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Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers pay in San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA and Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC
The May 2025 BLS OEWS median for Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers is $136,140 per year in San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA. It is $59,690 per year in Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC. San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA is 128.1% above Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC on the published median.
Both rows use SOC 33-3051 and the same annual wage metric. Median means the middle of each area's published wage spread. It is not one worker's pay. The larger median is not proof that one place gives a better job or a better result. It is one wage fact from one source period.
BLS lists 2,590 wage and salary jobs in San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA and 4,320 in Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC. Those are survey job counts, not open posts. Read pay, job scale, local share, and price level as separate facts before you make a choice.