Denton Firefighter Pay vs Dallas, Fort Worth and Frisco

30-second answer. On each city's own current pay document, a certified firefighter starts at $86,028.80 in Denton, $82,568 in Frisco as Firefighter/EMT or $87,250 as Firefighter/Paramedic, $78,924 on Dallas's January 2026 schedule (the recruiting page says $75,397), and $69,790 in Fort Worth upon academy graduation after a $39,915 trainee year. Top of the firefighter range: Denton $108,014.40 at seven years, Frisco $90,282 (EMT) or $105,049 (paramedic), Dallas $102,304 at Year 9, Fort Worth per its FY2026 schedule.

The four documents

Every figure below is from the city's published pay document, with the date it was read. Where a city's own documents disagree, both numbers are printed.

What the table does not say

It does not rank the departments. A start figure is the first number on a schedule, not the value of the job. Denton's Step F arrives at seven years; Frisco's Step 6 is reached on its own schedule and carries a possible lump sum of up to 5 percent after the last step, which the plan prints as a separate column and this page does not add to base; Dallas reaches $102,304 at Year 9.

Frisco pays for the paramedic licence on a separate scale. The difference between Firefighter/EMT and Firefighter/Paramedic in Frisco is $4,682 at Step 0 and $14,767 at Step 6, on the same plan. Denton requires either TCFP certification plus EMT-Basic or a paramedic licence to be hired, and its Fire Fighter scale is one schedule regardless; incentive pay, if any, is not on the pay plan document and is not counted here.

Fort Worth trains you and pays for it. Its $39,915 trainee wage is a training-year figure, and the $69,790 is what the schedule prints upon graduation. Denton and Frisco hire certified candidates and do not carry a trainee year on the fire pay plan.

Dallas prints two starts. The January 1, 2026 schedule carries a Meet and Confer market-survey start of $78,924; the recruiting-benefits page carries $75,397.00. Both are the city's own numbers, read September 3, 2026.

The comparison a candidate should actually make

Put the certification requirement next to the number. Denton wants you certified before hire and starts at $86,028.80. Fort Worth takes you uncertified, pays $39,915 while it trains you, then $69,790. If you already hold TCFP and EMT-Basic, that trainee year is a cost you would not bear in Denton or Frisco. If you hold nothing, Fort Worth's trainee year is the door that opens without prerequisites, and the pay tables above are what each door leads to.