These Are The 10 Best States For Security Officers

Security Officers are one of the most common jobs in America. Additionally, a significant number of people work as security officers in every state in the union — it’s not like they are all just concentrated in California or the South.

Since security officers are such a prominent occupation, we at Zippia wanted to look at where security officers have it the best: where there are plenty of jobs to go around and people get paid what they deserve during every phase of their career.

To that end, we dove into the numbers from the BLS to figure out which states have the best opportunities for security officers.

After all the numbers had been crunched, we were left with this list of the best of best for America’s security officers:

1. Illinois
2. Alaska
3. Oklahoma
4. Nebraska
5. Tennessee
6. Idaho
7. Washington
8. Virginia
9. Missouri
10. Wyoming

So there you have it — Security Guards is the best of the best when it comes to being a security officer.

How did Security Guards end up here and does it really deserve this ranking? Read on to see how we completed our research on the best states for security officers and for more on the top ten states.

If you’re interested, you can read more about the job scene here:

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• These Are The 100 Highest Paying Jobs In Chicago
• These Are The 100 Highest Paying Jobs In Illinois

How we determined the best states to be a security officer

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
• Higher Pay

So in order to find out the best states 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 2016:

• Location quotient. A measure of how common a job is a given state.
• Average annual salary.
• Average annual salary for entry level work.
• Average annual salary for experienced professionals.

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

Applying this standardization allows us to account for that fact that it costs more to live in certain in states. For example, the average salary for security officers in California is $30,760 and the average salary in Illinois is $31,560, but the Illinois salary actually goes further in paying for life’s essentials.

In order to develop and overall ranking, we ranked each state for each criteria from 1 to 50 where 1 was the best.

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

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

1. Illinois

Total Jobs: 49,370
Average Annual Salary: $31,560
Average Entry Level Salary: $20,190
Average Experienced Salary: $47,830
Location Quotient: 1.06

2. Alaska

Total Jobs: 2,070
Average Annual Salary: $46,610
Average Entry Level Salary: $27,680
Average Experienced Salary: $71,770
Location Quotient: 0.81

3. Oklahoma

Total Jobs: 11,550
Average Annual Salary: $29,820
Average Entry Level Salary: $18,240
Average Experienced Salary: $49,630
Location Quotient: 0.93

4. Nebraska

Total Jobs: 4,660
Average Annual Salary: $32,280
Average Entry Level Salary: $19,650
Average Experienced Salary: $52,410
Location Quotient: 0.61

5. Tennessee

Total Jobs: 23,350
Average Annual Salary: $29,910
Average Entry Level Salary: $17,230
Average Experienced Salary: $49,470
Location Quotient: 1.03

6. Idaho

Total Jobs: 2,800
Average Annual Salary: $34,320
Average Entry Level Salary: $19,160
Average Experienced Salary: $63,660
Location Quotient: 0.54

7. Washington

Total Jobs: 18,880
Average Annual Salary: $35,200
Average Entry Level Salary: $22,340
Average Experienced Salary: $53,970
Location Quotient: 0.78

8. Virginia

Total Jobs: 32,970
Average Annual Salary: $33,800
Average Entry Level Salary: $18,710
Average Experienced Salary: $52,680
Location Quotient: 1.12

9. Missouri

Total Jobs: 17,000
Average Annual Salary: $29,330
Average Entry Level Salary: $18,380
Average Experienced Salary: $47,590
Location Quotient: 0.78

10. Wyoming

Total Jobs: 1,000
Average Annual Salary: $31,400
Average Entry Level Salary: $20,350
Average Experienced Salary: $45,200
Location Quotient: 0.46

There You Have It – The Best States To Be A Security Officer

If you’re looking to start out your career as a security officer these are the states 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 states to be a security officer in America:

1. Maine
2. Massachusetts
3. Rhode Island

For more reading, check out:

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Detailed List Of The Best States For security officers

Rank	State	Average Salary	Entry Level Salary	# Of People
1	Illinois	$31,560	$20,190	49,370
2	Alaska	$46,610	$27,680	2,070
3	Oklahoma	$29,820	$18,240	11,550
4	Nebraska	$32,280	$19,650	4,660
5	Tennessee	$29,910	$17,230	23,350
6	Idaho	$34,320	$19,160	2,800
7	Washington	$35,200	$22,340	18,880
8	Virginia	$33,800	$18,710	32,970
9	Missouri	$29,330	$18,380	17,000
10	Wyoming	$31,400	$20,350	1,000
11	Texas	$28,620	$17,710	88,360
12	Utah	$29,910	$19,820	5,650
13	Ohio	$28,690	$18,260	32,280
14	Arizona	$28,880	$18,810	22,510
15	Kansas	$28,630	$18,190	6,280
16	Colorado	$32,030	$20,860	15,330
17	Georgia	$28,260	$17,270	28,840
18	Michigan	$27,130	$18,970	24,900
19	South Carolina	$29,900	$17,630	14,210
20	Mississippi	$24,700	$16,700	10,400
21	Minnesota	$32,300	$20,790	10,950
22	New Mexico	$28,570	$18,920	6,320
23	North Dakota	$32,520	$20,390	1,430
24	Indiana	$27,000	$16,850	17,160
25	Louisiana	$27,020	$17,020	16,640
26	West Virginia	$25,750	$18,610	5,070
27	North Carolina	$27,600	$17,670	27,520
28	Arkansas	$25,420	$17,520	6,220
29	Maryland	$33,930	$20,710	27,720
30	Nevada	$28,260	$18,700	21,230
31	Delaware	$26,440	$19,820	3,490
32	Iowa	$27,420	$17,660	5,890
33	New Hampshire	$33,230	$21,290	2,760
34	Alabama	$23,690	$16,410	12,920
35	New York	$32,950	$19,270	112,750
36	Florida	$23,810	$18,010	85,510
37	Kentucky	$24,190	$16,620	11,050
38	Wisconsin	$26,810	$18,400	11,430
39	New Jersey	$30,460	$19,280	39,110
40	Pennsylvania	$26,270	$17,530	43,790
41	Montana	$27,150	$19,710	1,560
42	Connecticut	$32,310	$21,010	11,610
43	Oregon	$30,190	$20,410	8,280
44	California	$30,760	$20,820	146,740
45	Vermont	$31,600	$20,600	1,120
46	Hawaii	$30,690	$19,820	9,770
47	South Dakota	$26,520	$20,490	1,120
48	Rhode Island	$30,010	$21,560	2,930
49	Massachusetts	$31,530	$21,640	21,590
50	Maine	$27,260	$20,290	1,920

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