applicants to be California POST academy graduates and lists $72,312.72-$92,291.40 annually. The minimum $72,312.72 is used
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 Atwater 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 | $35,006 | $71,287 | $163,619 | 1046 |
| County | $36,492 | $65,374 | $132,263 | 416 |
| Special jurisdiction | $31,200 | $60,195 | $107,954 | 69 |
| State | $33,994 | $64,998 | $102,692 | 143 |
| 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 $2,200 more than the middle municipal agency and about $8,100 more than the middle county agency and about $13,300 more than the middle special jurisdiction agency and about $8,500 more than the middle state agency and about $45,300 more than the middle territory agency. Atwater starts at $72,313, so $1,026 above the municipal middle.
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How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Atwater Police Department officer make?
Atwater Police Department starts a new officer on $72,313 a year, about $34.77 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 City of Atwater offici.
Is that good pay for a police officer in California?
It ranks #204 of 222 agencies we have verified in California — 18 pay less, 203 pay more in the state — and #652 of 1,681 nationally. Against the national median it is $3,923 above, and against other municipal agencies $1,048 above.
Compare with another department
Put Atwater Police Department 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 CA
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Atwater | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Santa Clara Police Department | Municipal | 141 | $163,619 | +$91,306 | #1 |
| 2 | Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety | Municipal | 227 | $149,443 | +$77,130 | #2 |
| 3 | Redwood City Police Department | Municipal | 83 | $147,942 | +$75,629 | #3 |
| 4 | San Jose Police Department | Municipal | 1,065 | $144,003 | +$71,691 | #4 |
| 5 | Mountain View Police Department | Municipal | 90 | $143,096 | +$70,783 | #5 |
| 6 | San Mateo Police Department | Municipal | 111 | $141,024 | +$68,711 | #6 |
| 7 | Los Altos Police Department | Municipal | 31 | $139,740 | +$67,427 | #7 |
| 8 | Hayward Police Department | Municipal | 171 | $138,965 | +$66,652 | #8 |
| 9 | Milpitas Police Department | Municipal | 84 | $138,261 | +$65,948 | #9 |
| 10 | Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office | County | 1,071 | $132,263 | +$59,950 | #10 |
| 11 | Menlo Park Police Department | Municipal | 43 | $132,036 | +$59,723 | #11 |
| 12 | Campbell Police Department | Municipal | 44 | $131,747 | +$59,434 | #12 |
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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