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DeSoto 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.
DeSoto Police Department starts at $79,591 a year — about $38.26 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $12,906 above the median of the 2,288 agencies on this list, and $11,451 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 $82,004 would somewhere at average prices — $2,413 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 isDeSoto Police Department reported 85 sworn officers and 43 civilian staff to the FBI for 2025. That is 1.5 officers per 1,000 residents, over a population of 56,851.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 DeSoto says about itself
Our department is a nationally accredited law enforcement agency.
What DeSoto does
The DeSoto Police Department serves the City of DeSoto in Dallas County, Texas.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 20 September 2026. City of DeSoto FY 2026 police pay structure (10.01.2025 Police), Certified P1 base pay — open the source document
Effective 1 October 2025 (FY 2026); $38.26/hr, 2,080 hours. The Non-Certified rate ($73,594.77) is not the figure; certificate and tactical supplements are paid on top.
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.
How this level compares
Where DeSoto 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. DeSoto starts at $79,591, so $11,451 above the municipal middle.
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How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a DeSoto Police Department officer make?
DeSoto Police Department starts a new officer on $79,591 a year, about $38.26 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 DeSoto FY 2026 police pay structure (10.01.2025 Police), Certified P1 base pay.
Is that good pay for a police officer in Texas?
It ranks #33 of 151 agencies we have verified in Texas — 118 pay less, 32 pay more in the state — and #503 of 2,288 nationally. Against the national median it is $12,906 above, and against other municipal agencies $11,451 above.
Compare with another department
Put DeSoto 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 DeSoto | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Allen Police Department | Municipal | 153 | $91,106 | +$11,516 | #241 |
| 2 | Frisco Police Department | Municipal | 270 | $90,750 | +$11,159 | #252 |
| 3 | Plano Police Department | Municipal | 400 | $90,729 | +$11,138 | #253 |
| 4 | Grand Prairie Police Department | Municipal | 287 | $90,000 | +$10,409 | #270 |
| 5 | Hurst Police Department | Municipal | 61 | $87,048 | +$7,457 | #322 |
| 6 | Lewisville Police Department | Municipal | 181 | $86,268 | +$6,677 | #335 |
| 7 | Coppell Police Department | Municipal | 60 | $84,968 | +$5,377 | #355 |
| 8 | Rockwall Police Department | Municipal | 95 | $84,448 | +$4,857 | #362 |
| 9 | Farmers Branch Police Department | Municipal | 83 | $84,440 | +$4,849 | #363 |
| 10 | The Colony Police Department | Municipal | 86 | $84,082 | +$4,491 | #371 |
| 11 | Baytown Police Department | Municipal | 172 | $84,049 | +$4,458 | #372 |
| 12 | McKinney Police Department | Municipal | 248 | $83,992 | +$4,402 | #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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