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Visalia 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.
Visalia Police Department starts at $92,647 a year — about $44.54 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $24,257 above the median of the 1,681 agencies on this list, and $21,383 above the median for municipal agencies.
How big the department isVisalia Police Department reported 164 sworn officers and 76 civilian staff to the FBI for 2025. That is 1.1 officers per 1,000 residents, over a population of 147,414.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 Visalia
Visalia officers carry out basic sworn law enforcement, patrol, investigation and crime prevention.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 13 August 2026. $92,646.84 annual Police Officer minimum. Official City Police Officer class specification revised May 14, 2026 publishes $92,646. — open the source document
$92,646.84 annual Police Officer minimum. Official City Police Officer class specification revised May 14, 2026 publishes $92,646.84-$115,831.20 annually. City salary policy states candidates are normally hired at the minimum of the announced range.
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.
How this level compares
Where Visalia 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. Visalia starts at $92,647, so $21,360 above the municipal middle.
How it ranks
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Common questions
How much does a Visalia Police Department officer make?
Visalia Police Department starts a new officer on $92,647 a year, about $44.54 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 $92,646.84 annual Police Officer minimum. Official City Police Officer class specification revised May 14, 2026 publishes $92,646..
Is that good pay for a police officer in California?
It ranks #129 of 222 agencies we have verified in California — 93 pay less, 128 pay more in the state — and #171 of 1,681 nationally. Against the national median it is $24,257 above, and against other municipal agencies $21,383 above.
Compare with another department
Put Visalia 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 Visalia | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Santa Clara Police Department | Municipal | 141 | $163,619 | +$70,972 | #1 |
| 2 | Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety | Municipal | 227 | $149,443 | +$56,796 | #2 |
| 3 | Redwood City Police Department | Municipal | 83 | $147,942 | +$55,295 | #3 |
| 4 | San Jose Police Department | Municipal | 1,065 | $144,003 | +$51,356 | #4 |
| 5 | Mountain View Police Department | Municipal | 90 | $143,096 | +$50,449 | #5 |
| 6 | San Mateo Police Department | Municipal | 111 | $141,024 | +$48,377 | #6 |
| 7 | Los Altos Police Department | Municipal | 31 | $139,740 | +$47,093 | #7 |
| 8 | Hayward Police Department | Municipal | 171 | $138,965 | +$46,318 | #8 |
| 9 | Milpitas Police Department | Municipal | 84 | $138,261 | +$45,614 | #9 |
| 10 | Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office | County | 1,071 | $132,263 | +$39,616 | #10 |
| 11 | Menlo Park Police Department | Municipal | 43 | $132,036 | +$39,389 | #11 |
| 12 | Campbell Police Department | Municipal | 44 | $131,747 | +$39,100 | #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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