Annual Salary, Salary Range, and Highest Paying States and Industries
Security Guards
Security Guards guard, patrol, or monitor premises to prevent theft, violence, or infractions of rules. May operate x-ray and metal detector equipment.
Table of contents
- Average salary
- Starting salary
- Salary rank
- Salary range
- Highest paying states
- Highest paying industries
Average salary
Starting salary
Entry-level Security Guards with little to no experience can expect to make anywhere between $21,930 to $26,200 per year or $11 to $13 per hour. Similar to any other job, their salary will increase as they gain experience.
Salary rank
We wanted to make it easy for our readers to compare the salary of Security Guards to all the other careers out there. So we created Salary Rank. We compared the salary of all careers then we gave them a rank of A, B, C, or D depending on where their average salary sit in comparison to other careers.
Salary range
Level | Hourly | Annual |
---|---|---|
Highest (Top 10%) | $25 | $51,600 |
Senior (Top 25%) | $19 | $39,220 |
Middle (Mid 50%) | $15 | $31,050 |
Junior (Bottom 25%) | $13 | $26,200 |
No experience (Bottom 10%) | $11 | $21,930 |
Highest paying states
State | Hourly | Annual |
---|---|---|
DC | $24 | $49,130 |
AK | $21 | $43,470 |
WA | $20 | $41,490 |
NY | $19 | $39,110 |
MN | $19 | $38,800 |
MO | $19 | $38,770 |
VA | $19 | $38,570 |
MD | $18 | $37,930 |
MA | $18 | $37,830 |
UT | $18 | $36,850 |
Another simple way to increase your salary as a Security Guard is to move to a higher paying state. However moving to a higher paying state like DC doesn’t guarantee that you will make more because the expenses at DC might be much higher than where you are currently living at right now.
According to BLS, the highest paid Security Guards are in the states of DC, AK, WA, NY and MN.
Highest paying industries
Salary by industry | Annual | Hourly |
---|---|---|
Architectural, Engineering, and Related Services | $59150 | $28.44 |
Navigational, Measuring, Electromedical, and Control Instruments Manufacturing | $56500 | $27.16 |
Aerospace Product and Parts Manufacturing | $55650 | $26.76 |
Fabricated Metal Product Manufacturing | $55440 | $26.66 |
Agencies, Brokerages, and Other Insurance Related Activities | $54640 | $26.27 |
Electric Power Generation, Transmission and Distribution | $53400 | $25.67 |
Legal Services | $53150 | $25.55 |
Monetary Authorities-Central Bank | $51340 | $24.69 |
Computer Systems Design and Related Services | $50730 | $24.39 |
Scientific Research and Development Services | $50680 | $24.37 |
Remediation and Other Waste Management Services | $50150 | $24.11 |
Converted Paper Product Manufacturing | $49860 | $23.97 |
Fabricated Metal Product Manufacturing | $49210 | $23.66 |
Other Personal Services | $46860 | $22.53 |
Commercial and Service Industry Machinery Manufacturing | $46580 | $22.40 |
Credit Intermediation and Related Activities | $46370 | $22.29 |
Motion Picture and Video Industries | $45800 | $22.02 |
Ship and Boat Building | $45230 | $21.74 |
Railroad Rolling Stock Manufacturing | $44700 | $21.49 |
Couriers and Express Delivery Services | $44690 | $21.48 |
Building Equipment Contractors | $44500 | $21.40 |
Federal Executive Branch | $44340 | $21.32 |
Metal Ore Mining | $44110 | $21.21 |
Death Care Services | $44030 | $21.17 |
Securities, Commodity Contracts, and Other Financial Investments and Related Activities | $43980 | $21.14 |
Data Processing, Hosting, and Related Services | $43950 | $21.13 |
Food and Beverage Stores | $43740 | $21.03 |
Electronic Shopping and Mail-Order Houses | $43190 | $20.77 |
Inland Water Transportation | $43150 | $20.75 |
Insurance Carriers | $43140 | $20.74 |