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Petaluma 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.
Petaluma Police Department starts at $102,606 a year — about $49.33 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $34,216 above the median of the 1,681 agencies on this list, and $31,342 above the median for municipal agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA run about 8% above the national average, so this is worth roughly $95,196 somewhere at average prices — $7,410 less than the headline figure. Most of that is utilities, at 155 against a national average of 100, where goods are 105. 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 isPetaluma Police Department reported 63 sworn officers and 32 civilian staff to the FBI for 2025. That is 1.1 officers per 1,000 residents, over a population of 59,305.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 Petaluma says about itself
Our Police Administration consists of the Chief of Police, Deputy Chief, four Lieutenants, one civilian Police Technical Services Manager, one Administrative Assistant, and one Management Analyst. The Chief and Deputy Chief have authority over the Department's three divisions: Field Services (including Patrol Operations, Investigations, and Traffic), Professional Standards, and Technical Services.
What Petaluma does
The Petaluma Police Department says it works in partnership with the community to prevent crime, protect life and property, enforce laws, respond to emergencies, and improve quality of life. The department emphasizes professional service, integrity, respect, accountability, community engagement, problem solving, and maintaining public trust
Where the figure comes from
Checked 10 August 2026. City of Petaluma official Police Officer Trainee recruitment — open the source document
The official 2026 Police Officer Trainee recruitment states that after successful academy graduation a trainee is eligible to be sworn as a Police Officer, and separately gives the current Police Officer base range as $102,606.40-$124,779.20. The published $102,606.40 is therefore the post-academy sworn Police Officer minimum, not trainee pay.
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.
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How this level compares
Where Petaluma 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. Petaluma starts at $102,606, so $31,319 above the municipal middle.
How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Petaluma Police Department officer make?
Petaluma Police Department starts a new officer on $102,606 a year, about $49.33 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 Petaluma official Police Officer Trainee recruitment.
Is that good pay for a police officer in California?
It ranks #75 of 222 agencies we have verified in California — 147 pay less, 74 pay more in the state — and #80 of 1,681 nationally. Against the national median it is $34,216 above, and against other municipal agencies $31,342 above.
Compare with another department
Put Petaluma 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 Petaluma | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Santa Clara Police Department | Municipal | 141 | $163,619 | +$61,013 | #1 |
| 2 | Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety | Municipal | 227 | $149,443 | +$46,837 | #2 |
| 3 | Redwood City Police Department | Municipal | 83 | $147,942 | +$45,336 | #3 |
| 4 | San Jose Police Department | Municipal | 1,065 | $144,003 | +$41,397 | #4 |
| 5 | Mountain View Police Department | Municipal | 90 | $143,096 | +$40,490 | #5 |
| 6 | San Mateo Police Department | Municipal | 111 | $141,024 | +$38,418 | #6 |
| 7 | Los Altos Police Department | Municipal | 31 | $139,740 | +$37,133 | #7 |
| 8 | Hayward Police Department | Municipal | 171 | $138,965 | +$36,358 | #8 |
| 9 | Milpitas Police Department | Municipal | 84 | $138,261 | +$35,654 | #9 |
| 10 | Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office | County | 1,071 | $132,263 | +$29,657 | #10 |
| 11 | Menlo Park Police Department | Municipal | 43 | $132,036 | +$29,430 | #11 |
| 12 | Campbell Police Department | Municipal | 44 | $131,747 | +$29,141 | #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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