Police Officer Salary in Irving, TX: Median $46,369 in 2026
Irving (TX) · COL index 96 · Unemployment 3.8% · Metro pop 260,000 · Rank #158 of 283 for Police Officer salary
A Police Officer in Irving earns an estimated median of $46,369 per year. That figure starts from the Texas state-level BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics median[1]($46,920) and scales it by Irving's composite cost-of-living index of 96 (US = 100). The 10th percentile comes in around $27,217; the 90th percentile reaches $88,815. After federal, Texas state (no state income tax), and FICA taxes, a single-filer Police Officer takes home approximately $39,386/year — about $3,282/month or $1,515 every other week.
Compared to the national Police Officer median of $72,280, Irving pays -35.8%. Relative to the Irving median household income of $62,500, a Police Officersalary runs -25.8%. Local unemployment is 3.8%[3], with an estimated 81 annual Police Officer openings inferred from metro population share and national employment (699,970).
Police Officer Snapshot — Irving (2026)
Every row cites a primary public dataset. Rent + home values use Zillow where the metro is in the ZHVI/ZORI coverage set; otherwise ACS + census tract fallbacks.
| Metric | Irving | National | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Police Officer median salary | $46,369 | $72,280 | [1] |
| 10th percentile | $27,217 | $54,830 | [1] |
| 90th percentile | $88,815 | $124,700 | [1] |
| Annual take-home (single filer) | $39,386 | — | [8][10] |
| Median home value (ZHVI) | $340,000 | — | [5] |
| Median rent (ZORI) | $1,450/mo | — | [5] |
| HUD Fair Market Rent (2BR) | $1,325/mo | — | [6] |
| Median household income (ACS) | $62,500 | — | [7] |
| Cost-of-living index | 96.0 | 100.0 | [4] |
| Unemployment rate | 3.8% | — | [3] |
How Police Officer Salaries Work in Irving
City-level wages aren't published directly by BLS for most SOC codes. We build them by anchoring to the Texas state-level OEWS median ($46,920) and scaling by Irving's composite cost-of-living index (96)[1][4]. That index combines Census ACS rent, Zillow ZHVI, BLS CPI, and AdvisorSmith / ApartmentAdvisor inputs to produce one number per metro. When BLS publishes a separate metro-level wage (MSA-level OEWS), that takes priority — a handful of large metros including New York, LA, Chicago, and DC have this coverage.
On top of the gross wage, the standard US payroll stack applies: federal income tax using 2025 IRS brackets and the $15,000 single standard deduction[8], FICA (Social Security 6.2% up to $176,100 wage base + Medicare 1.45%)[9], and no Texas state income tax — a meaningful wedge worth $2,318–$3,246 per year vs average-tax states[10].
Irving also sits inside a larger metro labor market where commute patterns, remote-work policies, and adjacent-metro wages compete. A tight labor market (unemployment below 4%) gives candidates pricing power in negotiations. Median household income in the metro is $62,500, which frames what "a good Police Officer salary" means locally: a $$46,369 wage pays about 74% of the median household income on a single earner.
The deterministic identity: take_home = gross − federal − state − FICA − pre_tax. All math runs client-side; nothing is sent to our servers.
Cost of Living Breakdown — Irving
Estimated annual expense shares on a $39,386 take-home, using BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey baseline shares scaled to Irving's COL index of 96. Housing uses the actual median rent.
BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey shares[1], scaled by Irving's COL index of 96[4]. Housing uses actual median rent of $1,450/month.
Salary vs Housing Affordability in Irving
Renting
Buying
At $3,282/mo take-home, the 30% rent rule caps housing at $985/mo. Irving's typical 1–2BR rent runs $1,450/mo[5] (HUD 2BR FMR: $1,325/mo), making rent cost-burdened on a median Police Officer salary. For homebuyers, the 7.3× price-to-income ratio is stretched — expect DTI friction on FHA / conventional underwriting without a co-borrower.
How Irving Stacks Up for Police Officers
Against 283 major US cities: Irving ranks #158 for nominal Police Officer salary, #228 for rent affordability, and #130 for overall purchasing power. High cost of living absorbs much of Irving's nominal wage premium. Police Officers here often trade pay for lifestyle, proximity to employers, or family roots — consider nearby metros on a salary-to-COL basis.
Nearby Cities — Police Officer Salary Comparison
Irving's closest metros, scaled by each city's cost-of-living index. Useful for relocation decisions where commute or remote-work policies allow a neighboring metro trade-off.
| City | Est. salary | COL | Rent | vs TX |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Irving, TX ★ | $46,369 | 96 | $1,450 | — |
| Houston, TX | $73,003 | 101 | $1,262 | +57.4% |
| Dallas, TX | $75,894 | 105 | $1,275 | +63.7% |
| San Antonio, TX | $66,498 | 92 | $899 | +43.4% |
| Austin, TX | $87,459 | 121 | $1,300 | +88.6% |
| Fort Worth, TX | $71,557 | 99 | $1,354 | +54.3% |
Police Officer Job Market in Irving
Irving has an estimated 81 annual Police Officeropenings, extrapolated from the metro's share of 699,970 national Police Officers[1]. The 3.8% unemployment rate[3] signals a competitive labor market where skilled professionals can push for top-of-band offers.
About the profession: Police officers protect communities by enforcing laws, responding to emergencies, and preventing crime. Most receive defined-benefit pensions as part of their compensation. Typical entry requirement: high school diploma; some college common. Projected growth through 2034: 3%[2].
Career Progression & Related Professions in Irving
Early-career Police Officers in Irving start around $27,217, reach the city median ($46,369) after 4–8 years, and hit 90th-percentile territory ($88,815) at senior / specialized levels.
Related government & military professions in Irving
Calculators for Police Officers in Irving
Other professions in Irving
Frequently Asked Questions — Police Officer in Irving
How much does a Police Officer make in Irving, TX?
The estimated median salary for a Police Officer in Irving is $46,369/year, scaled from the BLS OEWS Texas state median ($46,920) by Irving's composite cost-of-living index of 96 (US = 100). After federal, Texas state, and FICA taxes, take-home is approximately $39,386/year or $3,282/month.
Can a Police Officer afford to live in Irving?
On $3,282/month take-home, the 30% rent rule affords $985/month. Irving's Zillow ZORI median rent is $1,450/mo, HUD's 2BR Fair Market Rent is $1,325/mo. The rent-to-income ratio works out to 37.5%, making housing cost-burdened for a Police Officer at the local median. Home-buyers face 7.3× price-to-income, needing roughly 7.3 years to save a 20% down payment at a 20% savings rate.
How much tax does a Police Officer pay in Irving?
On $46,369 gross, a Police Officer in Irving pays approximately $3,436 in federal income tax (7.4% effective), $0 in state income tax (Texas has no state individual income tax), and $3,547 in FICA (Social Security + Medicare). Total effective rate: 15.1%. Some Texas cities levy local income taxes in addition; check your municipal DoR before filing.
How does Irving rank for Police Officer salaries vs other cities?
Irving ranks #158 out of 283 tracked metros for nominal Police Officer salary, #228 for rent affordability (rent-to-income), and #130 for purchasing power (salary ÷ COL). The high-purchasing-power cities tend to be mid-size metros with strong local employers and moderate housing costs; the low-ranked cities trade high nominal pay for steep rents.
What is the cost-of-living breakdown for a Police Officer in Irving?
On $39,386 take-home, a reasonable baseline budget for Irving looks like: housing $17,400/yr (44.2%); food $4,613/yr; transportation $3,876/yr; healthcare $2,724/yr; utilities $1,930/yr; savings + discretionary $8,843/yr. Numbers use BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey shares scaled to Irving's COL index of 96 and the city's actual median rent.
What's the Police Officer job market like in Irving?
Irving's unemployment rate is 3.8% across the metro of 260,000. Estimated annual Police Officer openings: ~81 (extrapolated from 699,970 nationally employed and the metro's population share). The tight labor market favors candidates in salary negotiations.
Do Irving employers pay above or below the Texas median for Police Officers?
Not consistently — Irving's estimated Police Officer median of $46,369 is 35.8% below the national median. The trade-off is usually lower rents and (in some cases) lower state taxes, which can leave real purchasing power competitive.
Methodology — How we compute this page
Wage estimate. The Irving median is derived from the Texas state-level BLS OEWS median ($46,920), scaled by Irving's composite cost-of-living index of 96. When BLS publishes a direct MSA-level wage for the occupation, that takes priority over the scaled state median. Percentile bands inherit the same scale factor.
Housing + rent. Median home value uses Zillow ZHVI; median rent prefers Zillow ZORI and falls back to Census ACS median gross rent. HUD Fair Market Rents (50th-percentile 2BR) are shown where HUD publishes the metro. Price-to-income and rent-to-income ratios use the estimated Police Officermedian (not the city's overall median household income) — to reflect the specific role-vs-city affordability picture.
Tax math. Federal tax uses 2025 IRS brackets and the $15,000 single standard deduction. FICA is Social Security 6.2% up to the $176,100 wage base + Medicare 1.45% (+ 0.9% Additional Medicare above $200,000). State tax uses Texas's 2026 brackets from the state DoR (mirrored via Tax Foundation where the DoR's publication is paywalled or split). Local income taxes (e.g. NYC, Portland-OR supplemental, OH municipal) are NOT included — check your municipal authority for specifics.
Cost of living. The 96index is the composite used by CalcFi's /data/cities.ts, which merges Census ACS, BLS CPI shelter, Zillow ZORI, and commercial COL estimators. The COL-adjusted salary on this page assumes the statewide RPP = 97.1(BEA) approximates the state's purchasing power; cities are then scaled relative to that.
Refresh cadence. BLS OEWS releases annually (typically March); BEA RPP releases annually in December; IRS brackets adjust in October; Zillow ZHVI/ZORI updates monthly; HUD FMR publishes annually in August for the upcoming fiscal year. The dateModified shown above auto-bumps to the most recent retrievedAt on any sourced value the page consumes.
Known limits. Metro-level OEWS coverage is partial — only ~50 large MSAs have separately published occupation wages; the rest inherit state-level estimates scaled by COL. Rent and home data may trail the real-time market by 1–3 months (Zillow) or 8–12 months (ACS). Rankings are capped to the city set in our dataset (283 metros), not every incorporated US city.
Sources
Every number on this page cites a primary public dataset. Last reviewed (auto-bumped on the next ISR refresh after an ETL run).
- BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) — state-level occupational wages — www.bls.gov/oes. Retrieved 2026-04-19.
- BLS Employment Projections — 2024–34 occupational growth rates — www.bls.gov/emp. Retrieved 2026-04-19.
- BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics — metro-level unemployment rate — www.bls.gov/lau. Retrieved 2026-04-19.
- Bureau of Economic Analysis — Regional Price Parities (state + metro) — www.bea.gov/data/prices-inflation/regional-price-parities-state-and-metro-area. Retrieved 2026-04-19.
- Zillow Research — ZHVI (home value index) + ZORI (observed rent index) — www.zillow.com/research/data. Retrieved 2026-04-19.
- HUD Fair Market Rents — 50th-percentile 2-bedroom FY — www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/fmr.html. Retrieved 2026-04-19.
- U.S. Census Bureau — American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year estimates, metro level — www.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs. Retrieved 2026-04-19.
- Internal Revenue Service — Federal individual income tax brackets and standard deductions — www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-publication-17. Retrieved 2026-04-19.
- Social Security Administration — OASDI / Medicare contribution and wage-base rules — www.ssa.gov. Retrieved 2026-04-19.
- Texas Department of Revenue — 2026 individual income tax brackets (accessed via Tax Foundation mirror) — taxfoundation.org/data/all/state/state-income-tax-rates. Retrieved 2026-04-19.
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