The highest-paid city of Oakland workers last year were mostly police officers, followed by firefighters, according to city data reviewed by The Oaklandside.<\/p>\n
Ninety-nine police officers and firefighters took home total annual pay packages for 2025 exceeding $500,000, due mostly to overtime. Altogether, 103 city employees had compensation above half a million. In total, it cost the city $59 million to employ this elite group of workers. Two-thirds of them, or 67, were police officers, while 32 were firefighters. Only four worked for other departments.<\/p>\n
The top earner in Oakland was police Sgt. Timothy Dolan, whose base pay and benefits, plus $398,000 in overtime, totaled $765,000 in total compensation. Dolan also ranked first in 2024 thanks largely to $490,000 in overtime<\/a>, a pay package that raised eyebrows and led OPD\u2019s Police Chief James Beere, then interim chief, to institute more limits<\/a>.<\/p>\n The City Attorney\u2019s Office, which employs dozens of lawyers, normally jobs that command high salaries, had only one staff member among the city\u2019s elite ranks of workers with compensation topping half a million \u2014 that was the most senior person in the office, City Attorney Ryan Richardson.<\/p>\n Police officers received just over half of the city\u2019s total payouts for overtime, or $42 million. The Fire Department came in second place, with its staff taking home about $32 million, or 38% of the city\u2019s overtime spending. No other department came close to these two in terms of utilizing overtime.<\/p>\n