---
title: "Security Guard"
description: "Guard, patrol, or monitor premises to prevent theft, violence, or infractions of rules. May operate x-ray and metal detector equipment."
canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/security-guard"
last-updated: "2026-08-23T15:56:39.581Z"
---

# Security Guard

**Category:** Protective Service · **SOC code:** 33-9032 · **O\*NET-SOC code:** 33-9032.00

Guard, patrol, or monitor premises to prevent theft, violence, or infractions of rules. May operate x-ray and metal detector equipment.

Also advertised as: Armed Security Officer; Campus Security Officer (CSO); Custom Protection Officer (CPO); Customer Service Security Officer; Hotel Security Officer; Loss Prevention Officer; Safety and Security Officer; Security Agent.

## At a glance

- **Median annual wage:** $38,020 (BLS OEWS, May 2025)
- **Median hourly wage:** $18.28/hr
- **Wage range (10th–90th percentile):** $30,210 to $58,840, with the middle half between $35,210 and $46,200
- **Total US employment:** 1,283,470
- **Typical entry education:** High school
- **Preparation required:** Little or no preparation — O\*NET rates this "Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed"
- **Projected growth:** +0.4% over 2024–2034 (BLS EP, 2024–2034)
- **Annual job openings:** 161,000 openings a year
- **AI-resilience score:** 54/100 — a NueCareer heuristic over O\*NET work activities and context, not a BLS or O\*NET figure

## Pay

National wage distribution, BLS OEWS, May 2025, across 1,283,470 US jobs.

| Percentile | Annual wage |
| --- | --- |
| 10th | $30,210 |
| 25th | $35,210 |
| 50th (median) | $38,020 |
| 75th | $46,200 |
| 90th | $58,840 |
| Mean (average) | $42,470 |

### Pay by state

The 15 highest-paying states, by median annual wage. The cost-of-living-adjusted column divides the state median by that state's BEA Regional Price Parity, so the columns answer different questions: the first is what the job pays there, the second is what that pay buys there.

| State | Median annual wage | Cost-of-living adjusted | Employment |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| DC | $64,210 | $58,425 | 15,880 |
| AK | $47,480 | $46,386 | 2,100 |
| WA | $47,100 | $44,013 | 25,800 |
| VT | $45,550 | $46,500 | 930 |
| OR | $45,500 | $44,020 | 12,200 |
| NH | $45,200 | $43,393 | 2,450 |
| CO | $45,150 | $43,813 | 16,890 |
| MA | $44,670 | $42,238 | 23,930 |
| NY | $44,240 | $40,993 | 134,700 |
| VA | $43,640 | $43,163 | 34,870 |
| MN | $43,380 | $43,987 | 14,440 |
| NM | $43,320 | $46,979 | 8,410 |
| CA | $43,240 | $39,053 | 199,480 |
| HI | $42,820 | $38,945 | 10,160 |
| UT | $42,700 | $43,191 | 7,310 |

39 more states with published wage data are omitted here. The full table for all 54 states is at https://nuecareer.com/careers/security-guard/salary-by-state, or as JSON at https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/security-guard.

## Outlook

BLS projects employment to move from 1,262,100 in the 2024–2034 base year to 1,267,100 by the end of the cycle — a gain of 5,100 jobs, or +0.4%. Slower than average: 0.4% against 3.1% projected for all occupations over the same cycle. About 161,000 openings a year are expected on average, counting openings from growth as well as from workers leaving the occupation permanently. Source: BLS EP, 2024–2034.

## How to get in

- **Typical entry education:** High school diploma or equivalent (BLS Employment Projections).
- **Preparation level:** Little or no preparation — O\*NET's preparation band for this occupation is "Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed".
- **Related work experience typically required:** None.
- **Typical on-the-job training:** Short-term on-the-job training.

### Education people in this job actually hold

O\*NET surveys incumbents, so this distribution describes who is in the job today and can differ from the BLS entry requirement above.

| Education level | Share of workers |
| --- | --- |
| High School Diploma | 79.3% |
| Some College Courses | 9.6% |
| Associate's Degree (or other 2-year degree) | 5.1% |
| Post-Secondary Certificate | 4.2% |
| Bachelor's Degree | 2.0% |

## What the work involves

- Monitor and authorize entrance and departure of employees, visitors, and other persons to guard against theft and maintain security of premises.
- Call police or fire departments in cases of emergency, such as fire or presence of unauthorized persons.
- Write reports of daily activities and irregularities, such as equipment or property damage, theft, presence of unauthorized persons, or unusual occurrences.
- Lock doors and gates of entrances and exits to secure buildings.
- Circulate among visitors, patrons, or employees to preserve order and protect property.
- Warn persons of rule infractions or violations, and apprehend or evict violators from premises, using force when necessary.
- Answer alarms and investigate disturbances.
- Answer telephone calls to take messages, answer questions, and provide information during non-business hours or when switchboard is closed.

## Skills and knowledge

### Essential skills

- Active Listening — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Monitoring — importance 3.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Speaking — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Critical Thinking — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Reading Comprehension — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Learning — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Writing — importance 2.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Learning Strategies — importance 2.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Transferable skills

These are the skills that carry into other occupations, and they drive the related-occupation and career-change rankings on this site.

- Coordination — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Social Perceptiveness — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Judgment and Decision Making — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Persuasion — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Service Orientation — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Negotiation — importance 2.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Complex Problem Solving — importance 2.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Time Management — importance 2.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Knowledge areas

- Public Safety and Security — importance 4.7 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Customer and Personal Service — importance 4.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- English Language — importance 4.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Computers and Electronics — importance 4.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Administration and Management — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Education and Training — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Abilities

- Problem Sensitivity — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Far Vision — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Oral Comprehension — importance 3.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Oral Expression — importance 3.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Selective Attention — importance 3.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Near Vision — importance 3.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

## Who it suits

O\*NET rates every occupation on the six Holland (RIASEC) interest areas, on a 1–7 scale. This occupation's strongest areas are Realistic (R), Conventional (C).

| Interest area | Score (1–7) |
| --- | --- |
| R — Realistic | 6.41 |
| C — Conventional | 4.76 |
| E — Enterprising | 2.88 |
| S — Social | 2.64 |
| I — Investigative | 2.29 |
| A — Artistic | 1.00 |

### Personality fit

These scores are **derived by NueCareer**, not published by any government agency: they are cosine similarities between a personality type's trait profile and this occupation's O\*NET interest and work-style ratings, expressed 0–100. Treat them as a starting point for exploration, not as evidence that a type belongs in a job.

| Type | Fit score (0–100) |
| --- | --- |
| ISTJ | 88.4 |
| ESTJ | 79.7 |
| ISFJ | 77.9 |
| ISTP | 70.5 |
| ESTP | 63.3 |

Best-fitting types: ISTJ.

## Related occupations

O\*NET's primary related occupations, in its own ranked order.

- [First-Line Supervisor of Security Workers](https://nuecareer.com/careers/first-line-supervisor-of-security-workers) — median $55,940
- [Transit and Railroad Police](https://nuecareer.com/careers/transit-and-railroad-police) — median $90,230
- [Transportation Security Screener](https://nuecareer.com/careers/transportation-security-screener) — median $66,770
- [Police Officer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/police-officer) — median $76,210
- [Parking Enforcement Worker](https://nuecareer.com/careers/parking-enforcement-worker) — median $46,730
- [Public Safety Telecommunicator](https://nuecareer.com/careers/public-safety-telecommunicator) — median $53,040
- [Retail Loss Prevention Specialist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/retail-loss-prevention-specialist) — median $42,540
- [Correctional Officer and Jailer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/correctional-officer-and-jailer) — median $58,940
- [Crossing Guard and Flagger](https://nuecareer.com/careers/crossing-guard-and-flagger) — median $38,100
- [Lifeguard, Ski Patrol, and Other Recreational Protective Service Worker](https://nuecareer.com/careers/lifeguard-ski-patrol-and-other-recreational-protective-service-worker) — median $33,580

## Sources

- **O\*NET** — O\*NET 30.3 Database, May 2026. https://www.onetcenter.org/database.html
- **BLS OEWS** — BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. https://www.bls.gov/oes/
- **BLS EP** — BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2, 2024–2034. https://www.bls.gov/emp/
- **BLS OOH** — BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2024–2034 edition. https://www.bls.gov/ooh/
- **BEA RPP** — BEA Regional Price Parities by State, 2024. https://www.bea.gov/data/prices-inflation/regional-price-parities-state-and-metro-area

---

This bank includes information from the O\*NET 30.3 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). O\*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. NueCareer has transformed the data by joining it to BLS wage and projection data and deriving facet, personality-fit and AI-resilience scores. BLS and BEA data are public domain (17 U.S.C. §105).

O\*NET content is used under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). How these figures are sourced and derived: https://nuecareer.com/careers/methodology

JSON representation of this page: https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/security-guard