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Arlington Police Department entry pay
What this agency pays a new officer to start, and how that compares with the rest of the country.
Entry pay onlyEvery salary here is what an officer is paid on day one, out of the academy — base pay on a 40-hour week, with no overtime, shift differential, specialty or education pay counted. Nobody stays on it.
Arlington Police Department starts at $83,665 a year — about $40.22 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $16,980 above the median of the 2,288 agencies on this list, and $15,525 above the median for municipal agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in Texas run about 3% below the national average, so this goes about as far as $86,202 would somewhere at average prices — $2,537 more than the headline figure. That average hides a wide spread: utilities at 88, where goods are 98. Based on state-wide price levels, because this agency is not tied to a single metro area, from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, 2024. The salary above is what the employer publishes; this line is our arithmetic on it, and nothing on this site is ranked on it.
How big the department isArlington Police Department reported 708 sworn officers and 181 civilian staff to the FBI for 2025. That is 1.7 officers per 1,000 residents, over a population of 406,035.A rate is only meaningful for a city department, where the population served is the city’s own. Reporting to the FBI is voluntary, so a count can reflect a partial return as easily as a small agency, and the FBI asks that agencies not be compared on staffing. Source: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, Full-time Law Enforcement Employees, 2025.
What Arlington says about itself
The purpose of the Arlington Police Department is to protect the vulnerable from harm, and its mission statement is to preserve life, preserve peace, and preserve property. Its vision is to be a leader in law enforcement through strong community partnerships, professionally developed employees, enhanced technology and strategic succession planning.
What Arlington does
Arlington Police Department serves the seventh-largest city in Texas, roughly 100 square miles of more than 371,000 residents between Dallas and Fort Worth, with over 600 commissioned officers and close to 200 professional staff, and has been an accredited agency since 1989. It works a geographic policing model in which patrol sergeants and officers are assigned to named beats residents can contact directly
Where the figure comes from
Checked 19 August 2026. City of Arlington, Police Recruiting - Police Employee Benefits — open the source document
Police Officer (P-1): Entry (Academy) $83,665, then $87,863 at one year, $92,240 at two, rising to $112,174 at twenty. THE ENTRY STEP IS THE COMMISSIONED GRADE'S OWN FIRST STEP - Arlington runs no separate cadet class, and the city states that P-1 includes all commissioned non-supervisory positions, so the same rate is paid through the academy and after graduation until the first anniversary. Already-certified applicants are routed to a separate Lateral Transfer Academy. Excluded as add-ons: education $110 a month, detective $50, bilingual $100, police training officer 5%, shift differential 6%, and a $600 clothing allowance.
Entry-level base salary only. Overtime, bonuses, education incentives, shift
differentials, locality pay and lateral rates are excluded, so most officers earn more
than this.
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How this level compares
Where Arlington sits is partly about the agency and partly about which level of policing it belongs to. The three levels do not pay the same.
| Level | Lowest | Median | Highest | Agencies |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Municipal | $33,280 | $68,140 | $163,619 | 1549 |
| County | $35,000 | $63,565 | $132,263 | 516 |
| Special jurisdiction | $31,200 | $60,204 | $107,954 | 71 |
| State | $33,994 | $65,166 | $110,916 | 145 |
| Federal | $70,477 | $73,502 | $86,530 | 5 |
| Territory | $16,640 | $28,236 | $43,354 | 9 |
Federal agencies pay the most to start
The middle federal agency starts at $73,502 — about $5,400 more than the middle municipal agency and about $9,900 more than the middle county agency and about $13,300 more than the middle special jurisdiction agency and about $8,300 more than the middle state agency and about $45,300 more than the middle territory agency. Arlington starts at $83,665, so $15,525 above the municipal middle.
How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Arlington Police Department officer make?
Arlington Police Department starts a new officer on $83,665 a year, about $40.22 an hour on a 2,080-hour year. That is base salary before overtime, bonuses, education incentives, shift differentials and locality pay, so most serving officers earn more. The figure comes from City of Arlington, Police Recruiting - Police Employee Benefits.
Is that good pay for a police officer in Texas?
It ranks #15 of 151 agencies we have verified in Texas — 136 pay less, 14 pay more in the state — and #391 of 2,288 nationally. Against the national median it is $16,980 above, and against other municipal agencies $15,525 above.
Compare with another department
Put Arlington Police Department side by side with any other agency on the site — the two salaries, what each is worth once local prices are counted, and which comes out ahead.
The agencies either side of it
Other agencies in TX
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Arlington | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Allen Police Department | Municipal | 153 | $91,106 | +$7,441 | #241 |
| 2 | Frisco Police Department | Municipal | 270 | $90,750 | +$7,085 | #252 |
| 3 | Plano Police Department | Municipal | 400 | $90,729 | +$7,064 | #253 |
| 4 | Grand Prairie Police Department | Municipal | 287 | $90,000 | +$6,335 | #270 |
| 5 | Hurst Police Department | Municipal | 61 | $87,048 | +$3,383 | #322 |
| 6 | Lewisville Police Department | Municipal | 181 | $86,268 | +$2,603 | #335 |
| 7 | Coppell Police Department | Municipal | 60 | $84,968 | +$1,303 | #355 |
| 8 | Rockwall Police Department | Municipal | 95 | $84,448 | +$783 | #362 |
| 9 | Farmers Branch Police Department | Municipal | 83 | $84,440 | +$775 | #363 |
| 10 | The Colony Police Department | Municipal | 86 | $84,082 | +$417 | #371 |
| 11 | Baytown Police Department | Municipal | 172 | $84,049 | +$384 | #372 |
| 12 | McKinney Police Department | Municipal | 248 | $83,992 | +$327 | #374 |
Base pay is only part of the year
Whatever the figure above, the rotation is what decides your year — which weekends you lose, when the changeovers land, what you can plan around. Save yours once and BlueShifts shows it a year ahead, with the off-duty jobs you take and what each one paid.
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