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Union City 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.
Union City Police Department starts at $121,517 a year — about $58.42 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $53,127 above the median of the 1,681 agencies on this list, and $50,253 above the median for municipal agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in California run about 11% above the national average, so this is worth roughly $109,752 somewhere at average prices — $11,765 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 isUnion City Police Department reported 73 sworn officers and 23 civilian staff to the FBI for 2025. That is 1.1 officers per 1,000 residents, over a population of 65,297.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 Union City says about itself
Our mission is to work with the community to provide public safety with integrity, honor and professionalism.
What Union City does
Union City Police Department's official recruitment procedure says its Personnel and Training unit coordinates recruitment with City Human Resources and recruits four officer groups: trainee, academy attendee, Recruit II, and lateral. Its procedures emphasize professional selection, POST standards, training, and staffing the department with qualified personnel to provide municipal police services
Where the figure comes from
Checked 8 August 2026. City of Union City official Human Resources compensation plan and UCPD — open the source document
Current City HR page checked 8 August 2026 lists Police Officer Recruit II at $10,126/month; the official compensation plan gives $121,517 annually. UCPD's official recruitment procedure defines Recruit II as candidates who completed a police academy but have not yet obtained the Basic POST certificate, and the labor agreement states trainees are sworn/appointed to Recruit II after academy completion
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 Union City 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. Union City starts at $121,517, so $50,230 above the municipal middle.
How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Union City Police Department officer make?
Union City Police Department starts a new officer on $121,517 a year, about $58.42 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 Union City official Human Resources compensation plan and UCPD.
Is that good pay for a police officer in California?
It ranks #27 of 222 agencies we have verified in California — 195 pay less, 26 pay more in the state — and #27 of 1,681 nationally. Against the national median it is $53,127 above, and against other municipal agencies $50,253 above.
Compare with another department
Put Union City 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 Union | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Santa Clara Police Department | Municipal | 141 | $163,619 | +$42,102 | #1 |
| 2 | Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety | Municipal | 227 | $149,443 | +$27,926 | #2 |
| 3 | Redwood City Police Department | Municipal | 83 | $147,942 | +$26,425 | #3 |
| 4 | San Jose Police Department | Municipal | 1,065 | $144,003 | +$22,486 | #4 |
| 5 | Mountain View Police Department | Municipal | 90 | $143,096 | +$21,579 | #5 |
| 6 | San Mateo Police Department | Municipal | 111 | $141,024 | +$19,507 | #6 |
| 7 | Los Altos Police Department | Municipal | 31 | $139,740 | +$18,223 | #7 |
| 8 | Hayward Police Department | Municipal | 171 | $138,965 | +$17,448 | #8 |
| 9 | Milpitas Police Department | Municipal | 84 | $138,261 | +$16,744 | #9 |
| 10 | Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office | County | 1,071 | $132,263 | +$10,746 | #10 |
| 11 | Menlo Park Police Department | Municipal | 43 | $132,036 | +$10,519 | #11 |
| 12 | Campbell Police Department | Municipal | 44 | $131,747 | +$10,230 | #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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