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Tulare 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.
Tulare Police Department starts at $80,336 a year — about $38.62 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $11,946 above the median of the 1,681 agencies on this list, and $9,072 above the median for municipal agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in California run about 11% above the national average, so this is worth roughly $72,558 somewhere at average prices — $7,778 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.
How big the department isTulare Police Department reported 74 sworn officers and 37 civilian staff to the FBI for 2025. That is 1.0 officers per 1,000 residents, over a population of 73,442.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.
About Tulare
Tulare Police Department serves a Central Valley city of nearly 68,000 through three divisions — patrol, investigation and administrative — plus animal services. Patrol is the largest, running four shifts each led by a police lieutenant as watch commander with officers supervised by patrol sergeants, and answering all 911 and non-emergency calls from a single central answering point. Its investigation division includes a gang and narcotics unit of a sergeant, three gang detectives, three narcotics detectives, an auto theft task force detective and an AB-109 officer, while a traffic division of a supervisor and three motor officers runs DUI and seatbelt checkpoints and handles most collisions. The communications center also covers fire, with direct lines to the district hospital and to CAL FIRE.
Shifts at Tulare
Tulare's patrol division runs four shifts, each led by a police lieutenant as watch commander, with officers supervised by patrol sergeants.
Four shifts covering the clock means the team around you changes with the watch. BlueShifts keeps your own pattern straight and lets you share it with the people who need to know when you are on.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 8 August 2026. City of Tulare Police Department offi the row ended '../i-want-to/join-' and the full path is /i-want-to/join-tulare-pd/salary-and-benefits, which I read while writing this agency's description. It carries the exact stored figure - Police Officer Academy Grad $80,336.28-$97,649.64 annually - alongside Police Officer Trainee $59,525.64-$72,353.88. — open the source document
Current official page checked 8 August 2026 separately lists Police Officer Trainee at $59,525.64-$72,353.88 and Police Officer Academy Grad at $80,336.28-$97,649.64. The Academy Grad minimum $80,336.28 is used Class: Police Officer Academy Grad — bottom of band | Post-academy: yes, this is the rate on academy graduation. The city's own salary page prices three classes: Police Officer Trainee $59,525.64-$72,353.88, Police Officer Academy Grad $80,336.28-$97,649.64, and Police Officer Lateral on the identical Academy Grad band. A hire with no prior service and no certification enters as Trainee; the published figure is the class above it.
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 Tulare 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. Tulare starts at $80,336, so $9,049 above the municipal middle.
How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Tulare Police Department officer make?
Tulare Police Department starts a new officer on $80,336 a year, about $38.62 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 City of Tulare Police Department offi the row ended '../i-want-to/join-' and the full path is /i-want-to/join-tulare-pd/salary-and-benefits, which I read while writing this agency's description. It carries the exact stored figure - Police Officer Academy Grad $80,336.28-$97,649.64 annually - alongside Police Officer Trainee $59,525.64-$72,353.88..
Is that good pay for a police officer in California?
It ranks #182 of 222 agencies we have verified in California — 40 pay less, 181 pay more in the state — and #402 of 1,681 nationally. Against the national median it is $11,946 above, and against other municipal agencies $9,072 above.
What shifts do Tulare Police Department officers work?
Tulare's patrol division runs four shifts, each led by a police lieutenant as watch commander, with officers supervised by patrol sergeants. That is the agency's own published wording; the pattern is drawn on this page.
Compare with another department
Put Tulare 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 Tulare | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Santa Clara Police Department | Municipal | 141 | $163,619 | +$83,283 | #1 |
| 2 | Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety | Municipal | 227 | $149,443 | +$69,107 | #2 |
| 3 | Redwood City Police Department | Municipal | 83 | $147,942 | +$67,606 | #3 |
| 4 | San Jose Police Department | Municipal | 1,065 | $144,003 | +$63,667 | #4 |
| 5 | Mountain View Police Department | Municipal | 90 | $143,096 | +$62,760 | #5 |
| 6 | San Mateo Police Department | Municipal | 111 | $141,024 | +$60,688 | #6 |
| 7 | Los Altos Police Department | Municipal | 31 | $139,740 | +$59,404 | #7 |
| 8 | Hayward Police Department | Municipal | 171 | $138,965 | +$58,629 | #8 |
| 9 | Milpitas Police Department | Municipal | 84 | $138,261 | +$57,924 | #9 |
| 10 | Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office | County | 1,071 | $132,263 | +$51,927 | #10 |
| 11 | Menlo Park Police Department | Municipal | 43 | $132,036 | +$51,700 | #11 |
| 12 | Campbell Police Department | Municipal | 44 | $131,747 | +$51,411 | #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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