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Houston 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.
Houston Police Department starts at $78,452 a year — about $37.72 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $10,062 above the median of the 1,681 agencies on this list, and $7,188 above the median for municipal agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX run about 1% below the national average, so this goes about as far as $79,543 would somewhere at average prices — $1,091 more than the headline figure. Based on price levels for this metropolitan 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 isHouston Police Department reported 5,320 sworn officers and 883 civilian staff to the FBI for 2025. That is 2.2 officers per 1,000 residents, over a population of 2,413,559.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 Houston says about itself
The mission of the Houston Police Department is to enhance the quality of life in the City of Houston by working cooperatively with the public and within the framework of the U.S. Constitution to enforce the laws, preserve the peace, reduce fear and provide for a safe environment.
What Houston does
Houston Police Department works with the public to prevent crime, enforce law, preserve peace and provide a safe environment. The employer describes more than 5,400 officers serving over two million Houston residents across patrol and numerous specialized divisions.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 10 August 2026. employer-controlled City of Houston NEOGOV Police Trainee posting — open the source document
Their source is effective 6 April 2026.
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 Houston 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 | $35,006 | $71,287 | $163,619 | 1046 |
| County | $36,492 | $65,374 | $132,263 | 416 |
| Special jurisdiction | $31,200 | $60,195 | $107,954 | 69 |
| State | $33,994 | $64,998 | $102,692 | 143 |
| 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 $2,200 more than the middle municipal agency and about $8,100 more than the middle county agency and about $13,300 more than the middle special jurisdiction agency and about $8,500 more than the middle state agency and about $45,300 more than the middle territory agency. Houston starts at $78,452, so $7,165 above the municipal middle.
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How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Houston Police Department officer make?
Houston Police Department starts a new officer on $78,452 a year, about $37.72 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 employer-controlled City of Houston NEOGOV Police Trainee posting.
Is that good pay for a police officer in Texas?
It ranks #40 of 140 agencies we have verified in Texas — 100 pay less, 39 pay more in the state — and #445 of 1,681 nationally. Against the national median it is $10,062 above, and against other municipal agencies $7,188 above.
Compare with another department
Put Houston 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 Houston | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Allen Police Department | Municipal | 153 | $91,106 | +$12,654 | #192 |
| 2 | Frisco Police Department | Municipal | 270 | $90,750 | +$12,298 | #200 |
| 3 | Plano Police Department | Municipal | 414 | $90,729 | +$12,277 | #201 |
| 4 | Grand Prairie Police Department | Municipal | 287 | $90,000 | +$11,548 | #216 |
| 5 | Hurst Police Department | Municipal | — | $87,048 | +$8,596 | #264 |
| 6 | Lewisville Police Department | Municipal | 181 | $86,268 | +$7,816 | #276 |
| 7 | Coppell Police Department | Municipal | 60 | $84,968 | +$6,516 | #293 |
| 8 | Rockwall Police Department | Municipal | 95 | $84,448 | +$5,996 | #300 |
| 9 | The Colony Police Department | Municipal | — | $84,082 | +$5,630 | #306 |
| 10 | Baytown Police Department | Municipal | — | $84,049 | +$5,597 | #307 |
| 11 | McKinney Police Department | Municipal | 248 | $83,992 | +$5,540 | #309 |
| 12 | Mesquite Police Department | Municipal | 260 | $83,869 | +$5,417 | #312 |
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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