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Salary data from BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics

Police And Sheriff'S Patrol Officers Salary: Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, MI vs Vallejo, CA

Police And Sheriff'S Patrol Officers earn a median of $77,470 in Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, MI and $128,470 in Vallejo, CA. That is a nominal gap of $51,000 (-39.7%), with Vallejo, CA paying more before any cost-of-living adjustment.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey, May 2024 estimates. Cost-of-living adjustment uses BEA Regional Price Parities, most recent release.

$77,470
Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, MI median
$81,081 after COL
$128,470
Vallejo, CA median
$118,428 after COL
-39.7%
Nominal gap
Vallejo, CA leads
-31.5%
Adjusted gap
Vallejo, CA leads after COL

The story behind the numbers

On raw wages, Vallejo, CA pays $51,000 more per year than Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, MI for police and sheriff's patrol officers, a gap of +39.7%.

After adjusting for cost of living, Vallejo, CA still comes out ahead, with roughly $37,347 of extra purchasing power (+31.5% real gap). Local prices do not reverse the nominal advantage.

Full breakdown by location

Detailed wage, employment, and cost-of-living figures for police and sheriff's patrol officers in each location. Click through to the full local salary page for percentiles, outlook, and peer areas.

Police And Sheriff'S Patrol Officers

Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, MI

Median salary
$77,470
Mean salary
$72,260
Employment
1,470
Location quotient
0.61
Jobs per 1,000
2.6
COL-adjusted median
$81,081
Regional Price Parity
95.5%

Exact metro RPP match.

Full Police And Sheriff'S Patrol Officers page for Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, MI →

Police And Sheriff'S Patrol Officers

Vallejo, CA

Median salary
$128,470
Mean salary
$126,700
Employment
660
Location quotient
1.07
Jobs per 1,000
4.6
COL-adjusted median
$118,428
Regional Price Parity
108.5%

Exact metro RPP match.

Full Police And Sheriff'S Patrol Officers page for Vallejo, CA →

Related pages

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Common questions about this comparison

What does the cost-of-living adjustment actually do? +

It divides each location's nominal median wage by its Regional Price Parity (RPP), which measures how local prices compare to the national average (100 = national). A wage of $100,000 in an area with RPP 120 has the same purchasing power as roughly $83,000 nationally.

Why would the nominal and adjusted winners disagree? +

High-cost metros often pay higher salaries, but not by enough to fully offset the higher cost of housing, goods, and services. When that happens, the location with the lower nominal wage actually offers more real purchasing power.

What is a location quotient? +

The location quotient measures how concentrated an occupation is in a given area versus the national average. A value of 2.0 means the occupation is twice as common there as nationally. It is a signal of what a metro specializes in.