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Fountain Valley 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.
Fountain Valley Police Department starts at $95,930 a year — about $46.12 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $29,245 above the median of the 2,288 agencies on this list, and $27,790 above the median for municipal agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA run about 14% above the national average, so this is worth roughly $84,471 somewhere at average prices — $11,459 less than the headline figure. Most of that is rent, at 170 against a national average of 100, where goods are 107. Based on price levels for this metropolitan 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 isFountain Valley Police Department reported 53 sworn officers and 20 civilian staff to the FBI for 2025. That is 0.9 officers per 1,000 residents, over a population of 55,805.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 Fountain Valley says about itself
The Fountain Valley Police Department's motto and mission statement is Courage, Duty, Commitment. Members of the department will demonstrate the courage to protect life and property in our community. Our duty is to provide the highest quality of service in a fair, impartial and ethical manner, and our commitment is to take a leadership role in providing for public safety and quality of life in a manner that will preserve the public trust.
What Fountain Valley does
FVPD is a full-service department protecting life, property and public safety.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 13 August 2026. $95,929.81 annual minimum. Official February 17, 2026 City Police Officer Lateral/Academy Graduate recruitment publishes $95,929. — open the source document
$95,929.81 annual minimum. Official February 17, 2026 City Police Officer Lateral/Academy Graduate recruitment publishes $95,929.81-$116,603.55 annually and expressly includes academy graduates.
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 Fountain Valley 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 | $33,280 | $68,140 | $163,619 | 1549 |
| County | $35,000 | $63,565 | $132,263 | 516 |
| Special jurisdiction | $31,200 | $60,204 | $107,954 | 71 |
| State | $33,994 | $65,166 | $110,916 | 145 |
| 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 $5,400 more than the middle municipal agency and about $9,900 more than the middle county agency and about $13,300 more than the middle special jurisdiction agency and about $8,300 more than the middle state agency and about $45,300 more than the middle territory agency. Fountain Valley starts at $95,930, so $27,790 above the municipal middle.
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How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Fountain Valley Police Department officer make?
Fountain Valley Police Department starts a new officer on $95,930 a year, about $46.12 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 $95,929.81 annual minimum. Official February 17, 2026 City Police Officer Lateral/Academy Graduate recruitment publishes $95,929..
Is that good pay for a police officer in California?
It ranks #151 of 278 agencies we have verified in California — 127 pay less, 150 pay more in the state — and #175 of 2,288 nationally. Against the national median it is $29,245 above, and against other municipal agencies $27,790 above.
Compare with another department
Put Fountain Valley 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 Fountain | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Santa Clara Police Department | Municipal | 141 | $163,619 | +$67,689 | #1 |
| 2 | Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety | Municipal | 227 | $149,443 | +$53,513 | #2 |
| 3 | Redwood City Police Department | Municipal | 83 | $147,942 | +$52,012 | #3 |
| 4 | San Jose Police Department | Municipal | 1,065 | $144,003 | +$48,074 | #4 |
| 5 | Mountain View Police Department | Municipal | 90 | $143,096 | +$47,166 | #5 |
| 6 | San Mateo Police Department | Municipal | 111 | $141,024 | +$45,094 | #6 |
| 7 | Los Altos Police Department | Municipal | 31 | $139,740 | +$43,810 | #7 |
| 8 | Hayward Police Department | Municipal | 171 | $138,965 | +$43,035 | #8 |
| 9 | Milpitas Police Department | Municipal | 84 | $138,261 | +$42,331 | #9 |
| 10 | Los Gatos Police Department | Municipal | 34 | $132,394 | +$36,464 | #10 |
| 11 | Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office | County | 1,071 | $132,263 | +$36,333 | #11 |
| 12 | Menlo Park Police Department | Municipal | 43 | $132,036 | +$36,106 | #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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