Police & Sheriff's Patrol Officers salary in Houston, TX

Median pay for police & sheriff's patrol officers in Houston, TX: $69,080/yr

Typical range (10th–90th percentile): $56,900 – $96,320 · about 14,480 employed locally

Below the typical metro median ($69,845) by −$765 (-1%).

What it's really worth in Houston

With Houston's cost of living at 100 (US=100), that $69,080 has the buying power of about $69,264 in an average-cost US metro.

Local context: median household income $78,061 · median home $308,306 · median rent $1,639/mo.

Full Houston cost of living & taxes →

How Houston ranks for this job

On raw pay, Houston, TX is 96th of the 186 metros we hold police & sheriff's patrol officers wages for. Once Houston's cost of living is applied, it ranks 115th.

The headline number flatters Houston. Once housing and everyday costs are taken into account, police & sheriff's patrol officers here keep less of what they earn than the raw salary implies.

What that salary buys in Houston

A median home in Houston, TX costs $308,306 — about 4.5× this salary, against a typical US metro figure of 4.7×. Buying is more attainable here than in the average metro on this income.

Median rent of $1,639/mo works out at 28% of gross pay — inside the conventional 30% affordability ceiling.

Where police & sheriff's patrol officers earn more

Pay on its own is only half the picture, so each row shows what rent costs there relative to Houston.

Metro	Median pay	vs Houston	Rent vs Houston
San Jose, CA	$145,340	+110%	2.2×
San Francisco, CA	$134,860	+95%	2×
Vallejo, CA	$125,130	+81%	1.5×
Santa Maria, CA	$118,140	+71%	2×

Same job elsewhere in TX

Metro	Median pay	vs Houston	Rent vs Houston
Dallas, TX	$84,280	+22%	1×
Austin, TX	$84,210	+22%	1×
Laredo, TX	$81,910	+19%	0.8×
Amarillo, TX	$77,980	+13%	0.8×

Staying in TX keeps state income tax and licensing the same, which makes these the most directly comparable moves.

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