Home › Police pay › California › Oceanside Police Department
Oceanside 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.
Oceanside Police Department starts at $91,021 a year — about $43.76 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $22,631 above the median of the 1,681 agencies on this list, and $19,757 above the median for municipal agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in California run about 11% above the national average, so this is worth roughly $82,208 somewhere at average prices — $8,813 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 isOceanside Police Department reported 198 sworn officers and 98 civilian staff to the FBI for 2025. That is 1.2 officers per 1,000 residents, over a population of 170,168.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.
About Oceanside
Oceanside Police Department says it exists to ensure the safety and security of everyone in the city through responsive and professional police service delivered with compassion and concern. Its mission is to protect vulnerable people and serve the community, while its vision is to be trusted and respected and maintain a safe environment where people can thrive. The department emphasizes accountability, integrity, transparency, public safety, innovative crime prevention and enduring community partnerships
Where the figure comes from
Checked 8 August 2026. City of Oceanside official 2026 Police — open the source document
Opened 28 May 2026; official posting explicitly distinguishes academy pay from post-academy pay: recruit $34.37/hour while in academy; upon academy graduation Police Officer range begins $7,585/month / $91,021 annually
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 Oceanside 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. Oceanside starts at $91,021, so $19,734 above the municipal middle.
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 it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Oceanside Police Department officer make?
Oceanside Police Department starts a new officer on $91,021 a year, about $43.76 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 City of Oceanside official 2026 Police.
Is that good pay for a police officer in California?
It ranks #137 of 222 agencies we have verified in California — 85 pay less, 136 pay more in the state — and #193 of 1,681 nationally. Against the national median it is $22,631 above, and against other municipal agencies $19,757 above.
Compare with another department
Put Oceanside 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 Oceanside | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Santa Clara Police Department | Municipal | 141 | $163,619 | +$72,598 | #1 |
| 2 | Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety | Municipal | 227 | $149,443 | +$58,422 | #2 |
| 3 | Redwood City Police Department | Municipal | 83 | $147,942 | +$56,921 | #3 |
| 4 | San Jose Police Department | Municipal | 1,065 | $144,003 | +$52,982 | #4 |
| 5 | Mountain View Police Department | Municipal | 90 | $143,096 | +$52,075 | #5 |
| 6 | San Mateo Police Department | Municipal | 111 | $141,024 | +$50,003 | #6 |
| 7 | Los Altos Police Department | Municipal | 31 | $139,740 | +$48,719 | #7 |
| 8 | Hayward Police Department | Municipal | 171 | $138,965 | +$47,944 | #8 |
| 9 | Milpitas Police Department | Municipal | 84 | $138,261 | +$47,240 | #9 |
| 10 | Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office | County | 1,071 | $132,263 | +$41,242 | #10 |
| 11 | Menlo Park Police Department | Municipal | 43 | $132,036 | +$41,015 | #11 |
| 12 | Campbell Police Department | Municipal | 44 | $131,747 | +$40,726 | #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.
Scan to install
