Police & Sheriff's Patrol Officers salary in Amarillo, TX
Median pay for police & sheriff's patrol officers in Amarillo, TX: $77,980/yr
Typical range (10th–90th percentile): $53,260 – $82,400 · about 590 employed locally
Above the typical metro median ($69,845) by +$8,135 (+12%).
What it's really worth in Amarillo
With Amarillo's cost of living at 91 (US=100), that $77,980 has the buying power of about $85,341 in an average-cost US metro.
Local context: median household income $64,147 · median home $219,904 · median rent $1,293/mo.
How Amarillo ranks for this job
On raw pay, Amarillo, TX is 71st of the 186 metros we hold police & sheriff's patrol officers wages for. Once Amarillo's cost of living is applied, it ranks 52nd.
Pay here goes further than the headline number suggests — Amarillo is one of the places where police & sheriff's patrol officers gain ground in real terms, because local costs are low relative to what the job pays.
What that salary buys in Amarillo
A median home in Amarillo, TX costs $219,904 — about 2.8× 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 $1,293/mo works out at 20% 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 Amarillo.
| Metro | Median pay | vs Amarillo | Rent vs Amarillo |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Jose, CA | $145,340 | +86% | 2.8× |
| San Francisco, CA | $134,860 | +73% | 2.5× |
| Vallejo, CA | $125,130 | +60% | 1.9× |
| Santa Maria, CA | $118,140 | +52% | 2.6× |
Same job elsewhere in TX
| Metro | Median pay | vs Amarillo | Rent vs Amarillo |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dallas, TX | $84,280 | +8% | 1.3× |
| Austin, TX | $84,210 | +8% | 1.3× |
| Laredo, TX | $81,910 | +5% | 1.1× |
| Beaumont, TX | $76,760 | −2% | 1× |
Staying in TX keeps state income tax and licensing the same, which makes these the most directly comparable moves.
Other jobs in Amarillo
Source: US BLS OEWS (May 2023) median annual wage; cost of living from BEA; home price and rent from Zillow; household income from US Census ACS. Rankings are across the 186 metros we hold wage data for in this occupation. Estimates for guidance only. See methodology.