Military to Firefighter vs Police (2026): 5 Veteran Points, Named Texas Pay

The choice is not "which uniform feels more like the one you just took off." It is which license you will sit, which city's pay plan you will live on, and whether five Chapter 143 veteran points actually move you on that city's list.

This page does not print a national share-of-force percentage. It does not print a statewide months-to-hire median. Those are the claims the 2026-04-22 draft invented. What follows is the Texas license floor, named city pay, and the veteran points rule that actually exists in statute.

Last verified: 2026-08-22.

How Much Do Veteran Firefighters and Police Officers Get Paid?

The Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, puts firefighters at $59,280 and police and sheriff's patrol officers at $76,210 (BLS OEWS firefighters; BLS OEWS patrol officers).

Named Texas plans sit next to those medians. They are not a statewide average and they are not a veteran-only scale. The city pays the plan. Military time may buy pension credit later. It does not rewrite Step A.

Denton Fire Step A is above the national police median. Denton Police Recruit is $80,790 a year ($6,732.50 a month) on the September 2026 announcement; after one year the same sheet prints $84,724. Dallas Fire and Dallas Police share a Year 0-1 figure of $81,232 under the same city start-step enhancement. Dallas also prints a police market-survey start of $78,924. Those are two lines, not one blended start.

Fort Worth police academy pay is the trainee line, $65,520. Commissioned Step 1 is $78,358.

Full city fire rows: Texas firefighter salary 2026 by department. Texas police path: how to become a police officer in Texas. Same-city civilian comparison without the veteran overlay: police officer vs firefighter.

Do Veterans Get Hiring Preference for Firefighter or Police Jobs?

In Texas Chapter 143 civil-service cities, Local Government Code §143.025 adds five points after a passing entrance-exam score for an applicant with an honorable discharge. Five points do not replace a failing score. Confirm the live notice for the city in front of you. The duration language on some notices is not reprinted here.

That is the statute. It is not "typically 5 to 10 points." If a city is not Chapter 143, open that city's own veterans-preference rule. Statewide walkthrough: veterans preference in public safety hiring.

What License Do You Need: TCFP or TCOLE?

Fire in Texas is TCFP. Police in Texas is TCOLE. The city issues the job. The commission issues the credential.

TCOLE peace officer floor (37 TAC §217.1), the four lines this desk keeps repeating:

1. Age: 21, or 18 with an associate's degree or 60 semester hours, or an honorable discharge after at least two years of active service. Honorable discharge is one of the three 18-year-old paths. It is not a waiver of 21 invented by a recruiting page.
2. Criminal history: never convicted of, or placed on court-ordered community supervision for, anything above Class B. A Class A is a lifetime bar. Only Class B carries the ten-year lookback. Family violence bars on community supervision as well as conviction.
3. Driver's license: TCOLE requires that you are not prohibited from operating a motor vehicle. A Texas Class C is an agency hiring rule, said separately.
4. Citizenship: U.S. citizen, or a legal permanent resident who is an honorably discharged veteran with two years of service and has applied for citizenship.

Details: TCOLE peace officer license requirements.

TCFP Basic Structure still wants documented EMR, ECA, EMT, or paramedic training. DoD IFSAC seals can skip TCFP's structure exam. They do not skip medical training or FAST-Pass fingerprints. There is no blanket military waiver (TCFP military applicant, retrieved 2026-08-21). If the military fee waiver under 37 TAC §437.3(f) is documented, listed Basic certificates including Structure Fire Fighter issue at no cost.

Military firefighter first, then Texas municipal: military vs civilian firefighter. Fire how-to: how to become a firefighter in Texas.

How Long Until a Paycheck?

This page does not print a 3-to-6-month police median or a 12-to-24-month fire-list median. Those bands were unsourced in the 04-22 draft.

What is sourced is the academy clock after hire, which is not the same as months on a civil-service list:

Police academy length is the agency's BPOC, not a TCOLE months-to-hire figure. Open the notice.

DoD SkillBridge is for service members with 180 days or fewer remaining. The official page calls it real-world training and work experience with industry providers (DoW SkillBridge, retrieved 2026-08-21; HEAD 200 on 2026-08-22). It is not a TCFP certificate and it is not a TCOLE license. Search the locations map for a host. Do not assume a Texas fire academy will take you.

What Physical Test Do You Have to Pass?

CPAT is one licensed fire test: eight events, a 50-pound vest, 10 minutes 20 seconds, pass or fail. Dallas Fire-Rescue uses it. Denton Fire does not. Denton runs its own department PAT. Houston Fire uses a PAT packet, not CPAT. See CPAT vs firefighter physical ability tests.

Police physical ability tests are written by the agency. They are not CPAT. Do not treat a SkillBridge CPAT card as the police door.

Which Path Should You Choose?

If you want a crew, an apparatus, and patient care, start EMT and the fire how-to for the city you would actually apply to. Denton still wants TCFP Basic plus DSHS EMT-B or paramedic at hire: how to become a firefighter in Denton. EMT: how to become an EMT in Texas. Military fire seals: military to firefighter transition.

If you want patrol and a rotating clock, start the TCOLE floor and that agency's own PAT. Same-city pay is not a personality test: Denton Fire Step A is $86,028.80; Denton Police Recruit is $80,790.

If you are still on active duty with 180 days or fewer left, open SkillBridge and apply to both civilian doors that are actually posting. Do not wait for a content mill to rank one career as faster.

Pathway map: military pathway.