What is the median pay in your area?

[CorpSec]

In Minnesota, It seems as though contract wages have reached a much better point than they were at when I left. I was making $8.40 an hour after 6 years! All that with not much in the way of benefits.

Now I see contract jobs that are routinely in the $12 an hour range. If a guy can get some OT, you might actually be able to afford an apartment without three roommates!

In house has always paid better, in a lot of cases much better. I left an in house job in 98 that was paying around $13 an hour with full benefits. Not too long after I left, they did a comparable worth survey and the guys got bumped up to over $18 an hour.

I hear stories about some officers/guards down south that barely make minimum wage. It is going to be very hard to bring professionalism to our industry with those wages.

[mike booth]

Unarmed security in Palm Beach County is around $9 to $10 an hour. Armed, uniformed security starts around $10 an hour and tops off around $14 an hour. Plain clothes, armed security starts around $14 an hour and runs to about $20 an hour for civilians, $25 an hour for off duty LEOs.

Edited to add, plain clothes security isn't "security" in Florida. It is "robbery suppression" or surveillance or loss prevention or what ever gets around having plain clothes, licensed PI's protect property.

[CorpSec]

Unarmed security in Palm Beach County is around $9 to $10 an hour. Armed, uniformed security starts around $10 an hour and tops off around $14 an hour. Plain clothes, armed security starts around $14 an hour and runs to about $20 an hour for civilians, $25 an hour for off duty LEOs.

Edited to add, plain clothes security isn't "security" in Florida. It is "robbery suppression" or surveillance or loss prevention or what ever gets around having plain clothes, licensed PI's protect property.

I am surprised that the pay for plain clothes is so much higher. There is more risk working in uniform in my opinion.

$25 an hour for off duty cops? Wow, that is low. Up here, in the Twin Cities, $35 to $40 seems to be the average with several gigs paying more.

Of course, so much does depend on the region you are in. Up here, you won't find a decent single family home outside of the ghetto for under $200,000+

[N. A. Corbier]

You have to remember something, those plain clothes people aren't "security," they're licensed private investigators. Security officers cannot go without uniforms for more than three days due to special circumstances.

Only a PI may carry a firearm without a uniform unless its part of the "special circumstances" for security. PI's investigate the property they "protect" to get around the requirement to have licensed uniformed security.

[james2go30]

My pay sucks lol

Started at like 8.50...make nine now...granted 50 cent raise came after my intial 45 days....but been awhile now and no new raises.

[CorpSec]

Started at like 8.50...make nine now...granted 50 cent raise came after my intial 45 days....but been awhile now and no new raises.

Hey, everyone has to start somewhere. I started with Pinkerton making $5 an hour at one account for 16 hours a week and the other "high paying" account I got hours at was $5.20.

I lumbered away at low contract wages for awhile until I landed an in house gig. One decent in house gig led to another and then to the really good one I have now. I now have officers reporting to me that make over $20 an hour and with some OT, many will reach and surpass 50K this year. All with in house benefits like full health care, vacation, profit sharing, and many other perks.

So, there are good jobs in the security industry to be had. We have all had to pay some dues along the way.

[james2go30]

Yea

Hey, everyone has to start somewhere. I started with Pinkerton making $5 an hour at one account for 16 hours a week and the other "high paying" account I got hours at was $5.20.

I lumbered away at low contract wages for awhile until I landed an in house gig. One decent in house gig led to another and then to the really good one I have now. I now have officers reporting to me that make over $20 an hour and with some OT, many will reach and surpass 50K this year. All with in house benefits like full health care, vacation, profit sharing, and many other perks.

So, there are good jobs in the security industry to be had. We have all had to pay some dues along the way.

Wish I could find one of those. But I am only experinced on this site, beach condos, and a whole massive amount of experience I am still learning...and I have no training outside my class D license...the minimal training. I have learned self defense but not through my company mainly through my dad and uncle and cousins...so be hard for me to find somewhere else until I have learned more and gained some more experience. Really sucks but guess I will just have to take it slow.

[T202]

Here are some statistics from the U.S. Dept. of Labor.

http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos159.htm

[HotelSecurity]

I'm sure I've posted this before but here goes again. Most Contract Security in Quebec are unionized, They are paid $12.50 or $12.75 per hour *I don't remember which), Plus they get 30 or 50 cents extra for extra duries such as first aid & responding to fire alarms.

The In-House people at one of my hotels only get $10.00 per hour. At the other 2 they start at $11.08 but after 1 year go to $13.45. Working IN-House in hotels however has some more advantages that Contract usually doesn't. Free meal, free parking, free dry cleaning, free room if required to do a back-to-back.

[bigshotceo]

I'm sure I've posted this before but here goes again. Most Contract Security in Quebec are unionized, They are paid $12.50 or $12.75 per hour *I don't remember which), Plus they get 30 or 50 cents extra for extra duries such as first aid & responding to fire alarms.

The In-House people at one of my hotels only get $10.00 per hour. At the other 2 they start at $11.08 but after 1 year go to $13.45. Working IN-House in hotels however has some more advantages that Contract usually doesn't. Free meal, free parking, free dry cleaning, free room if required to do a back-to-back.

It should be noted that in Quebec there's a law that automatically makes all contract security guards part of a quasi-union. Among the requirements are a minimum wage ($12/hr), a set amount of uniforms the employer must provide free of charge each year and that the employer must compensate the guard if they need to use their own vehicle as shelter.

[exguard]

My Security run began back in 1989 making $6.50 an hour working for Wells Fargo. Everybody knows the drill - Work most weekends, nights and holidays - Dayshift was reserved for senior people - job desriptions were pretty much the same {Foot Patrols, Key Rounds, Log Sheets}

In 1990 I went to Casino Security in Atlantic City. - I was young and fiqured $11.00 an hour was pretty sweet {I was in the Communications Center so I was bumped $1.50 in pay} When I left Security in 1997 for my Fire Service Career I was in about the $13.00 an hour range - give or take -

The Fire Service did well from 97 to 06 but I was given the oppurtunity to return to my original trade, security, with the potential to make more than $65,000.00 a year, my first year, going higher each year with no cap in corporate security as an entry level patrol officer. Emergency Medical Technician, Firefighter Certification, and Hazzardous Materials Training were required so the salary is justified at about $24.00 an hour with 8 hours built in overtime {$36.00 an hour} but to be paid that much for basically being a security patrol officer {In a brand new vehicle with out clock rounds and tape punches} is pretty good.