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Hays County Sheriff's Office 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.
Hays County Sheriff's Office starts at $72,236 a year — about $34.73 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $5,551 above the median of the 2,288 agencies on this list, and $8,676 above the median for county agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in Texas run about 3% below the national average, so this goes about as far as $74,426 would somewhere at average prices — $2,190 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 isHays County Sheriff's Office reported 175 sworn officers and 290 civilian staff to the FBI for 2025.No rate is shown: this agency does not police a single population the FBI publishes a figure for. 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 Hays County says about itself
The mission of the Hays County Sheriff's Office is to enhance the quality of life in Hays County by working in partnership with the community and other agencies to swiftly enforce the law, preserve the peace, reduce the fear of crime, and maintain order. Courage, compassion, teamwork, trustworthiness, justice and service are fundamental values that are the cornerstones of responsible law enforcement, and employees will receive the best training available to provide the highest quality of service to Hays County.
What Hays County does
Hays County Sheriff's Office was founded on 7 August 1848 and now covers 680 square miles between Austin and San Antonio for more than 240,000 residents, with county-wide jurisdiction alongside the municipal forces in San Marcos, Kyle, Buda and Uhland. It fields around 30 school resource officers across four school districts, runs a SWAT team shared with San Marcos police, and partners with Texas State University's ALERRT Center
Shifts at Hays County
The Hays County Sheriff's Office Patrol Division consists of four shifts, each commanded by a lieutenant. Shifts also include a sergeant and two corporals.
Four shifts each with its own command team means your lieutenant, sergeant and corporals move with you. BlueShifts holds the shift so the whole year is laid out.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 19 August 2026. Hays County / HCLEA collective bargaining agreement 2024-2027, Exhibit A pay plan (fully executed, approved by Commissioners Court) — open the source document
$72,235.80. Collective Bargaining Agreement between Hays County and the Hays County Law Enforcement Association, effective 5 Nov 2024 to 30 Sep 2027, Exhibit A Pay Plan. LE Deputy MBS 0 under the Fiscal Year 2026 Pay Plan, effective 1 Oct 2025. MBS 0 is the no-prior-service step: Article 20 places lateral hires with three or more years' experience ABOVE MBS 0, and states the lateral programme exists to recruit for the position of Entry-Level Deputy Sheriff. Salaries are set on 2,184 hours a year.
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, 2021–2025
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 Hays County 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. Hays County starts at $72,236, so $8,671 above the county middle.
How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Hays County Sheriff's Office officer make?
Hays County Sheriff's Office starts a new officer on $72,236 a year, about $34.73 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 Hays County / HCLEA collective bargaining agreement 2024-2027, Exhibit A pay plan (fully executed, approved by Commissioners Court).
Is that good pay for a police officer in Texas?
It ranks #78 of 151 agencies we have verified in Texas — 73 pay less, 77 pay more in the state — and #801 of 2,288 nationally. Against the national median it is $5,551 above, and against other county agencies $8,676 above.
What shifts do Hays County Sheriff's Office officers work?
The Hays County Sheriff's Office Patrol Division consists of four shifts, each commanded by a lieutenant. Shifts also include a sergeant and two corporals. That is the agency's own published wording; the pattern is drawn on this page.
Compare with another department
Put Hays County Sheriff's Office 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 Hays | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Allen Police Department | Municipal | 153 | $91,106 | +$18,870 | #241 |
| 2 | Frisco Police Department | Municipal | 270 | $90,750 | +$18,514 | #252 |
| 3 | Plano Police Department | Municipal | 400 | $90,729 | +$18,493 | #253 |
| 4 | Grand Prairie Police Department | Municipal | 287 | $90,000 | +$17,764 | #270 |
| 5 | Hurst Police Department | Municipal | 61 | $87,048 | +$14,812 | #322 |
| 6 | Lewisville Police Department | Municipal | 181 | $86,268 | +$14,032 | #335 |
| 7 | Coppell Police Department | Municipal | 60 | $84,968 | +$12,732 | #355 |
| 8 | Rockwall Police Department | Municipal | 95 | $84,448 | +$12,212 | #362 |
| 9 | Farmers Branch Police Department | Municipal | 83 | $84,440 | +$12,204 | #363 |
| 10 | The Colony Police Department | Municipal | 86 | $84,082 | +$11,846 | #371 |
| 11 | Baytown Police Department | Municipal | 172 | $84,049 | +$11,813 | #372 |
| 12 | McKinney Police Department | Municipal | 248 | $83,992 | +$11,756 | #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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