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San Mateo County Sheriff's Office 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 Mateo County Sheriff's Office starts at $128,898 a year — about $61.97 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $60,508 above the median of the 1,681 agencies on this list, and $63,523 above the median for county agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA run about 16% above the national average, so this is worth roughly $111,491 somewhere at average prices — $17,407 less than the headline figure. Most of that is rent, at 195 against a national average of 100, where goods are 108. 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 Mateo County Sheriff's Office reported 337 sworn officers and 389 civilian staff to the FBI for 2025.No rate is shown: this agency does not police a single population the FBI publishes a figure for. 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 Mateo County says about itself
The San Mateo County Sheriff's Office protects and serves our communities by delivering professional policing and correctional services while upholding our commitment to public safety, community engagement, and organizational excellence.
What San Mateo County does
The San Mateo County Sheriff's Office says its mission is to protect life and property, preserve the public peace, enforce laws and ordinances, prevent crime, support positive youth development, apprehend offenders, supervise incarcerated prisoners, coordinate emergency services, process civil actions and provide security for courts and other County facilities.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 10 August 2026. San Mateo County official Deputy Sheriff class specification — open the source document
The official Deputy Sheriff class specification lists $128,897.60 as the minimum for Deputy Sheriff. It distinguishes Deputy Sheriff Trainee as the entry training class and states trainees are required to promote to Deputy Sheriff after acquiring the required POST education/experience. The published figure matches the Deputy Sheriff minimum.
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 Mateo County 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 Mateo County starts at $128,898, so $63,524 above the county middle.
How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a San Mateo County Sheriff's Office officer make?
San Mateo County Sheriff's Office starts a new officer on $128,898 a year, about $61.97 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 San Mateo County official Deputy Sheriff class specification.
Is that good pay for a police officer in California?
It ranks #16 of 222 agencies we have verified in California — 206 pay less, 15 pay more in the state — and #16 of 1,681 nationally. Against the national median it is $60,508 above, and against other county agencies $63,523 above.
Compare with another department
Put San Mateo County Sheriff's Office 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 | +$34,722 | #1 |
| 2 | Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety | Municipal | 227 | $149,443 | +$20,545 | #2 |
| 3 | Redwood City Police Department | Municipal | 83 | $147,942 | +$19,045 | #3 |
| 4 | San Jose Police Department | Municipal | 1,065 | $144,003 | +$15,106 | #4 |
| 5 | Mountain View Police Department | Municipal | 90 | $143,096 | +$14,198 | #5 |
| 6 | San Mateo Police Department | Municipal | 111 | $141,024 | +$12,126 | #6 |
| 7 | Los Altos Police Department | Municipal | 31 | $139,740 | +$10,842 | #7 |
| 8 | Hayward Police Department | Municipal | 171 | $138,965 | +$10,067 | #8 |
| 9 | Milpitas Police Department | Municipal | 84 | $138,261 | +$9,363 | #9 |
| 10 | Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office | County | 1,071 | $132,263 | +$3,365 | #10 |
| 11 | Menlo Park Police Department | Municipal | 43 | $132,036 | +$3,138 | #11 |
| 12 | Campbell Police Department | Municipal | 44 | $131,747 | +$2,850 | #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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