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Hollister 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.
Hollister Police Department starts at $103,627 a year — about $49.82 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $36,360 above the median of the 2,053 agencies on this list, and $34,841 above the median for municipal agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in California run about 11% above the national average, so this is worth roughly $93,594 somewhere at average prices — $10,033 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 isHollister Police Department reported 31 sworn officers and 16 civilian staff to the FBI for 2025. That is 0.7 officers per 1,000 residents, over a population of 45,859.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 Hollister says about itself
In recognition of our duty and to the best of our ability, we serve, protect and educate our community to enhance its overall quality of life.
What Hollister does
The Hollister Police Department polices San Benito County's seat, a city of 45,859 an hour south of San Jose, with 31 sworn officers and 16 civilian staff. Beyond patrol it runs detectives, a motor unit, a K-9 unit, a school resource officer, a mental health officer, community and multi-services officers, dispatch, an Explorer post, and - unusually - both code enforcement and the city's animal care and services, which were moved under the Department. Sworn officers work a three-and-four twelve-hour fortnight; specialty posts work four tens, and the school resource officer works five eights on the academic calendar.
Hollister’s rotation, in BlueShifts
The cycle is in the City's agreement with the Hollister Police Officers Association, in force 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027, Article 13.I.2.a: "Three, Four Twelve (3/12, 4/12) work schedule. The work schedule for sworn personnel assigned to the 'day' or 'night' shift shall be three 12 hour shifts one week of the pay period, and four 12 hour shifts the other week of the pay period." The Department's own hiring post gives the half the agreement leaves out - "3/4 12 hour patrol schedule (4 day weekends every other week)" - along with a take-home car for officers living in town. The same agreement puts specialty posts on four tens, and for the 2026-2027 school year the school resource officer on five eights aligned to the academic calendar.
The rotation template screen — enter the cycle and the start date, and you are done.
DayNight24 hrsOff
Every month, already filled in — no typing, however far ahead you look.
September 2026
This cycle has its own page: how it works, and how to build it.
Three shifts one week and four the next means the fortnight never matches the week, and the four-day weekend is the one you plan a year around. BlueShifts holds the fourteen days and fills the months ahead, days and nights marked apart, so the long weekend is a date you can see rather than one you count out.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 2 September 2026. City of Hollister — Salary Schedules by Bargaining Unit, FY '25-26 — HPOA SWORN, range O58 Police Officer, Step 1 $3,985.65 bi-weekly — open the source document
Class: Police Officer, Step 1, HPOA sworn range O58. The City's own salary schedule, effective 1 July 2025 and last revised 4 May 2026, sets Step 1 at $3,985.65 bi-weekly; 26 pay periods gives $103,626.90. THE MULTIPLIER IS THE CITY'S OWN, NOT AN ASSUMPTION: the same schedule prices Police Officer Trainee at $2,560.52 bi-weekly, and the City's own job posting for that class states the annual as $66,573.52 - exactly 26 times the bi-weekly - so 26 is what the City itself annualises on. Top of the Police Officer range is $125,959.08 at Step 5. Trainee class: YES, and it is EXCLUDED. Police Officer Trainee (non-sworn range Q36) is described by the City as "a non-sworn, training-level classification" whose incumbents "do not have police powers" and who are sent to a basic academy; promotion to sworn Police Officer follows the academy, so O58 Step 1 is the first sworn step. Prior sworn service is NOT required - laterals are handled by a separate and larger recruitment bonus schedule in the HPOA MOU, and the entry-level/academy-graduate schedule is what applies without it. California certification runs through POST. Shift differential of 5% of base for a 1800-0600 tour, POST certificate pay of 3% or 6%, education pay, and the recruitment bonus schedule all sit outside the base figure. City's own salary schedule, checked 2 September 2026.
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.
BlueShifts. Plan Your Year. Own Your Time.
The shift calendar built for your rotation, off-duty work, and life on and off the clock.
Save your shift schedule once and BlueShifts fills the rest of the year in.
How this level compares
Where Hollister 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 | $68,786 | $163,619 | 1372 |
| County | $35,000 | $64,438 | $132,263 | 459 |
| Special jurisdiction | $31,200 | $60,204 | $107,954 | 71 |
| State | $33,994 | $65,400 | $110,916 | 144 |
| 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 $4,700 more than the middle municipal agency and about $9,100 more than the middle county agency and about $13,300 more than the middle special jurisdiction agency and about $8,100 more than the middle state agency and about $45,300 more than the middle territory agency. Hollister starts at $103,627, so $34,841 above the municipal middle.
How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Hollister Police Department officer make?
Hollister Police Department starts a new officer on $103,627 a year, about $49.82 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 Hollister — Salary Schedules by Bargaining Unit, FY '25-26 — HPOA SWORN, range O58 Police Officer, Step 1 $3,985.65 bi-weekly.
Is that good pay for a police officer in California?
It ranks #75 of 239 agencies we have verified in California — 164 pay less, 74 pay more in the state — and #78 of 2,053 nationally. Against the national median it is $36,360 above, and against other municipal agencies $34,841 above.
What shifts do Hollister Police Department officers work?
The cycle is in the City's agreement with the Hollister Police Officers Association, in force 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027, Article 13.I.2.a: "Three, Four Twelve (3/12, 4/12) work schedule. The work schedule for sworn personnel assigned to the 'day' or 'night' shift shall be three 12 hour shifts one week of the pay period, and four 12 hour shifts the other week of the pay period." The Department's own hiring post gives the half the agreement leaves out - "3/4 12 hour patrol schedule (4 day weekends every other week)" - along with a take-home car for officers living in town. The same agreement puts specialty posts on four tens, and for the 2026-2027 school year the school resource officer on five eights aligned to the academic calendar. That is the agency's own published wording; the pattern is drawn on this page.
Compare with another department
Put Hollister 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 Hollister | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Santa Clara Police Department | Municipal | 141 | $163,619 | +$59,992 | #1 |
| 2 | Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety | Municipal | 227 | $149,443 | +$45,816 | #2 |
| 3 | Redwood City Police Department | Municipal | 83 | $147,942 | +$44,315 | #3 |
| 4 | San Jose Police Department | Municipal | 1,065 | $144,003 | +$40,376 | #4 |
| 5 | Mountain View Police Department | Municipal | 90 | $143,096 | +$39,469 | #5 |
| 6 | San Mateo Police Department | Municipal | 111 | $141,024 | +$37,397 | #6 |
| 7 | Los Altos Police Department | Municipal | 31 | $139,740 | +$36,113 | #7 |
| 8 | Hayward Police Department | Municipal | 171 | $138,965 | +$35,338 | #8 |
| 9 | Milpitas Police Department | Municipal | 84 | $138,261 | +$34,634 | #9 |
| 10 | Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office | County | 1,071 | $132,263 | +$28,636 | #10 |
| 11 | Menlo Park Police Department | Municipal | 43 | $132,036 | +$28,409 | #11 |
| 12 | Campbell Police Department | Municipal | 44 | $131,747 | +$28,120 | #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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