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Port of Los Angeles Police 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.
Port of Los Angeles Police starts at $92,185 a year — about $44.32 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $25,500 above the median of the 2,288 agencies on this list, and $31,981 above the median for special jurisdiction agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in California run about 11% above the national average, so this is worth roughly $83,260 somewhere at average prices — $8,925 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.
What Port of Los Angeles says about itself
Our mission is to ensure the safety and security of the Port of Los Angeles through diligence of duty, proactive law enforcement, and a partnership with our customers and community: through a commitment to exemplary service, protecting the public, and community outreach we will use our unmatched professionalism to serve the Port community and its stakeholders. Our values are integrity, professionalism, teamwork, transparency and accountability. At the core of port security is the Los Angeles Port Police force, a specialised law enforcement agency that operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week to protect the Port from threats whether by land, sea, air or cyberspace, and the force's jurisdiction spans 7,500 acres along 43 miles of waterfront. The community relies on the Port Police for general policing and maritime law enforcement, including federal, state and municipal law, as well as harbour and navigation regulations, and all of our sworn personnel are maritime-trained officers, many of whom possess United States Coast Guard licences and certifications in vessel operations up to 100 gross registered tons.
What Port of Los Angeles does
Port Police Officers are sworn peace officers who enforce federal and state regulations, City ordinances and port security, traffic and safety rules. Duties include foot, vehicle, boat, motorcycle and bicycle patrol, plainclothes assignments, arrests, report writing, public assistance and hazardous-materials enforcement at the Port of Los Angeles
Where the figure comes from
Checked 8 August 2026. City of Los Angeles official 2026 Po — open the source document
Opened 26 June 2026; continuous; official Port Police Officer I/II range begins $92,185 annually. The position is a sworn peace-officer classification
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 Port of Los Angeles 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. Port of Los Angeles starts at $92,185, so $31,981 above the special jurisdiction middle.
How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Port of Los Angeles Police officer make?
Port of Los Angeles Police starts a new officer on $92,185 a year, about $44.32 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 Los Angeles official 2026 Po.
Is that good pay for a police officer in California?
It ranks #170 of 278 agencies we have verified in California — 108 pay less, 169 pay more in the state — and #224 of 2,288 nationally. Against the national median it is $25,500 above, and against other special jurisdiction agencies $31,981 above.
Compare with another department
Put Port of Los Angeles Police 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 Port | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Santa Clara Police Department | Municipal | 141 | $163,619 | +$71,434 | #1 |
| 2 | Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety | Municipal | 227 | $149,443 | +$57,258 | #2 |
| 3 | Redwood City Police Department | Municipal | 83 | $147,942 | +$55,757 | #3 |
| 4 | San Jose Police Department | Municipal | 1,065 | $144,003 | +$51,818 | #4 |
| 5 | Mountain View Police Department | Municipal | 90 | $143,096 | +$50,911 | #5 |
| 6 | San Mateo Police Department | Municipal | 111 | $141,024 | +$48,839 | #6 |
| 7 | Los Altos Police Department | Municipal | 31 | $139,740 | +$47,555 | #7 |
| 8 | Hayward Police Department | Municipal | 171 | $138,965 | +$46,780 | #8 |
| 9 | Milpitas Police Department | Municipal | 84 | $138,261 | +$46,076 | #9 |
| 10 | Los Gatos Police Department | Municipal | 34 | $132,394 | +$40,209 | #10 |
| 11 | Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office | County | 1,071 | $132,263 | +$40,078 | #11 |
| 12 | Menlo Park Police Department | Municipal | 43 | $132,036 | +$39,851 | #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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