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Garland 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.
Garland Police Department starts at $82,482 a year — about $39.65 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $15,797 above the median of the 2,288 agencies on this list, and $14,342 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 $84,983 would somewhere at average prices — $2,501 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 isGarland Police Department reported 356 sworn officers and 144 civilian staff to the FBI for 2025. That is 1.4 officers per 1,000 residents, over a population of 251,332.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 Garland says about itself
The mission of the Garland Police Department is to enhance the quality of life for our community by reducing crime and the fear of crime. The members of the department shall seek to provide first-class public safety services while maintaining the highest level of ethics, integrity and accountability to the law-abiding citizens and stakeholders of Garland; through fair and impartial enforcement of the law; while working in partnership with all segments of our diverse community in proactive efforts to reduce crime and address conditions that may foster the fear of crime.
What Garland does
Garland Police Department is among the largest agencies in the Dallas-Fort Worth area with over 400 peace officers and civilian personnel, carries a Behavioral Health and Resource Unit inside its Administrative Services Division, and opens more than twenty specialist assignments to officers after two years' service — from internet crimes against children and highway interdiction to bomb disposal, K-9, hostage negotiation and neighbourhood policing
Where the figure comes from
Checked 20 August 2026. City of Garland — Ordinance No. 7656 (3 March 2026), Exhibit A-2 Civil Service Salary Schedules effective 10/1/2025 — open the source document
City of Garland Ordinance No. 7656, passed and approved 3 March 2026 under Chapter 143 of the Texas Local Government Code, which prescribes the civil service classifications, the number of positions in each and the base salary for each. Its Exhibit A-2, Civil Service Salary Schedules effective 1 October 2025, sets the police ladder at Hire, Step 1, Police Officer 1 (Recruit) $39.65 an hour = $82,482 a year, rising through nine steps to Police Officer 9 at $110,733 in year 8. No prior service is required, and this is not a lateral rate: step 1 is the hire step and is the recruit classification itself, so one rate covers the Garland academy and the first year; the city runs a separate Lateral Academy for already-licensed officers and pays it its own one-off remuneration. The department's own Benefits and Compensation page states the same $82,482 as the beginning salary for recruits.
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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Entry pay, 2024–2025
Every point is the entry-class annual base printed in the agency’s own pay document. Base pay only — no shift differential, incentives or allowances.
How this level compares
Where Garland 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. Garland starts at $82,482, so $14,342 above the municipal middle.
How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Garland Police Department officer make?
Garland Police Department starts a new officer on $82,482 a year, about $39.65 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 Garland — Ordinance No. 7656 (3 March 2026), Exhibit A-2 Civil Service Salary Schedules effective 10/1/2025.
Is that good pay for a police officer in Texas?
It ranks #21 of 151 agencies we have verified in Texas — 130 pay less, 20 pay more in the state — and #417 of 2,288 nationally. Against the national median it is $15,797 above, and against other municipal agencies $14,342 above.
Compare with another department
Put Garland 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 Garland | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Allen Police Department | Municipal | 153 | $91,106 | +$8,624 | #241 |
| 2 | Frisco Police Department | Municipal | 270 | $90,750 | +$8,268 | #252 |
| 3 | Plano Police Department | Municipal | 400 | $90,729 | +$8,247 | #253 |
| 4 | Grand Prairie Police Department | Municipal | 287 | $90,000 | +$7,518 | #270 |
| 5 | Hurst Police Department | Municipal | 61 | $87,048 | +$4,566 | #322 |
| 6 | Lewisville Police Department | Municipal | 181 | $86,268 | +$3,786 | #335 |
| 7 | Coppell Police Department | Municipal | 60 | $84,968 | +$2,486 | #355 |
| 8 | Rockwall Police Department | Municipal | 95 | $84,448 | +$1,966 | #362 |
| 9 | Farmers Branch Police Department | Municipal | 83 | $84,440 | +$1,958 | #363 |
| 10 | The Colony Police Department | Municipal | 86 | $84,082 | +$1,600 | #371 |
| 11 | Baytown Police Department | Municipal | 172 | $84,049 | +$1,567 | #372 |
| 12 | McKinney Police Department | Municipal | 248 | $83,992 | +$1,510 | #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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