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San José State University 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 José State University Police Department starts at $99,048 a year — about $47.62 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $32,363 above the median of the 2,288 agencies on this list, and $38,844 above the median for special jurisdiction agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in California run about 11% above the national average, so this is worth roughly $89,458 somewhere at average prices — $9,590 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 San José State University says about itself
The University Police Department's mission is to protect and serve effectively and efficiently by providing safety programs for the entire SJSU community. We believe our students deserve a safe and secure learning environment, and we are committed to creating a professional, progressive and superior police force, as well as providing emergency, transportation and educational services in alliance with the campus community.
What San José State University does
San José State University Police Department is the law enforcement agency for a campus in the heart of California's third-largest city, working under a chief through an administration bureau and an operations bureau. It runs around two dozen sworn peace officers alongside more than fifty civilian personnel covering parking services, library security, housing security, police cadets and administration. The department documents roughly 60,000 incidents a year, makes between 800 and 900 arrests and writes about 2,500 reports, while its communications center dispatches to more than 50,000 calls for service. It also polices the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Library, a shared university and city public library serving more than two million visitors a year.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 13 August 2026. $8,254/month / $99,048 annual anticipated hiring salary. Current official 2026-27 SJSU recruitment is expressly for Police Officer Lateral/Academy Graduates and identifies them as fully sworn California peace officers. — open the source document
$8,254/month / $99,048 annual anticipated hiring salary. Current official 2026-27 SJSU recruitment is expressly for Police Officer Lateral/Academy Graduates and identifies them as fully sworn California peace officers. Required qualifications include successful completion of
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 José State University 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. San José State University starts at $99,048, so $38,844 above the special jurisdiction middle.
How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a San José State University Police Department officer make?
San José State University Police Department starts a new officer on $99,048 a year, about $47.62 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 $8,254/month / $99,048 annual anticipated hiring salary. Current official 2026-27 SJSU recruitment is expressly for Police Officer Lateral/Academy Graduates and identifies them as fully sworn California peace officers..
Is that good pay for a police officer in California?
It ranks #125 of 278 agencies we have verified in California — 153 pay less, 124 pay more in the state — and #141 of 2,288 nationally. Against the national median it is $32,363 above, and against other special jurisdiction agencies $38,844 above.
Compare with another department
Put San José State University 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 | +$64,571 | #1 |
| 2 | Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety | Municipal | 227 | $149,443 | +$50,395 | #2 |
| 3 | Redwood City Police Department | Municipal | 83 | $147,942 | +$48,894 | #3 |
| 4 | San Jose Police Department | Municipal | 1,065 | $144,003 | +$44,955 | #4 |
| 5 | Mountain View Police Department | Municipal | 90 | $143,096 | +$44,048 | #5 |
| 6 | San Mateo Police Department | Municipal | 111 | $141,024 | +$41,976 | #6 |
| 7 | Los Altos Police Department | Municipal | 31 | $139,740 | +$40,692 | #7 |
| 8 | Hayward Police Department | Municipal | 171 | $138,965 | +$39,917 | #8 |
| 9 | Milpitas Police Department | Municipal | 84 | $138,261 | +$39,213 | #9 |
| 10 | Los Gatos Police Department | Municipal | 34 | $132,394 | +$33,346 | #10 |
| 11 | Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office | County | 1,071 | $132,263 | +$33,215 | #11 |
| 12 | Menlo Park Police Department | Municipal | 43 | $132,036 | +$32,988 | #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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