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San Marcos 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.
San Marcos Police Department starts at $70,224 a year — about $33.76 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $3,539 above the median of the 2,288 agencies on this list, and $2,084 above the median for municipal agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX run about 2% below the national average, so this goes about as far as $71,609 would somewhere at average prices — $1,385 more than the headline figure. That average hides a wide spread: rent at 120, where goods are 94. 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 isSan Marcos Police Department reported 125 sworn officers and 59 civilian staff to the FBI for 2025. That is 1.6 officers per 1,000 residents, over a population of 75,924.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 San Marcos says about itself
The mission of the San Marcos Police Department is to effectively and efficiently provide for the protection of lives and property, preserve the public peace, and provide needed community services with the highest level of professionalism and ethical standards. The department is committed to the concept of shared responsibility, in partnership with its community, to identify and solve community problems, to maintain the public safety, and to promote a sense of confidence and security among its citizens, while remaining astute to the principles and craft of traditional policing.
What San Marcos does
San Marcos Police Department hires Police Officers through a civil-service eligibility process and separately operates a lateral-entry program for experienced TCOLE-certified officers. The beginning process distinguishes non-certified cadets from sworn officers.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 10 August 2026. employer-controlled NEOGOV Police Officer Civil Service Examination posting — open the source document
Their source is effective 1 December 2025.
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 San Marcos 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. San Marcos starts at $70,224, so $2,084 above the municipal middle.
How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a San Marcos Police Department officer make?
San Marcos Police Department starts a new officer on $70,224 a year, about $33.76 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 NEOGOV Police Officer Civil Service Examination posting.
Is that good pay for a police officer in Texas?
It ranks #91 of 151 agencies we have verified in Texas — 60 pay less, 90 pay more in the state — and #924 of 2,288 nationally. Against the national median it is $3,539 above, and against other municipal agencies $2,084 above.
Compare with another department
Put San Marcos 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 San | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Allen Police Department | Municipal | 153 | $91,106 | +$20,882 | #241 |
| 2 | Frisco Police Department | Municipal | 270 | $90,750 | +$20,526 | #252 |
| 3 | Plano Police Department | Municipal | 400 | $90,729 | +$20,505 | #253 |
| 4 | Grand Prairie Police Department | Municipal | 287 | $90,000 | +$19,776 | #270 |
| 5 | Hurst Police Department | Municipal | 61 | $87,048 | +$16,824 | #322 |
| 6 | Lewisville Police Department | Municipal | 181 | $86,268 | +$16,044 | #335 |
| 7 | Coppell Police Department | Municipal | 60 | $84,968 | +$14,744 | #355 |
| 8 | Rockwall Police Department | Municipal | 95 | $84,448 | +$14,224 | #362 |
| 9 | Farmers Branch Police Department | Municipal | 83 | $84,440 | +$14,216 | #363 |
| 10 | The Colony Police Department | Municipal | 86 | $84,082 | +$13,858 | #371 |
| 11 | Baytown Police Department | Municipal | 172 | $84,049 | +$13,825 | #372 |
| 12 | McKinney Police Department | Municipal | 248 | $83,992 | +$13,769 | #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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