How To Become A School Crossing Guard: What It Is and Career Path

What is a school crossing guard and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

School crossing guards control traffic in front of schools to make sure children make it across the road and arrive at school safely. They supervise the crossing children escorting or directing them across the street.

You will work in places where vehicular traffic is strong and pedestrian traffic is under-regulated. Crossing railroads or construction sites might call for the assistance of a school crossing guard. You will use signs, flags, or hand signals to direct traffic, inform drivers on detours if necessary, and monitor the flow of traffic to determine moments of safe crossing opportunities for pedestrians.

You need experience working with children to fill this role. You have to be able to work independently and comply with prescribed policies and procedures. Training in traffic safety will be necessary. The job might require you to stand or sit for long stretches of time. You can earn around $15.94 per hour in this position.

ScoreSchool Crossing GuardUS Average

Salary

3.3

Avg. Salary $41,620

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

6.9

Growth rate 3%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

3.9

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.44%

Asian 2.44%

Black or African American 12.01%

Hispanic or Latino 21.05%

Unknown 4.68%

White 58.37%

Gender

female 79.42%

male 20.58%

Age - 56

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 56

Stress level

6.9

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

4.9

Complexity level is intermediate

7 - challenging

Work life balance

10.0

Work life balance is excellent

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a school crossing guard

Explore school crossing guard education requirements

Most common school crossing guard degrees

High School Diploma

36.3 %

Associate

22.7 %

Bachelor's

17.8 %

Start to develop specific school crossing guard skills

Skills	Percentages
Patrol	15.73%
Safety Procedures	12.08%
Good Judgment	11.19%
Traffic Laws	9.40%
Pedestrian Traffic	8.75%

Complete relevant school crossing guard training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New school crossing guards learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a school crossing guard based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real school crossing guard resumes.

Research school crossing guard duties and responsibilities

Monitor and operate CCTV and audio recording devices.
Monitor CCTV of warehouse and truck lots with empty and load trailors.
Patrol all properties own by DPS and ensure a safe environment for all students and staff.
Driver-Perform operator/crew maintenance on the ammunition resupply vehicle and trailer.

Prepare your school crossing guard resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your school crossing guard resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a school crossing guard resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable school crossing guard resume templates

Build a professional school crossing guard resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your school crossing guard resume.

Apply for school crossing guard jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a school crossing guard job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do school crossing guards rate their job?

5/5

Based on 1 ratings

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School crossing guard reviews

5.0

A zippia user wrote a review on Sep 2021

Pros

well i like kids to be safe and i want to be a crossing guard so that they will get to thee place that they need to be at safe. But im only 13 so what can i say about safty EVERYTHING

Cons

well the only thing that I dont like is that i have to stand in the heat all day but that is not a big deal