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Hayward 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.
Hayward Police Department starts at $138,965 a year — about $66.81 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $72,280 above the median of the 2,288 agencies on this list, and $70,825 above the median for municipal agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in California run about 11% above the national average, so this is worth roughly $125,510 somewhere at average prices — $13,455 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 isHayward Police Department reported 171 sworn officers and 120 civilian staff to the FBI for 2025. That is 1.1 officers per 1,000 residents, over a population of 157,399.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 Hayward says about itself
To enhance partnerships and trust with our community, reduce crime and improve the quality of life for those we serve.
What Hayward does
Hayward Police Department is a CALEA-accredited agency of about 300 sworn and professional staff covering an East Bay city that runs from the hills down to the San Francisco Bay shoreline. Uniformed officers work seven patrol teams on 12-and-a-half-hour shifts, deployed into numbered districts, with five lieutenants standing as watch commanders around the clock. Beyond patrol and investigations it runs animal services, youth and family services, and a community advisory panel that meets on police-community relations.
Shifts at Hayward
Hayward's uniformed officers work seven patrol teams on 12½-hour shifts, with five lieutenants standing as watch commanders around the clock.
Twelve-and-a-half-hour shifts do not sit neatly in a seven-day week. BlueShifts builds the pattern properly and keeps it right however far ahead you look.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 13 August 2026. $138,964.80 annually minimum for Police Officer (Academy Graduate/Participant/FTO); current 2026 trainee recruitment directs academy graduates to this continuously open Police Officer recruitment. — open the source document
$138,964.80 annually minimum for Police Officer (Academy Graduate/Participant/FTO); current 2026 trainee recruitment directs academy graduates to this continuously open Police Officer recruitment.
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 Hayward 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. Hayward starts at $138,965, so $70,825 above the municipal middle.
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How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Hayward Police Department officer make?
Hayward Police Department starts a new officer on $138,965 a year, about $66.81 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 $138,964.80 annually minimum for Police Officer (Academy Graduate/Participant/FTO); current 2026 trainee recruitment directs academy graduates to this continuously open Police Officer recruitment..
Is that good pay for a police officer in California?
It ranks #8 of 278 agencies we have verified in California — 270 pay less, 7 pay more in the state — and #8 of 2,288 nationally. Against the national median it is $72,280 above, and against other municipal agencies $70,825 above.
What shifts do Hayward Police Department officers work?
Hayward's uniformed officers work seven patrol teams on 12½-hour shifts, with five lieutenants standing as watch commanders around the clock. That is the agency's own published wording; the pattern is drawn on this page.
Compare with another department
Put Hayward 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 Hayward | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Santa Clara Police Department | Municipal | 141 | $163,619 | +$24,654 | #1 |
| 2 | Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety | Municipal | 227 | $149,443 | +$10,478 | #2 |
| 3 | Redwood City Police Department | Municipal | 83 | $147,942 | +$8,977 | #3 |
| 4 | San Jose Police Department | Municipal | 1,065 | $144,003 | +$5,039 | #4 |
| 5 | Mountain View Police Department | Municipal | 90 | $143,096 | +$4,131 | #5 |
| 6 | San Mateo Police Department | Municipal | 111 | $141,024 | +$2,059 | #6 |
| 7 | Los Altos Police Department | Municipal | 31 | $139,740 | +$775 | #7 |
| 9 | Milpitas Police Department | Municipal | 84 | $138,261 | −$704 | #9 |
| 10 | Los Gatos Police Department | Municipal | 34 | $132,394 | −$6,571 | #10 |
| 11 | Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office | County | 1,071 | $132,263 | −$6,702 | #11 |
| 12 | Menlo Park Police Department | Municipal | 43 | $132,036 | −$6,929 | #12 |
| 13 | Campbell Police Department | Municipal | 44 | $131,747 | −$7,218 | #13 |
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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