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Texarkana 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.
Texarkana Police Department starts at $59,758 a year — about $28.73 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $8,632 below the median of the 1,681 agencies on this list, and $11,506 below the median for municipal agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in Texarkana, TX-AR run about 16% below the national average, so this goes about as far as $71,131 would somewhere at average prices — $11,372 more than the headline figure. Most of that is rent, at 50 against a national average of 100, 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 isTexarkana Police Department reported 85 sworn officers and 10 civilian staff to the FBI for 2025. That is 2.4 officers per 1,000 residents, over a population of 35,907.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.
About Texarkana
Texarkana Police Officers patrol, investigate crimes and traffic collisions, enforce laws and parking regulations, make arrests and work with residents, businesses, schools and community groups to protect life and property
Where the figure comes from
Checked 8 August 2026. City of Texarkana official 2026 Police Offi — open the source document
Opened 26 May 2026; continuous. Official Police Officer New Hire salary is $59,758.40 annually. The City provides academic and practical police training; hiring bonus and later longevity steps are excluded
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 Texarkana 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. Texarkana starts at $59,758, so $11,529 below the municipal middle.
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How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Texarkana Police Department officer make?
Texarkana Police Department starts a new officer on $59,758 a year, about $28.73 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 Texarkana official 2026 Police Offi.
Is that good pay for a police officer in Texas?
It ranks #114 of 140 agencies we have verified in Texas — 26 pay less, 113 pay more in the state — and #1,259 of 1,681 nationally. Against the national median it is $8,632 below, and against other municipal agencies $11,506 below.
Compare with another department
Put Texarkana 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 Texarkana | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Allen Police Department | Municipal | 153 | $91,106 | +$31,348 | #192 |
| 2 | Frisco Police Department | Municipal | 270 | $90,750 | +$30,992 | #200 |
| 3 | Plano Police Department | Municipal | 414 | $90,729 | +$30,971 | #201 |
| 4 | Grand Prairie Police Department | Municipal | 287 | $90,000 | +$30,242 | #216 |
| 5 | Hurst Police Department | Municipal | — | $87,048 | +$27,290 | #264 |
| 6 | Lewisville Police Department | Municipal | 181 | $86,268 | +$26,510 | #276 |
| 7 | Coppell Police Department | Municipal | 60 | $84,968 | +$25,210 | #293 |
| 8 | Rockwall Police Department | Municipal | 95 | $84,448 | +$24,690 | #300 |
| 9 | The Colony Police Department | Municipal | — | $84,082 | +$24,324 | #306 |
| 10 | Baytown Police Department | Municipal | — | $84,049 | +$24,291 | #307 |
| 11 | McKinney Police Department | Municipal | 248 | $83,992 | +$24,234 | #309 |
| 12 | Mesquite Police Department | Municipal | 260 | $83,869 | +$24,110 | #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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