Plano Fire Department Hiring 2026: The Next Exam Is in 2027

30-second answer. Plano Fire-Rescue is not testing in 2026. The department's employment page states the next entrance exam will be in 2027. Plano also tests only candidates who already hold TCFP structural firefighter certification and a Texas paramedic license, so the year in front of you is the work. Recruit pay is $74,182 and a Plano firefighter reaches $105,898 at 48 months on the schedule effective October 1, 2025.

When is the next Plano Fire-Rescue entrance exam?

No. Read live on September 4, 2026, the Fire-Rescue employment page carries one line about timing: "Our next entrance exam(s) will be in 2027."

The city's Civil Service Entrance Exam Notices page says the same thing from the other direction. Under Fire-Rescue there is no exam notice at all. The only posting on that page is a Police entrance exam dated October 24, 2026.

Plano does keep a Candidate Interest Card for people who want notice when a process opens. The city states plainly that the interest card is not an application for employment.

What Plano requires before you can test

The last two rows decide whether Plano is realistic for you. Most Texas departments will hire you uncertified and send you through their own academy. Plano does not. You arrive holding both certifications or you do not test.

The compensation plan does carry a Recruit classification, so there is a paid recruit phase after appointment. What that phase is not is a route to earn the certifications.

Out-of-state and military applicants: the city directs you to the Texas Commission on Fire Protection and the Texas Department of State Health Services for moving an existing certification into Texas.

What Plano pays

Effective October 1, 2025, from the city's Fire Civil Service Compensation Plan for FY 2025-26.

Firefighters hired before October 1, 2025 sit on an older three-step version of the same range, base to 24 months to 48 months, ending at the same $105,898. Anyone hired on or after that date moves through five steps instead.

The city notes that base pay is identical inside a classification, and that hourly rates differ between a 56-hour shift assignment and a 40-hour staff assignment. The annual and monthly figures are published for information and depend on hours worked, which the city does not guarantee.

Certification and assignment pay sit on top of base:

The paramedic line is worth naming. Plano requires the license before you test, then pays $400 a month for holding it.

What to do with the year

1. Earn TCFP structural firefighter certification if you do not hold it. That is a gate, not a preference.
2. Earn or transfer a Texas paramedic license. EMT-Basic does not meet the requirement Plano publishes.
3. Submit the Candidate Interest Card so the notice reaches you when the process opens.
4. Check the age math against 2027, not today. The rule is 18 to 35 at testing and under 36 at appointment, so a candidate who is 35 now should work out where they land when the process actually runs.
5. Watch the civil service notices page rather than the general jobs board. Entrance exams post as notices.