Police & Sheriff's Patrol Officers salary in Palm Bay, FL
Median pay for police & sheriff's patrol officers in Palm Bay, FL: $53,610/yr
Typical range (10th–90th percentile): $41,760 – $75,400 · about 980 employed locally
Below the typical metro median ($69,845) by −$16,235 (-23%).
What it's really worth in Palm Bay
With Palm Bay's cost of living at 101 (US=100), that $53,610 has the buying power of about $52,911 in an average-cost US metro.
Local context: median household income $71,308 · median home $344,841 · median rent $1,920/mo.
How Palm Bay ranks for this job
On raw pay, Palm Bay, FL is 147th of the 186 metros we hold police & sheriff's patrol officers wages for. Once Palm Bay's cost of living is applied, it ranks 171st.
The headline number flatters Palm Bay. Once housing and everyday costs are taken into account, police & sheriff's patrol officers here keep less of what they earn than the raw salary implies.
What that salary buys in Palm Bay
A median home in Palm Bay, FL costs $344,841 — about 6.4× 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 $1,920/mo works out at 43% of gross pay — above the conventional 30% affordability ceiling, so renting would stretch this salary.
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 Palm Bay.
| Metro | Median pay | vs Palm Bay | Rent vs Palm Bay |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Jose, CA | $145,340 | +171% | 1.9× |
| San Francisco, CA | $134,860 | +152% | 1.7× |
| Vallejo, CA | $125,130 | +133% | 1.3× |
| Santa Maria, CA | $118,140 | +120% | 1.7× |
Same job elsewhere in FL
| Metro | Median pay | vs Palm Bay | Rent vs Palm Bay |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miami, FL | $89,570 | +67% | 1.4× |
| Tampa, FL | $68,750 | +28% | 1.1× |
| Cape Coral, FL | $65,730 | +23% | 1× |
| Orlando, FL | $65,160 | +22% | 1× |
Staying in FL keeps state income tax and licensing the same, which makes these the most directly comparable moves.
Other jobs in Palm Bay
Source: US BLS OEWS (May 2023) median annual wage; cost of living from BEA; home price and rent from Zillow; household income from US Census ACS. Rankings are across the 186 metros we hold wage data for in this occupation. Estimates for guidance only. See methodology.