What is an Armed Guard?
The average armed guard salary is $43,189. The most common degree is a high school diploma degree with an criminal justice major. It usually takes 2-4 years of experience to become an armed guard. Armed guards with a Security 5 Certification certification earn more money. Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 4% and produce 40,600 job opportunities across the U.S.
What Does an Armed Guard Do
There are certain skills that many armed guards have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed communication skills, good judgment and observation skills.
How To Become an Armed Guard
If you're interested in becoming an armed guard, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 20.7% of armed guards have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 1.5% of armed guards have master's degrees. Even though some armed guards have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Armed Guard Career Paths
As you move along in your career, you may start taking on more responsibilities or notice that you've taken on a leadership role. Using our career map, an armed guard can determine their career goals through the career progression. For example, they could start out with a role such as security supervisor, progress to a title such as supervisor and then eventually end up with the title co-owner.
Average Salary for an Armed Guard
What Am I Worth?
States With The Most Armed Guard Jobs
Mouse over a state to see the number of active armed guard jobs in each state. The darker areas on the map show where armed guards earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.
Number Of Armed Guard Jobs By State
| Rank | State | Number of Jobs | Average Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | California | 2,731 | $48,225 |
| 2 | Florida | 1,415 | $33,677 |
| 3 | Pennsylvania | 1,037 | $39,606 |
| 4 | Texas | 1,010 | $36,530 |
| 5 | Illinois | 994 | $39,446 |
| 6 | New York | 987 | $55,028 |
| 7 | Massachusetts | 838 | $45,381 |
| 8 | Ohio | 675 | $39,039 |
| 9 | North Carolina | 669 | $37,749 |
| 10 | New Jersey | 665 | $45,353 |
| 11 | Georgia | 589 | $34,515 |
| 12 | Virginia | 548 | $42,499 |
| 13 | Minnesota | 521 | $46,241 |
| 14 | Indiana | 433 | $38,823 |
| 15 | Michigan | 401 | $41,088 |
| 16 | Wisconsin | 371 | $40,832 |
| 17 | Colorado | 364 | $43,416 |
| 18 | Tennessee | 363 | $35,697 |
| 19 | Maryland | 344 | $43,752 |
| 20 | Missouri | 337 | $38,791 |
| 21 | Washington | 335 | $52,292 |
| 22 | Arizona | 326 | $42,672 |
| 23 | Alabama | 280 | $34,251 |
| 24 | Utah | 274 | $42,433 |
| 25 | Mississippi | 242 | $30,166 |
| 26 | South Carolina | 222 | $31,661 |
| 27 | Kentucky | 213 | $36,509 |
| 28 | Connecticut | 207 | $49,216 |
| 29 | Oklahoma | 192 | $36,159 |
| 30 | Iowa | 180 | $33,741 |
| 31 | Louisiana | 167 | $34,176 |
| 32 | Nevada | 126 | $45,020 |
| 33 | Oregon | 118 | $46,354 |
| 34 | Kansas | 118 | $40,415 |
| 35 | Arkansas | 115 | $34,038 |
| 36 | Nebraska | 103 | $44,172 |
| 37 | New Hampshire | 94 | $35,506 |
| 38 | Rhode Island | 82 | $45,189 |
| 39 | New Mexico | 81 | $39,356 |
| 40 | Delaware | 80 | $35,257 |
| 41 | Hawaii | 78 | $43,750 |
| 42 | West Virginia | 62 | $35,413 |
| 43 | Maine | 55 | $39,676 |
| 44 | Idaho | 42 | $38,576 |
| 45 | Alaska | 41 | $66,586 |
| 46 | Montana | 37 | $37,882 |
| 47 | Vermont | 29 | $41,266 |
| 48 | North Dakota | 28 | $52,395 |
| 49 | Wyoming | 21 | $43,063 |
| 50 | South Dakota | 19 | $41,324 |
Top Skills For an Armed Guard
The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 22.0% of armed guards listed patrol on their resume, but soft skills such as communication skills and good judgment are important as well.
Choose From 10+ Customizable Armed Guard Resume templates
Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Armed Guard templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Armed Guard resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.
Armed Guard Demographics
Armed Guard Gender Distribution
After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:
- Among armed guards, 15.5% of them are women, while 84.5% are men.
- The most common race/ethnicity among armed guards is White, which makes up 58.6% of all armed guards.
- The most common foreign language among armed guards is Spanish at 69.0%.
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Best States For an Armed Guard
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as an armed guard. The best states for people in this position are Alaska, New York, North Dakota, and Washington. Armed guards make the most in Alaska with an average salary of $66,586. Whereas in New York and North Dakota, they would average $55,028 and $52,395, respectively. While armed guards would only make an average of $52,292 in Washington, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.
1. New York
$55,028
Avg. Salary
2. Minnesota
$46,241
Avg. Salary
3. Alaska
$66,586
Avg. Salary
How Do Armed Guard Rate Their Jobs?
Top Armed Guard Employers
Most Common Employers For Armed Guard
| Rank | Company | Average Salary | Hourly Rate | Job Openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wells Fargo | $49,402 | $23.75 | 13 |
| 2 | Universal Protection Service | $47,820 | $22.99 | 10 |
| 3 | Arkansas Heart Hospital | $43,327 | $20.83 | 14 |
| 4 | Dunbar | $42,166 | $20.27 | 14 |
| 5 | Loomis Group | $41,771 | $20.08 | 150 |
| 6 | Chenega | $40,681 | $19.56 | 35 |
| 7 | Pendum | $39,821 | $19.14 | 10 |
| 8 | Rochester Armored Car | $39,018 | $18.76 | 25 |
| 9 | Brink's | $39,009 | $18.75 | 193 |
| 10 | MVM | $38,691 | $18.60 | 12 |
Armed Guard Videos
