How Do Firefighter Pensions Compare in Five Texas Cities?

Each of the five cities has its own firefighter pension fund, and the funds differ on what members pay in, how long it takes to retire and how the benefit is figured. Member contributions run from 10.5% of pay under Houston's Summary Plan Description 2026 to 18.70% under Austin's AFRF Benefits Guide.

Houston, San Antonio, Dallas and El Paso documents show no Social Security participation, as the third table below shows with a link for each fund. Austin's guide does not address it.

What members and the city pay in

When a member can retire and how the benefit is figured

Deferred retirement option and Social Security

Houston firefighter pension

Under the Summary Plan Description 2026, anyone who starts work as a Houston firefighter before age 36 and meets the minimum physical requirements is eligible for membership and becomes a participant once assigned to Fire Department payroll and contributing. The summary bases average monthly salary on the last 78 pay periods, with no overtime included, for members hired on or after July 1, 2017.

The summary gives the member rate only; the Pension Review Board's Houston Firefighters' Relief & Retirement Fund page says its information may not reflect a system's current status.

Under the summary, a member who leaves with less than 10 years of service receives a refund of contributions without interest. After at least 10 but less than 20 years, the choice is a refund or a deferred benefit that begins at age 50. It pays 1.7% of average monthly salary for each year of participation.

The Summary Plan Description 2026 says members hired before July 1, 2017 can retire after twenty years of service. Their salary average uses the highest 78 pay periods. Overtime is included only for periods before July 1, 2017.

For the deferred retirement option, the Summary Plan Description 2026 says DROP account credits have excluded member contributions since July 1, 2017. Annual earnings use 65% of the previous five fiscal years' compounded average. The minimum annual rate is 2.5%, with no maximum. Active DROP participants can use Back-DROP to recalculate up to three years earlier. The initial entry date cannot precede September 1, 1995 or twenty years of credited service, and must fall on the first day of the selected month. A firefighter transferring directly from another Texas city's fire department may qualify for past service credit.

Source: Houston Firefighters' Relief and Retirement Fund, Summary Plan Description 2026.

San Antonio firefighter pension

Under the fund's Pension Law, as amended September 1, 2023, a firefighter becomes eligible for membership, as a condition of continued employment, after receiving state certification. The Summary Plan Description sets a minimum vesting period of twenty years.

Under the Summary Plan Description, the pension is a percentage of Average Total Salary, the average of total salary for the highest three years of the last five. Total salary leaves out overtime pay. From the summary's schedule for years of service regardless of age:

The Pension Law requires at least 20 years and 1 month of service to elect the BackDROP. Under the Summary Plan Description, a member with less than twenty years of contributions who resigns or is terminated, other than to obtain a disability pension, may apply for a refund without interest.

The Summary Plan Description also says fractional years are prorated by full months as a contributing member, vested members cannot obtain a contribution refund, and full months of unused sick leave beyond ninety days count toward pension service credit at retirement. Members returning from uniformed service may restore missed credit by paying the contributions they would have made.

In the Summary Plan Description, the annual cost-of-living adjustment uses the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers, U.S. City Average. When retirement, disability or death before retirement occurred on or after October 1, 1999, the member or beneficiary receives 75% of the CPI increase.

Source: Fire and Police Pension Fund, San Antonio, Summary Plan Description, effective September 1, 2023.

Dallas firefighter pension

Under the system's Regular Plan Document, Group B membership is a condition of employment for anyone first employed as a Dallas police officer or firefighter on or after January 1, 1993. Group B members have vested rights after five years of pension service.

Under the Actuarial Valuation and Review as of January 1, 2026, a member who leaves with less than five years of pension service gets contributions back without interest on request. For members whose participation began on or after March 1, 2011, early retirement starts at age 53 with a reduced pension. It takes five years of pension service. A reduced 20 and out retirement takes 20 years of service at any age. Its multiplier starts at 2.00% at age 53 and under.

In the valuation, Average Computation Pay uses the sixty consecutive months of highest computation pay. It includes the highest civil service rank held, educational incentive, longevity and city service incentive pay.

The Actuarial Valuation and Review as of January 1, 2026 gives the minimum monthly normal pension as $110 per year of pension service, capped at $2,200. Early retirement is reduced by two-thirds of 1% per whole month before normal retirement.

Under the valuation, members leaving with at least five pension-service years can withdraw contributions or retain them for a benefit starting no earlier than their earliest retirement eligibility. Pension credits to DROP stop after ten years. Interest applies only to balances as of September 1, 2017. DROP distributions extend over annuitants' expected future lifetime.

The same valuation reports funding of 35.17% using actuarial assets. It reports 39.08% using market assets. After funding reaches 70%, the board may grant a COLA based on the prior five years' actual market return less 5%. That adjustment is capped at 4% of the base benefit. The market-value funded ratio after the COLA must remain at least 70%. Until the system can grant a COLA, a supplemental annual payment may apply. It is 1% of annual pension benefits excluding DROP, and requires a prior-plan-year market return above 0.0%.

Sources: Dallas Police and Fire Pension System, Actuarial Valuation and Review as of January 1, 2026 and Regular Plan Document.

Austin firefighter pension

Every commissioned civil service firefighter of the Austin Fire Department certified by the State of Texas becomes a member as a condition of employment, the AFRF Benefits Guide says, and fire cadets are not members while in the Fire Academy. Members hired on or after January 1, 2026 are in Group B, and their Highest Average Salary is the average of the highest 60 months of compensation.

Members vest at 10 years of service credit. The guide says the member rate may rise, by no more than 2% in total, in a year when the estimated city rate is above the statutory corridor maximum.

The AFRF Benefits Guide says members earn one month of credit for each month of required contributions. Disability retirement and DROP participation do not earn service credit.

Under the AFRF Benefits Guide, a vested member who leaves before retirement eligibility retains an annuity right if accumulated member contributions stay in the fund. It begins when the member would have reached age fifty or accrued twenty-five years of service credit by remaining employed. A departing member who cannot retire may request a refund of member contributions. City contributions cannot be withdrawn.

For Group B, the guide says the COLA uses half the excess of the fund's five-year investment return over an adjustment factor. That factor is the assumed return minus 2%. The adjustment has a 0% minimum and 2% maximum. Eligibility begins January 1 of the year following the latest applicable condition below.

Source: Austin Firefighters Retirement Fund, AFRF Benefits Guide, July 1, 2026.

El Paso firefighter pension

The city's Annual Comprehensive Financial Report says the fund's Plan Document sets out all current provisions. A person appointed as a fireman becomes a member automatically at age 18 or older, and anyone first enrolled on July 1, 2007 or later is in the Second Tier Plan.

Under the report, Second Tier members with at least 10 but less than 20 years of vesting service can draw the same formula at age 50 or older. The Pension Review Board's El Paso Firemen's Pension Fund page lists final average salary as the highest 36 months.

Under the report, a participant who leaves with five or more but less than twenty years of service can have contributions refunded without interest, and a refund ends all benefits.

Under the report, the Base Plan uses 2.75% of final wages per year of credited service. Retirement requires age forty-five with at least twenty years of vesting service, or age fifty with at least ten years of vested service. Its COLA starts at the earlier of age sixty or the fifth anniversary of pension commencement. It then applies each January 1.

The report says a 1.5% COLA was approved for the Second Tier Plan in November 2024. The Pension Review Board page lists its start as the earlier of age sixty or five years after July 1, 2027. This is separate from the Base Plan's pension-commencement rule.

The Pension Review Board's El Paso Firemen's Pension Fund page says Forward DROP participants continue contributing and the account earns no interest. The report says that at retirement, accrued monthly benefits are paid as a lump sum before monthly pension payments begin.

Sources: City of El Paso, Annual Comprehensive Financial Report, fiscal year ended August 31, 2025; Texas Pension Review Board, El Paso Firemen's Pension Fund.

How to use this comparison

Pension terms in Houston, Dallas, Austin and El Paso vary by hire, participation or enrollment date, and San Antonio's follow the years of service in its schedule. Match your start date to the groups described in each fund's documents linked above.

The member rates apply to different kinds of pay, so compare each rate with its pay base.

Each fund's own documents govern and also set its disability, survivor and cost-of-living rules.

See the Texas fire, EMS and peace officer postings.

Common questions

Do firefighters in Houston, San Antonio, Dallas, Austin and El Paso pay into Social Security?

Documents for four of the five funds show no Social Security participation, and Austin's benefits guide does not address it. Houston's Summary Plan Description 2026 says a firefighter is not eligible for Social Security benefits under the plan. San Antonio's fund says members are not enrolled in Social Security. The Texas Pension Review Board lists participation as No for the Dallas and El Paso funds.

How much do firefighters contribute to their pension in these five Texas cities?

Member contributions run from 10.5% of total gross pay in Houston to 18.70% of base pay and longevity pay in Austin, under each fund's 2026 summary or guide. San Antonio members contribute 12.32% of total salary under the Summary Plan Description effective September 1, 2023. Dallas members contribute 13.5% of computation pay under the January 1, 2026 actuarial valuation. El Paso Firemen Division members contribute 18% of compensation under the city's financial report for the fiscal year ended August 31, 2025.

How many years does a Houston firefighter need to retire?

A Houston firefighter hired on or after July 1, 2017 may apply for service retirement with 20 years of pension service. The fund's Summary Plan Description 2026 states that service requirement. Members can enter the DROP once they reach 20 years of participation.

At what age can a Dallas firefighter retire?

For Dallas members whose participation began on or after March 1, 2011, the normal retirement age is 58. At least five years of service are required. Those rules are in the pension system's January 1, 2026 actuarial valuation. It also lists early retirement at age 53 with five years of pension service and a reduced pension. A reduced 20 and out retirement requires 20 years of service and has no age requirement.

What is the pension multiplier for a new Austin firefighter?

The AFRF Benefits Guide sets the multiplier at 3.0% of Highest Average Salary for each year of credited service, under the single life annuity for members hired on or after January 1, 2026. Highest Average Salary for those members is the average of the highest 60 months of compensation for which they earned credited service. Members hired before that date have a 3.3% multiplier under NRA-Option 1. Their Highest Average Salary averages the highest 36 months of compensation for which they earned credited service.

Does San Antonio match firefighter pension contributions?

Yes, the City of San Antonio double matches members' contributions, according to the fund's Summary Plan Description effective September 1, 2023. Members contribute 12.32% of total salary.

Is there a DROP for El Paso firefighters?

Yes, Base Plan and Second Tier Plan members can elect a Forward DROP at age 45 or older with at least 20 years of credited service. The election is irrevocable and in writing, according to the City of El Paso's financial report for the fiscal year ended August 31, 2025. Credited service and average final compensation are frozen when participation begins. Forward DROP balances are not credited with investment gains and losses.