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The differences between security specialists and security patrol officers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a security specialist has an average salary of $49,892, which is higher than the $31,673 average annual salary of a security patrol officer.
The top three skills for a security specialist include ladders, security incidents and physical security. The most important skills for a security patrol officer are patrol, customer service, and security services.
| Security Specialist | Security Patrol Officer | |
| Yearly salary | $49,892 | $31,673 |
| Hourly rate | $23.99 | $15.23 |
| Growth rate | 3% | 3% |
| Number of jobs | 96,226 | 131,574 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 48% | High School Diploma, 37% |
| Average age | 43 | 43 |
| Years of experience | - | - |
A security specialist is responsible for maintaining the security of an organization's database, ensuring that it's free from cyber threats and unusual activities. Security specialists' duties include upgrading hardware and software applications, configuring networks to improve optimization, addressing any unauthorized access on the database, troubleshooting system discrepancies, conducting security audits on the system, and improving automated processes. A security specialist must have a strong command of programming languages and system codes, as well as broad experience with technical expertise.
A Security Patrol Officer ensures the safety and security of the establishment under guard. The security officer ensures that all facility areas are secured, does regular patrols, routine inspections, and monitors the premises, and logs in daily reports for management to assess. The Security Patrol Officer's role is vital for the continued performance of an establishment as it prevents crime, stealing, and other heinous acts that may severely affect a company's operations.
Security specialists and security patrol officers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Security Specialist | Security Patrol Officer | |
| Average salary | $49,892 | $31,673 |
| Salary range | Between $25,000 And $98,000 | Between $25,000 And $39,000 |
| Highest paying City | Washington, DC | Seattle, WA |
| Highest paying state | New York | Washington |
| Best paying company | Okta | University of California, Berkeley |
| Best paying industry | - | Utilities |
There are a few differences between a security specialist and a security patrol officer in terms of educational background:
| Security Specialist | Security Patrol Officer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 48% | High School Diploma, 37% |
| Most common major | Criminal Justice | Criminal Justice |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between security specialists' and security patrol officers' demographics:
| Security Specialist | Security Patrol Officer | |
| Average age | 43 | 43 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 74.0% Female, 26.0% | Male, 80.6% Female, 19.4% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 13.5% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 19.2% Asian, 5.8% White, 54.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.6% | Black or African American, 11.5% Unknown, 5.8% Hispanic or Latino, 23.6% Asian, 5.3% White, 52.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.8% |
| LGBT Percentage | 6% | 6% |