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Mendocino County Sheriff's Office 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.
Mendocino County Sheriff's Office starts at $86,861 a year — about $41.76 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $18,471 above the median of the 1,681 agencies on this list, and $21,486 above the median for county agencies.
How big the department isMendocino County Sheriff's Office reported 114 sworn officers and 45 civilian staff to the FBI for 2025.No rate is shown: this agency does not police a single population the FBI publishes a figure for. 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 Mendocino County
Mendocino County Sheriff's Office provides patrol, investigations, corrections, coroner, civil and specialized law-enforcement services. Official agency materials emphasize protection of life and property, professional service and partnerships with the communities of Mendocino County.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 8 August 2026. Mendocino County official GovernmentJobs posting — Deputy Sheriff-Coroner — open the source document
Opening 30 April 2026; official annual minimum $86,860.80; official county Deputy Sheriff-Coroner In Training classification establishes academy entry pathway; post-academy sworn minimum 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 Mendocino County 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. Mendocino County starts at $86,861, so $21,487 above the county middle.
How it ranks
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Common questions
How much does a Mendocino County Sheriff's Office officer make?
Mendocino County Sheriff's Office starts a new officer on $86,861 a year, about $41.76 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 Mendocino County official GovernmentJobs posting — Deputy Sheriff-Coroner.
Is that good pay for a police officer in California?
It ranks #162 of 222 agencies we have verified in California — 60 pay less, 161 pay more in the state — and #268 of 1,681 nationally. Against the national median it is $18,471 above, and against other county agencies $21,486 above.
Compare with another department
Put Mendocino County Sheriff's Office 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 Mendocino | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Santa Clara Police Department | Municipal | 141 | $163,619 | +$76,758 | #1 |
| 2 | Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety | Municipal | 227 | $149,443 | +$62,582 | #2 |
| 3 | Redwood City Police Department | Municipal | 83 | $147,942 | +$61,081 | #3 |
| 4 | San Jose Police Department | Municipal | 1,065 | $144,003 | +$57,143 | #4 |
| 5 | Mountain View Police Department | Municipal | 90 | $143,096 | +$56,235 | #5 |
| 6 | San Mateo Police Department | Municipal | 111 | $141,024 | +$54,163 | #6 |
| 7 | Los Altos Police Department | Municipal | 31 | $139,740 | +$52,879 | #7 |
| 8 | Hayward Police Department | Municipal | 171 | $138,965 | +$52,104 | #8 |
| 9 | Milpitas Police Department | Municipal | 84 | $138,261 | +$51,400 | #9 |
| 10 | Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office | County | 1,071 | $132,263 | +$45,402 | #10 |
| 11 | Menlo Park Police Department | Municipal | 43 | $132,036 | +$45,175 | #11 |
| 12 | Campbell Police Department | Municipal | 44 | $131,747 | +$44,886 | #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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