Applicant Score for San Diego County

Highest Applicant Score of 11 departments

La Mesa Police

85 of 100. The score covers what an applicant can count: pay, how far it goes locally, whether officers stay, and how fast hiring moves. It does not judge the work, the leadership or the culture.

Applicant Score, ranked

1. La Mesa Police85

2. Carlsbad Police65

3. Chula Vista Police61

4. National City Police61

5. El Cajon Police54

6. Escondido Police53

7. San Diego Police40

8. Harbor Police35

9. Oceanside Police27

10. Coronado Police26

11. Sheriff10

Hover a bar for what went into it.

The four parts

Pay

Starting salary, top salary, pay in the academy and the median total pay officers were actually paid, averaged.

La Mesa Police94

National City Police82

Sheriff20

Pay against local income

Starting salary as a share of the median household income where the department works. Higher means the pay goes further locally.

National City Police100

Officers staying

Share of sworn staff who left between two payroll years. Fewer leaving scores higher.

National City Police0

No data for: San Diego Police, Harbor Police, Oceanside Police, Sheriff.

Speed of hiring

The shortest hiring time the agency states. Faster scores higher.

No data for: Carlsbad Police, National City Police, El Cajon Police, Escondido Police, Oceanside Police, Sheriff.

How the score is built

Four parts, weighted equally: pay, pay against local income, officers staying, and speed of hiring.
On each measure the best department gets 100, the worst gets 0, and the rest are spaced by rank.
The score is the average of the parts a department has data for. A department needs at least two.
Crime rates and the kind of work, such as foot stops or night stops, are left out on purpose. Whether more of those is better depends on the applicant.