Home › Police pay › Texas › Port Arthur Police Department
Port Arthur 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.
Port Arthur Police Department starts at $71,332 a year — about $34.29 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $2,942 above the median of the 1,681 agencies on this list, and $68 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 $73,495 would somewhere at average prices — $2,163 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.
About Port Arthur
Port Arthur Police Department has around 115 sworn officers and 35 civilian staff on the Gulf coast of Jefferson County, with Field Operations making up more than half the department at about 80 patrol officers when fully staffed. Alongside narcotics, crime scene and community response units it carries a dedicated Mental Health assignment, and the city offers officers residency incentives to buy and live within its limits
Where the figure comes from
Checked 20 August 2026. City of Port Arthur / Port Arthur Police Association collective bargaining agreement 2024-2027, Article 18 wage chart — open the source document
Collective bargaining agreement between the City of Port Arthur and the Port Arthur Police Association, effective 1 Oct 2024 through 30 Sep 2027, Article 18 wage chart. Police Officer Entry is $5,944.34 a month from 1 Oct 2025 = $71,332.08 a year; Article 18 Section 2 states annual regular hours are 2,080 on a 40-hour week for all bargaining unit personnel, so the monthly rate is the whole of base pay. No prior service is required, and this is not a lateral rate: Article 12 lets the City hire academy cadets without a civil service examination provided they obtain a TCOLE license within one month of graduating, and prices lateral entrants separately — a Texas licensed officer employed by another agency within the past 180 days, placed by the Chief up to the five-year level.
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.
Entry pay through 2026
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.
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 Port Arthur 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. Port Arthur starts at $71,332, so $45 above the municipal middle.
How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Port Arthur Police Department officer make?
Port Arthur Police Department starts a new officer on $71,332 a year, about $34.29 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 Port Arthur / Port Arthur Police Association collective bargaining agreement 2024-2027, Article 18 wage chart.
Is that good pay for a police officer in Texas?
It ranks #80 of 140 agencies we have verified in Texas — 60 pay less, 79 pay more in the state — and #706 of 1,681 nationally. Against the national median it is $2,942 above, and against other municipal agencies $68 above.
Compare with another department
Put Port Arthur 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 Port | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Allen Police Department | Municipal | 153 | $91,106 | +$19,774 | #192 |
| 2 | Frisco Police Department | Municipal | 270 | $90,750 | +$19,418 | #200 |
| 3 | Plano Police Department | Municipal | 414 | $90,729 | +$19,397 | #201 |
| 4 | Grand Prairie Police Department | Municipal | 287 | $90,000 | +$18,668 | #216 |
| 5 | Hurst Police Department | Municipal | — | $87,048 | +$15,716 | #264 |
| 6 | Lewisville Police Department | Municipal | 181 | $86,268 | +$14,936 | #276 |
| 7 | Coppell Police Department | Municipal | 60 | $84,968 | +$13,636 | #293 |
| 8 | Rockwall Police Department | Municipal | 95 | $84,448 | +$13,116 | #300 |
| 9 | The Colony Police Department | Municipal | — | $84,082 | +$12,750 | #306 |
| 10 | Baytown Police Department | Municipal | — | $84,049 | +$12,717 | #307 |
| 11 | McKinney Police Department | Municipal | 248 | $83,992 | +$12,660 | #309 |
| 12 | Mesquite Police Department | Municipal | 260 | $83,869 | +$12,537 | #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.
Scan to install
