These Are The 10 Best Cities For Security Officers

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Whether you’re just starting out your career, or looking to make a move, it can be important to know what part of the country offers the best chance for your long term career prospects. And for a very common profession like Security Officers, the regional differences can have a big impact on your salary and career options.

To help you make the best decision possible, we at Zippia wanted to look at the cities that offer security officers the most for their career. These are the cities across the US where security officers get paid well, relative to the cost of living, and jobs are plentiful.

So we did what we do best and dove into the numbers from the BLS to figure out which cities have the best opportunities for security officers.The result is this list of the best cities security officers:

So there you have it — Charleston is the best city when it comes to being a security officer.

And where should you consider avoiding if you’re a security officer? That would be Punta Gorda.

Read on to see how we completed our research on the best cities for security officers and for more on the top ten cities.

How we determined the best cities to be a security officers?

Here at Zippia, we talk to a lot of people of all different backgrounds looking for jobs. Our research has concluded that there are two common things people want in a job:

Availability of jobs
Pay

So in order to find out the best cities for security officers in America we needed to figure out where the jobs are and how well security officers get paid. This led to the following criteria taken from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’s Occupational Employment Statistics for 2015:

Location quotient. A measure of how common a job is a given city.
Average annual salary.
Average annual salary for entry level work.

To make all the salary numbers more apples to apples across cities, we compared the salary data relative to the state’s cost of living.

This left us with enough data for 394 metro areas across the country. We then took the primary area of the metro and labeled that the ‘city’ for this analysis. So, for example, “Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA NECTA Division” became simply Boston.

In order to develop an overall ranking, we ranked each city for each criteria from 1 to 394 where 1 was the best.

We then averaged all the rankings for a city into a Job Score with the city having the lowest overall Job Score earning the distinction of being the best city for security officers in America.

So without further ado, let’s get into just what made each city so great for security officers.

1. Charleston, WV

Total Jobs: 1,590
Average Annual Salary: $27,620
Average Entry Level Salary: $17,890
Location Quotient: 1.73

2. Tacoma, WA

Total Jobs: 2,570
Average Annual Salary: $32,160
Average Entry Level Salary: $21,440
Location Quotient: 1.16

3. Seattle, WA

Total Jobs: 11,580
Average Annual Salary: $35,340
Average Entry Level Salary: $21,910
Location Quotient: 0.95

4. Trenton, NJ

Total Jobs: 2,770
Average Annual Salary: $39,060
Average Entry Level Salary: $21,310
Location Quotient: 1.56

5. Omaha, NE

Total Jobs: 3,570
Average Annual Salary: $30,480
Average Entry Level Salary: $20,040
Location Quotient: 0.95

6. Kennewick, WA

Total Jobs: 650
Average Annual Salary: $39,040
Average Entry Level Salary: $22,010
Location Quotient: 0.79

7. Anchorage, AK

Total Jobs: 1,200
Average Annual Salary: $34,820
Average Entry Level Salary: $24,150
Location Quotient: 0.85

8. Augusta, GA

Source:

Total Jobs: 2,400
Average Annual Salary: $34,380
Average Entry Level Salary: $17,940
Location Quotient: 1.41

9. Silver Spring, MD

Source:

Total Jobs: 5,000
Average Annual Salary: $39,990
Average Entry Level Salary: $22,540
Location Quotient: 1.09

10. Cleveland, OH

Total Jobs: 9,090
Average Annual Salary: $28,590
Average Entry Level Salary: $17,910
Location Quotient: 1.12

And that’s our list of the best cities for security officers

If you’re looking to start out your career as a security officer these are the cities that should be at the top of your list. You’ll find high pay, available jobs, and chances for career advancement.

If you’re curious, here are the worst cities to be a security officer in America:

Detailed List Of The Best Cities For Security Officers

Rank	State	Average Salary	Entry Level Salary	# Of People
1	Charleston, WV	$27,620	$17,890	1,590
2	Tacoma, WA	$32,160	$21,440	2,570
3	Seattle, WA	$35,340	$21,910	11,580
4	Trenton, NJ	$39,060	$21,310	2,770
5	Omaha, NE	$30,480	$20,040	3,570
6	Kennewick, WA	$39,040	$22,010	650
7	Anchorage, AK	$34,820	$24,150	1,200
8	Augusta, GA	$34,380	$17,940	2,400
9	Silver Spring, MD	$39,990	$22,540	5,000
10	Cleveland, OH	$28,590	$17,910	9,090
11	Haverhill, MA	$44,940	$25,460	380
12	Pueblo, CO	$35,100	$23,500	370
13	Lafayette, IN	$35,100	$18,920	580
14	Fairbanks, AK	$41,330	$32,090	200
15	Casper, WY	$29,130	$22,650	290
16	Baton Rouge, LA	$27,260	$19,760	4,110
17	Austin, TX	$30,860	$20,400	5,860
18	Kansas City, MO	$28,110	$18,950	7,220
19	Tulsa, OK	$27,580	$19,720	3,250
20	San Francisco, CA	$34,130	$22,070	10,930
21	Lawton, OK	$27,410	$19,150	380
22	Myrtle Beach, SC	$26,360	$18,200	1,770
23	Toledo, OH	$28,590	$17,920	2,110
24	Rocky Mount, NC	$37,430	$23,160	260
25	Cheyenne, WY	$34,240	$22,170	220
26	Anniston, AL	$31,930	$17,420	300
27	Chicago, IL	$31,020	$19,790	40,330
28	Charleston, SC	$29,700	$18,800	2,000
29	Decatur, AL	$35,810	$17,420	340
30	Spokane, WA	$29,690	$21,020	1,590
31	Savannah, GA	$27,210	$18,590	1,650
32	Bremerton, WA	$46,120	$24,360	320
33	Bismarck, ND	$32,210	$22,810	310
34	Salt Lake City, UT	$29,170	$19,530	3,940
35	Youngstown, OH	$29,580	$17,430	1,460
36	Fort Wayne, IN	$33,230	$18,580	1,080
37	Gary, IN	$27,850	$17,110	3,140
38	Louisville/Jefferson County, KY	$25,640	$16,800	4,470
39	Hilton Head Island, SC	$25,460	$18,890	630
40	Little Rock, AR	$26,280	$16,880	2,960
41	Springfield, IL	$41,490	$21,910	420
42	Niles, MI	$25,960	$18,860	940
43	Detroit, MI	$27,280	$19,410	5,720
44	Santa Fe, NM	$25,530	$20,350	530
45	New Orleans, LA	$28,900	$17,030	8,260
46	Minneapolis, MN	$34,910	$21,770	8,370
47	Dubuque, IA	$33,260	$20,580	250
48	St. Louis, MO	$27,310	$18,030	8,840
49	California, MD	$47,210	$25,070	160
50	Grants Pass, OR	$32,650	$22,390	100
51	Las Cruces, NM	$28,830	$17,560	680
52	Burlington, NC	$43,180	$21,240	200
53	Kankakee, IL	$28,230	$20,220	470
54	Akron, OH	$34,200	$17,920	1,470
55	Nashville, TN	$28,350	$17,280	7,270
56	Gulfport, MS	$25,740	$17,370	1,620
57	Harrisburg, PA	$28,160	$19,110	2,760
58	Oklahoma City, OK	$29,840	$17,140	4,090
59	Houston, TX	$27,520	$18,000	27,180
60	Jefferson City, MO	$31,050	$16,950	470
61	San Jose, CA	$32,730	$21,610	8,880
62	Dutchess County, NY	$36,210	$23,780	690
63	Cincinnati, OH	$26,760	$18,230	5,940
64	Yakima, WA	$31,350	$21,080	380
65	Dallas, TX	$27,540	$17,600	23,430
66	Phoenix, AZ	$28,820	$19,030	18,310
67	Portland, OR	$31,590	$20,010	6,060
68	Killeen, TX	$33,840	$19,170	500
69	Columbus, OH	$25,870	$18,220	6,350
70	Dayton, OH	$28,020	$17,600	1,950
71	Monroe, MI	$27,860	$18,360	290
72	Beaumont, TX	$27,700	$18,980	950
73	Morgantown, WV	$26,240	$17,280	380
74	Greenville, SC	$27,660	$17,470	2,530
75	Chambersburg, PA	$33,000	$25,150	150
76	San Rafael, CA	$33,400	$25,570	480
77	Lake Charles, LA	$25,230	$18,370	990
78	St. Joseph, MO	$28,670	$17,010	330
79	Fayetteville, NC	$33,610	$17,580	840
80	Corpus Christi, TX	$26,560	$18,490	1,340
81	Pine Bluff, AR	$25,860	$16,700	210
82	Albuquerque, NM	$26,500	$17,830	3,280
83	Waterloo, IA	$29,690	$19,410	370
84	Lima, OH	$30,190	$18,640	150
85	Elizabethtown, KY	$32,140	$21,860	80
86	Providence, RI	$28,500	$20,640	3,940
87	Chattanooga, TN	$28,190	$16,860	1,570
88	Springfield, MO	$28,010	$16,920	1,170
89	Walla Walla, WA	$36,950	$22,510	40
90	Denver, CO	$28,690	$20,480	10,340
91	Hot Springs, AR	$26,430	$17,110	180
92	Canton, OH	$29,300	$18,000	550
93	Weirton, WV	$23,960	$17,750	270
94	Midland, TX	$29,830	$20,200	270
95	East Stroudsburg, PA	$26,020	$19,330	430
96	Lexington, KY	$22,650	$16,330	2,420
97	Columbia, SC	$25,310	$16,710	3,800
98	Boise City, ID	$26,580	$17,840	1,320
99	Evansville, IN	$28,720	$16,880	880
100	Cape Girardeau, MO	$27,930	$19,560	120

Never miss an opportunity that’s right for you.

Author

Chris Kolmar

Chris Kolmar is a co-founder of Zippia and the editor-in-chief of the Zippia career advice blog. He has hired over 50 people in his career, been hired five times, and wants to help you land your next job. His research has been featured on the New York Times, Thrillist, VOX, The Atlantic, and a host of local news. More recently, he's been quoted on USA Today, BusinessInsider, and CNBC.

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