Do Border Patrol agents make good money? (Howe: calculator, taxes)

[lipbalm]

Originally Posted by holmes

I'm pretty sure the pay scale starts in the 40s and goes up from there. The top end of the pay scale, depending on your ranking, could go into the 80s - 100K. With overtime you could easily add another 20+ on there. People complain about the deficit of good paying jobs here. That may be true in the private sector, but always conveniently dismiss the government sector.

Well actually the most you can get is around 45K per year if you got the experience/education combination that they are looking for.

[holmes]

True. My 40s starting comment assumes the applicant has a bachelors degree. I've known several people who got in with degrees at the GS7 level.

[holmes]

Originally Posted by lipbalm

Well actually the most you can get is around 45K per year if you got the experience/education combination that they are looking for.

Um. not true. I don't know BP specifically, but Customs has earning potential like I described. Ditto for some of the other federal agencies here. Again that happens as your rank goes up. Usually those kinds of people aren't on the front lines apprehending people.

[Muhnay]

I left links there to lend proof to my post. Was that not right?

[KimK]

There are two very attractive things about federal employment. It is easier to transfer to different federal agencies once you are in and federal retirement (to include health benefits, I think) is very good. Right now, the feds have a program where they are hiring retired federal agents to fill non-enforcement investigative positions on a contract basis. So, they get their retirement plus a very hefty hourly wage or the ability to charge fees for their services which is often the same or more than their retirement. So, there is definitely incentive to go into federal law enforcement.

[Huckleberry3911948]

Originally Posted by Muhnay

The median expected salary for a typical Police Patrol Officer in El Paso, TX 799??, is $41,755.

The Border Patrol get $65,000 - $75,000 a Year with great overtime pay, and many other benefits. SALARY BENEFITS INCLUDE:

- Uniform Allowance

- Excellent Salary plus:

Night Differential - 10%, Sunday - 25%

-Federal Retirement Programs

-Life Insurance Plans

-Health Care Benefitss

-Annual Leave Accruement

1-3 yrs. + 13 days/yr., 3-15 yrs.+= 20 days, 15 plus = 26 days/yr.

Now you know why..

U.S. BORDER PATROL AGENTS Job in El Paso, TX (broken link)

http://hotjobs.salary.com/salarywiza...&fterangecode=

dear sir
i went to general schedule pay scale gov
on the internet
gs 5 $25623 - 33309
gs 7 $31740 - 41262

how do they make an entry level 65k to 75k????

[CoastieTX]

OK, a few facts.

First, you need to be looking at the correct pay scale on OPM's website. There's a separate pay scale for law enforcement officers, and different areas have different pay rates. That's because it costs more to live in, say, San Diego, than El Paso.

El Paso falls into the "Rest of the United States" pay scale, which means El Paso agents don't receive a Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) that agents in other places would. The annual salaries in 2007 for an El Paso agent are:

GS-05 $35, 595
GS-07 $40, 519
GS-09 $45,189
GS-11 $52,912

Source:

Salary Table 2007-RUS_LEO

There's no way to calculate EXACTLY how much an agent is going to make every year, because there's too many variables like night differential pay, Sunday pay, holiday pay, etc. But you can absolutely count of making 25% extra due to their overtime system. In addition, you can absolutely count on making at least $6500 a year in what's called Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) pay which basically compensates you for overtime hours.

So, not including holiday, Sunday and night differential pay, an El Paso agent can expect to make the following:

GS-05 $50,993.75
GS-07 $57,148.75
GS-09 $62,986.25
GS-11 $72,640.00

I'd say you could easily add a few thousand dollars to these figures to represent all the variable premium pay I mentioned.

Generally, you'll be at each grade level about a year before you promote to the next. Of course, things don't stop once you become a journeyman GS-11 agent, at least if you don't want them to. It's just that you'll have to compete for promotions at that point, instead of receiving them automatically. You'll also get your annual step increases every year once you've reached the GS-11 level. The table shows the salary for every step level.

Hope this helps.

[lipbalm]

Originally Posted by holmes

Um. not true. I don't know BP specifically, but Customs has earning potential like I described. Ditto for some of the other federal agencies here. Again that happens as your rank goes up. Usually those kinds of people aren't on the front lines apprehending people.

I meant stating Pay for entry level positions. Of course there are the possibilities of promotions but that is trure with any job.

[wilberry]

muchas gracias

[raelynn]

how do i get in to it