THE POLICE INDEXStop data 2024 · Pay 2025 · Hiring checked daily

Where police pay goes furthest in California, 2025

An officer's median total pay set against the median household income of the city or county the department serves, at 297 California departments. A high salary in an expensive city can go less far than a lower one elsewhere.

Highest pay against local household income
3.5 times

Anderson Police: median total pay $165,136, against a median household income of $47,375 in Anderson. At the middle department the figure is 1.6 times, and 149 of 297 departments are at that or more.

Pay goes furthest: the top 25

Anderson Police3.5 times
Inglewood Police3.0 times
El Monte Police2.7 times
Huntington Park Police2.6 times
Barstow Police2.6 times
Hemet Police2.5 times
Bell Gardens Police2.4 times
San Pablo Police2.4 times
Grass Valley Police2.4 times
San Luis Obispo Police2.3 times
Bell Police2.3 times
Long Beach Police2.3 times
Butte County Sheriff2.3 times
National City Police2.3 times
Hawthorne Police2.3 times
Palm Springs Police2.3 times
Anaheim Police2.2 times
Richmond Police2.2 times
Eureka Police2.2 times
Cathedral City Police2.2 times
Arcata Police2.2 times
Gardena Police2.2 times
Oroville Police2.2 times
Seaside Police2.2 times
Vernon Police2.2 times

Median total pay for officers or deputies paid for the full year, overtime included, divided by the area's median household income.

Pay goes least far: the bottom 15

Pleasanton Police1.0 times
San Benito County Sheriff1.0 times
Palo Alto Police1.0 times
Scotts Valley Police1.0 times
Folsom Police0.9 times
Los Gatos Police0.9 times
Foster City Police0.9 times
Manhattan Beach Police0.9 times
Burlingame Police0.9 times
Atherton Police0.8 times
Belmont Police0.8 times
Hillsborough Police0.7 times
Mill Valley Police0.7 times
Huron Police0.7 times
Sierra Madre Police0.6 times

Lowest: Sierra Madre Police, median total pay $86,822 against a median household income of $143,547 in Sierra Madre.

Household income is not the cost of living. It is a rough guide to how an officer's pay compares with the people who live where the department works, and it says nothing about where the officer lives. Overtime is included, so a department with heavy overtime ranks higher here.

How report cards grade this · Highest paid departments · Every department on one scale

Sources: California State Controller, Government Compensation in California, raw export, 2025. Median household income: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey.