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Foster City 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.
Foster City Police Department starts at $131,165 a year — about $63.06 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $62,775 above the median of the 1,681 agencies on this list, and $59,901 above the median for municipal agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in California run about 11% above the national average, so this is worth roughly $118,465 somewhere at average prices — $12,699 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 isFoster City Police Department reported 34 sworn officers and 14 civilian staff to the FBI for 2025. That is 1.1 officers per 1,000 residents, over a population of 32,395.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.
What Foster City says about itself
The Foster City Police Department remains committed to providing the necessary training, oversight, and accountability that is paramount to building and maintaining the trust of our community. We will continue to ensure that our officers have an understanding of, and true appreciation for, their authority, limitations and community expectations. Our department is dedicated to the service and protection of all, most importantly the preservation of life.
What Foster City does
The Foster City Police Department describes its public-safety mission around protecting life and property, preventing and investigating crime, enforcing laws, responding to emergencies, and working in partnership with the community. Official materials emphasize professional service, integrity, respect, accountability, crime prevention, community engagement, and public trust
Where the figure comes from
Checked 14 August 2026. City of Foster City official job classifications and salary ranges — open the source document
Current official entry/post-academy Police Officer minimum verified 8 August 2026; annual base $131,164.80. Lateral placement and add-on compensation excluded
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.
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How this level compares
Where Foster City 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. Foster City starts at $131,165, so $59,878 above the municipal middle.
How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Foster City Police Department officer make?
Foster City Police Department starts a new officer on $131,165 a year, about $63.06 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 Foster City official job classifications and salary ranges.
Is that good pay for a police officer in California?
It ranks #13 of 222 agencies we have verified in California — 209 pay less, 12 pay more in the state — and #13 of 1,681 nationally. Against the national median it is $62,775 above, and against other municipal agencies $59,901 above.
Compare with another department
Put Foster City 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 Foster | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Santa Clara Police Department | Municipal | 141 | $163,619 | +$32,454 | #1 |
| 2 | Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety | Municipal | 227 | $149,443 | +$18,278 | #2 |
| 3 | Redwood City Police Department | Municipal | 83 | $147,942 | +$16,777 | #3 |
| 4 | San Jose Police Department | Municipal | 1,065 | $144,003 | +$12,839 | #4 |
| 5 | Mountain View Police Department | Municipal | 90 | $143,096 | +$11,931 | #5 |
| 6 | San Mateo Police Department | Municipal | 111 | $141,024 | +$9,859 | #6 |
| 7 | Los Altos Police Department | Municipal | 31 | $139,740 | +$8,575 | #7 |
| 8 | Hayward Police Department | Municipal | 171 | $138,965 | +$7,800 | #8 |
| 9 | Milpitas Police Department | Municipal | 84 | $138,261 | +$7,096 | #9 |
| 10 | Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office | County | 1,071 | $132,263 | +$1,098 | #10 |
| 11 | Menlo Park Police Department | Municipal | 43 | $132,036 | +$871 | #11 |
| 12 | Campbell Police Department | Municipal | 44 | $131,747 | +$582 | #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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