Police & Sheriff's Patrol Officers salary in Riverside, CA

Median pay for police & sheriff's patrol officers in Riverside, CA: $106,550/yr

Typical range (10th–90th percentile): $75,930 – $142,390 · about 6,360 employed locally

Above the typical metro median ($69,845) by +$36,705 (+53%).

What it's really worth in Riverside

With Riverside's cost of living at 107 (US=100), that $106,550 has the buying power of about $99,263 in an average-cost US metro.

Local context: median household income $81,041 · median home $585,378 · median rent $2,519/mo.

Full Riverside cost of living & taxes →

How Riverside ranks for this job

On raw pay, Riverside, CA is 14th of the 186 metros we hold police & sheriff's patrol officers wages for. Once Riverside's cost of living is applied, it ranks 13th.

Pay and living costs are roughly in step here, so Riverside sits in much the same place whether you look at raw salary or spending power.

What that salary buys in Riverside

A median home in Riverside, CA costs $585,378 — about 5.5× this salary, against a typical US metro figure of 4.7×. Buying is harder here than in the average metro on this income.

Median rent of $2,519/mo works out at 28% of gross pay — inside the conventional 30% affordability ceiling.

Where police & sheriff's patrol officers earn more

Pay on its own is only half the picture, so each row shows what rent costs there relative to Riverside.

Metro	Median pay	vs Riverside	Rent vs Riverside
San Jose, CA	$145,340	+36%	1.4×
San Francisco, CA	$134,860	+27%	1.3×
Vallejo, CA	$125,130	+17%	1×
Santa Maria, CA	$118,140	+11%	1.3×

Same job elsewhere in CA

Metro	Median pay	vs Riverside	Rent vs Riverside
San Jose, CA	$145,340	+36%	1.4×
San Francisco, CA	$134,860	+27%	1.3×
Vallejo, CA	$125,130	+17%	1×
Santa Maria, CA	$118,140	+11%	1.3×

Staying in CA keeps state income tax and licensing the same, which makes these the most directly comparable moves.

Other jobs in Riverside