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Richardson 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.
Richardson Police Department starts at $71,340 a year — about $34.30 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $4,655 above the median of the 2,288 agencies on this list, and $3,200 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 $73,503 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.
How big the department isRichardson Police Department reported 164 sworn officers and 88 civilian staff to the FBI for 2025. That is 1.4 officers per 1,000 residents, over a population of 117,915.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 Richardson says about itself
We will serve as partners with our citizens to maintain a safe and peaceful community, committing ourselves to the preservation of life, protection of property, and safeguarding individual liberties. We are dedicated to accomplishing this with integrity and professionalism. The department employs 170 sworn officers and 107 civilians, and has been an accredited Best Practices agency of the Texas Police Chiefs Association Foundation since 2009.
What Richardson does
Richardson Police Department runs 173 full-time sworn positions and about 107 civilian staff just north of Dallas, accredited by the Texas Police Chiefs Association Foundation since 2009 against 166 best-practice standards. Its Volunteers in Police Service programme contributes more than 19,000 hours a year, and the department runs its own academy offering classes to officers from other agencies
Where the figure comes from
Checked 19 August 2026. Richardson Police Department, Careers - Salary and Benefits — open the source document
The department states it in our own terms: those seeking to become a Police Officer WITH NO PREVIOUS LAW ENFORCEMENT EXPERIENCE enter the organisation making $71,340, and officers top out at $91,128 after eight years of service before incentives. The Lateral Entry Program is priced separately on the same page, placing experienced officers on the scale by their service, up to that same $91,128. Excluded as add-ons: education pay of $75 to $150 a month, TCOLE certification pay of $75 to $125, language pay of $100 verbal or $150 verbal and written, physical fitness pay to $1,000 a year, and longevity of $4 a month per year of service.
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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How this level compares
Where Richardson 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. Richardson starts at $71,340, so $3,200 above the municipal middle.
How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Richardson Police Department officer make?
Richardson Police Department starts a new officer on $71,340 a year, about $34.30 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 Richardson Police Department, Careers - Salary and Benefits.
Is that good pay for a police officer in Texas?
It ranks #85 of 151 agencies we have verified in Texas — 66 pay less, 84 pay more in the state — and #854 of 2,288 nationally. Against the national median it is $4,655 above, and against other municipal agencies $3,200 above.
Compare with another department
Put Richardson 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 Richardson | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Allen Police Department | Municipal | 153 | $91,106 | +$19,766 | #241 |
| 2 | Frisco Police Department | Municipal | 270 | $90,750 | +$19,410 | #252 |
| 3 | Plano Police Department | Municipal | 400 | $90,729 | +$19,389 | #253 |
| 4 | Grand Prairie Police Department | Municipal | 287 | $90,000 | +$18,660 | #270 |
| 5 | Hurst Police Department | Municipal | 61 | $87,048 | +$15,708 | #322 |
| 6 | Lewisville Police Department | Municipal | 181 | $86,268 | +$14,928 | #335 |
| 7 | Coppell Police Department | Municipal | 60 | $84,968 | +$13,628 | #355 |
| 8 | Rockwall Police Department | Municipal | 95 | $84,448 | +$13,108 | #362 |
| 9 | Farmers Branch Police Department | Municipal | 83 | $84,440 | +$13,100 | #363 |
| 10 | The Colony Police Department | Municipal | 86 | $84,082 | +$12,742 | #371 |
| 11 | Baytown Police Department | Municipal | 172 | $84,049 | +$12,709 | #372 |
| 12 | McKinney Police Department | Municipal | 248 | $83,992 | +$12,652 | #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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