Research Summary. After extensive research by the Zippia data science team, we identified these details of security guard salary by state for the United States:
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Hawaii has the highest security guard salary of $42,908
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Louisiana has the lowest security guard salary of $23,482
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The national average salary for security guards is $31,983
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The national hourly pay for security guards is $15.38
You can read more on the specific methodology.
Background
Without fail, in surveys across basically every demographic, the number one most important aspect of a job for most people is the salary — how much do security guards get paid where I live?
And while there are many things to go into how much you, specifically, can expect to make, there’s really good data for average salaries for security guard by state across America broken down by seniority level. So while your city may be slightly different than the state average, these averages give you a rough sense of what to expect for your salary.
The state with the best salary for security guards after this adjustment? That would be Hawaii.
Here’s a quick snapshot of the top ten states for security guard salaries:
Let’s take a look at how we got here and a full ranking of all the states.
Highest-Paid Security Guards By State
| Rank | State | Average Security Guard Salary | 10th Percentile | 90th Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hawaii | $42,908 | $34,000 | $52,000 |
| 2 | Washington | $41,518 | $33,000 | $51,000 |
| 3 | Minnesota | $36,914 | $29,000 | $45,000 |
| 4 | Oregon | $36,599 | $29,000 | $45,000 |
| 5 | California | $36,363 | $28,000 | $47,000 |
| 6 | Massachusetts | $36,208 | $28,000 | $45,000 |
| 7 | Alaska | $36,132 | $30,000 | $43,000 |
| 8 | New York | $35,393 | $27,000 | $45,000 |
| 9 | North Dakota | $35,067 | $28,000 | $43,000 |
| 10 | Colorado | $34,032 | $27,000 | $42,000 |
| 11 | Wyoming | $33,449 | $26,000 | $41,000 |
| 12 | Utah | $33,438 | $26,000 | $41,000 |
| 13 | Maine | $33,364 | $26,000 | $41,000 |
| 14 | Virginia | $33,160 | $25,000 | $42,000 |
| 15 | Vermont | $33,117 | $26,000 | $41,000 |
| 16 | Connecticut | $32,998 | $26,000 | $41,000 |
| 17 | Illinois | $32,347 | $25,000 | $40,000 |
| 18 | New Jersey | $32,178 | $25,000 | $40,000 |
| 19 | Idaho | $32,151 | $25,000 | $40,000 |
| 20 | Nevada | $32,124 | $25,000 | $40,000 |
| 21 | Rhode Island | $32,081 | $25,000 | $40,000 |
| 22 | Missouri | $32,061 | $25,000 | $40,000 |
| 23 | New Hampshire | $31,947 | $25,000 | $39,000 |
| 24 | South Dakota | $31,379 | $25,000 | $38,000 |
| 25 | Wisconsin | $31,178 | $24,000 | $38,000 |
| 26 | Maryland | $31,087 | $24,000 | $39,000 |
| 27 | Nebraska | $30,941 | $24,000 | $38,000 |
| 28 | Arizona | $30,575 | $23,000 | $39,000 |
| 29 | Kansas | $30,238 | $24,000 | $37,000 |
| 30 | Delaware | $30,076 | $23,000 | $38,000 |
| 31 | Pennsylvania | $29,888 | $23,000 | $38,000 |
| 32 | Indiana | $29,826 | $23,000 | $37,000 |
| 33 | Iowa | $29,199 | $23,000 | $36,000 |
| 34 | Ohio | $29,082 | $22,000 | $36,000 |
| 35 | Oklahoma | $28,990 | $22,000 | $36,000 |
| 36 | North Carolina | $28,944 | $22,000 | $37,000 |
| 37 | New Mexico | $28,867 | $22,000 | $37,000 |
| 38 | Michigan | $28,794 | $22,000 | $36,000 |
| 39 | Montana | $28,522 | $22,000 | $35,000 |
| 40 | Kentucky | $28,331 | $22,000 | $36,000 |
| 41 | Tennessee | $27,494 | $21,000 | $35,000 |
| 42 | Texas | $27,376 | $21,000 | $35,000 |
| 43 | South Carolina | $26,952 | $20,000 | $34,000 |
| 44 | West Virginia | $26,597 | $20,000 | $34,000 |
| 45 | Florida | $26,174 | $19,000 | $34,000 |
| 46 | Georgia | $26,032 | $20,000 | $33,000 |
| 47 | Arkansas | $25,621 | $20,000 | $32,000 |
| 48 | Alabama | $25,446 | $19,000 | $32,000 |
| 49 | Mississippi | $23,962 | $18,000 | $30,000 |
| 50 | Louisiana | $23,482 | $18,000 | $30,000 |
Methodology: Security Guard Salary By State
To better understand security guard pay by state, Zippia has aggregated data across a multitude of channels including the BLS, FLC, and OPM. We then supplement that data with actual listed salaries from job posts. Finally, the data science team calculates a weighted average of these inputs to create an average pay for security guards by state.
We took the average annual salary data for security guards from these estimates and ranked every state on this criteria with the state with the highest salary ranking as highest average salary for security guards.
Security Guard Salary By State FAQs
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What is the highest-paid state for security guards?
The highest-paid state for security guards is Hawaii with an average salary of $42,908 per year.
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What city pays security guards the most?
Lakewood, WA pays security guards the most with an average salary of $41,745 per year.
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What is the worst state for security guards?
The worst state for security guards is Louisiana with an average salary of $23,482 per year.
Author
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.
