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Tarrant 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.
Tarrant County Sheriff's Office starts at $79,810 a year — about $38.37 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $11,420 above the median of the 1,681 agencies on this list, and $14,435 above the median for county agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX run about 3% above the national average, so this is worth roughly $77,417 somewhere at average prices — $2,392 less than the headline figure. Most of that is rent, at 118 against a national average of 100, where goods are 103. 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 isTarrant County Sheriff's Office reported 1,118 sworn officers and 202 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 Tarrant County says about itself
Together with the Tarrant County Sheriff's Office, his mission is to PROTECT by courageously standing between evil and good with honor, while striving to SERVE with respect, always putting others before self.
What Tarrant County does
Tarrant County Sheriff's Office provides law-enforcement, detention, court-security, civil-process and specialized public-safety services. Official County materials emphasize protecting the public, professional service, integrity and accountability.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 8 August 2026. Tarrant County official GovernmentJobs posting — Deputy Sheriff, Sheriff's Office — open the source document
Opening 1 July 2026; closes 30 September 2026; $38.37/hour annualized at 2,080 hours
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 Tarrant 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 | $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. Tarrant County starts at $79,810, so $14,436 above the county middle.
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How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Tarrant County Sheriff's Office officer make?
Tarrant County Sheriff's Office starts a new officer on $79,810 a year, about $38.37 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 Tarrant County official GovernmentJobs posting — Deputy Sheriff, Sheriff's Office.
Is that good pay for a police officer in Texas?
It ranks #29 of 140 agencies we have verified in Texas — 111 pay less, 28 pay more in the state — and #414 of 1,681 nationally. Against the national median it is $11,420 above, and against other county agencies $14,435 above.
Compare with another department
Put Tarrant 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 Tarrant | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Allen Police Department | Municipal | 153 | $91,106 | +$11,296 | #192 |
| 2 | Frisco Police Department | Municipal | 270 | $90,750 | +$10,940 | #200 |
| 3 | Plano Police Department | Municipal | 414 | $90,729 | +$10,919 | #201 |
| 4 | Grand Prairie Police Department | Municipal | 287 | $90,000 | +$10,190 | #216 |
| 5 | Hurst Police Department | Municipal | — | $87,048 | +$7,238 | #264 |
| 6 | Lewisville Police Department | Municipal | 181 | $86,268 | +$6,458 | #276 |
| 7 | Coppell Police Department | Municipal | 60 | $84,968 | +$5,158 | #293 |
| 8 | Rockwall Police Department | Municipal | 95 | $84,448 | +$4,638 | #300 |
| 9 | The Colony Police Department | Municipal | — | $84,082 | +$4,272 | #306 |
| 10 | Baytown Police Department | Municipal | — | $84,049 | +$4,239 | #307 |
| 11 | McKinney Police Department | Municipal | 248 | $83,992 | +$4,183 | #309 |
| 12 | Mesquite Police Department | Municipal | 260 | $83,869 | +$4,059 | #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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