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Denton 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.
Denton Police Department starts at $80,790 a year — about $38.84 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $14,105 above the median of the 2,288 agencies on this list, and $12,650 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 $83,240 would somewhere at average prices — $2,450 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 isDenton Police Department reported 174 sworn officers and 106 civilian staff to the FBI for 2025. That is 1.0 officers per 1,000 residents, over a population of 172,882.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 Denton says about itself
The mission of the Denton Police Department is to make Denton a safe, sustainable, and livable city for everyone. Having proudly served the community since 1873, the department is an intelligence-led, data-driven, proactive policing organisation focused on the tenets of Relational Policing, and the sanctity of human life is the foundation by which it serves. It is committed to leveraging technology, innovation, collaboration and imagination to be trusted and respected by a diverse community.
What Denton does
Denton Police Department has served the city since 1873 and describes itself as an intelligence-led, data-driven organisation built on Relational Policing, accredited through the Texas Police Chiefs Association. Its patrol division works four twelve-hour shifts split north and south of I-35E, each shift under a lieutenant and two sergeants, and the department runs its own Basic Peace Officer Course
Denton’s rotation, in BlueShifts
Denton's patrol division works four twelve-hour shifts split north and south of Interstate 35E, each shift under a lieutenant and two sergeants.
The rotation template screen — enter the cycle and the start date, and you are done.
DayNight24 hrsOff
Every month, already filled in — no typing, however far ahead you look.
September 2026
This cycle has its own page: how it works, and how to build it.
Four twelve-hour tours a week on a fixed division line. BlueShifts draws the pattern once and fills the months ahead, with the shift differential counted alongside.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 20 August 2026. City of Denton — Notice of Civil Service Examination, Police Recruit (September 2026) — open the source document
City of Denton Notice of Civil Service Examination, Police Recruit, JCN HA0009, exam 12 Sep 2026, registration closing 7 Sep 2026. It states: Recruit (Non-Civil Service) $6,732.50 a month = $80,790.00 annually; After One Year $7,060.33 a month = $84,724.00 annually. Denton names no academy-graduation step — the recruit rate runs through the whole first year and the next move is the one-year increase — so the recruit rate is the entry rate. No prior service is required, and this is not a lateral rate: the notice requires only a high school diploma or GED and TCOLE licensing within one calendar year of employment, so no prior service is needed. Class: Police Recruit (Non-Civil Service) | Post-academy: no separate class, Denton names no academy-graduation step — the recruit rate runs the whole first year and the next move is the one-year increase to $7,060.33 a month.
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.
BlueShifts. Plan Your Year. Own Your Time.
The shift calendar built for your rotation, off-duty work, and life on and off the clock.
Save your shift schedule once and BlueShifts fills the rest of the year in.
How this level compares
Where Denton 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. Denton starts at $80,790, so $12,650 above the municipal middle.
How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Denton Police Department officer make?
Denton Police Department starts a new officer on $80,790 a year, about $38.84 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 Denton — Notice of Civil Service Examination, Police Recruit (September 2026).
Is that good pay for a police officer in Texas?
It ranks #26 of 151 agencies we have verified in Texas — 125 pay less, 25 pay more in the state — and #467 of 2,288 nationally. Against the national median it is $14,105 above, and against other municipal agencies $12,650 above.
What shifts do Denton Police Department officers work?
Denton's patrol division works four twelve-hour shifts split north and south of Interstate 35E, each shift under a lieutenant and two sergeants. That is the agency's own published wording; the pattern is drawn on this page.
Compare with another department
Put Denton 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 Denton | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Allen Police Department | Municipal | 153 | $91,106 | +$10,316 | #241 |
| 2 | Frisco Police Department | Municipal | 270 | $90,750 | +$9,960 | #252 |
| 3 | Plano Police Department | Municipal | 400 | $90,729 | +$9,939 | #253 |
| 4 | Grand Prairie Police Department | Municipal | 287 | $90,000 | +$9,210 | #270 |
| 5 | Hurst Police Department | Municipal | 61 | $87,048 | +$6,258 | #322 |
| 6 | Lewisville Police Department | Municipal | 181 | $86,268 | +$5,478 | #335 |
| 7 | Coppell Police Department | Municipal | 60 | $84,968 | +$4,178 | #355 |
| 8 | Rockwall Police Department | Municipal | 95 | $84,448 | +$3,658 | #362 |
| 9 | Farmers Branch Police Department | Municipal | 83 | $84,440 | +$3,650 | #363 |
| 10 | The Colony Police Department | Municipal | 86 | $84,082 | +$3,292 | #371 |
| 11 | Baytown Police Department | Municipal | 172 | $84,049 | +$3,259 | #372 |
| 12 | McKinney Police Department | Municipal | 248 | $83,992 | +$3,202 | #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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