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San Jose 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.
San Jose Police Department starts at $144,003 a year — about $69.23 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $75,613 above the median of the 1,681 agencies on this list, and $72,739 above the median for municipal agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA run about 10% above the national average, so this is worth roughly $130,411 somewhere at average prices — $13,593 less than the headline figure. Most of that is rent, at 212 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 isSan Jose Police Department reported 1,065 sworn officers and 502 civilian staff to the FBI for 2025. That is 1.1 officers per 1,000 residents, over a population of 994,435.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 San Jose says about itself
Create safe places to live, work, and learn through community partnerships.
What San Jose does
The San Jose Police Department says it is dedicated to providing public safety through community partnerships and 21st Century Policing practices while ensuring equity for all. Its core services include crime prevention and community education, investigative services, regulatory services, and 24-hour response to calls for service and patrol support, with dignity, fairness, respect and equal protection emphasized in its mission
Where the figure comes from
Checked 8 August 2026. City of San Jose official Polic — open the source document
Current official class specification verified 8 August 2026 lists Police Officer salary beginning $144,003.34 annually. The separate Police Recruit classification is explicitly non-sworn and may be appointed to the sworn Police Officer classification after successful academy completion; therefore recruit pay is excluded
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 San Jose 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. San Jose starts at $144,003, so $72,716 above the municipal middle.
How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a San Jose Police Department officer make?
San Jose Police Department starts a new officer on $144,003 a year, about $69.23 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 San Jose official Polic.
Is that good pay for a police officer in California?
It ranks #4 of 222 agencies we have verified in California — 218 pay less, 3 pay more in the state — and #4 of 1,681 nationally. Against the national median it is $75,613 above, and against other municipal agencies $72,739 above.
Compare with another department
Put San Jose 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 San | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Santa Clara Police Department | Municipal | 141 | $163,619 | +$19,616 | #1 |
| 2 | Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety | Municipal | 227 | $149,443 | +$5,440 | #2 |
| 3 | Redwood City Police Department | Municipal | 83 | $147,942 | +$3,939 | #3 |
| 5 | Mountain View Police Department | Municipal | 90 | $143,096 | −$907 | #5 |
| 6 | San Mateo Police Department | Municipal | 111 | $141,024 | −$2,979 | #6 |
| 7 | Los Altos Police Department | Municipal | 31 | $139,740 | −$4,264 | #7 |
| 8 | Hayward Police Department | Municipal | 171 | $138,965 | −$5,039 | #8 |
| 9 | Milpitas Police Department | Municipal | 84 | $138,261 | −$5,743 | #9 |
| 10 | Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office | County | 1,071 | $132,263 | −$11,740 | #10 |
| 11 | Menlo Park Police Department | Municipal | 43 | $132,036 | −$11,967 | #11 |
| 12 | Campbell Police Department | Municipal | 44 | $131,747 | −$12,256 | #12 |
| 13 | Foster City Police Department | Municipal | 34 | $131,165 | −$12,839 | #13 |
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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