High paying security and protective service jobs in Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA

Every security and protective service occupation below is ranked by its median annual wage in Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA. Read the percentile range, not just the median: the gap between the 10th and 90th inside a single security and protective service job is usually wider than the gap between two different ones, so where you land in a field matters more than which field you pick.

Cost of living: prices in Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA run 13.6% below the national average (2024), so a Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA salary is worth about 1.16× its face value in national terms. That scales every wage here by the same factor — it changes what the numbers mean, not their order.

Local wage estimates are suppressed more often than state ones — BLS withholds any figure too few local employers report — so an occupation missing here simply has no published local estimate.

Wages: BLS OEWS, May 2025 · Cost of living: BEA regional price parities, 2024

Find security jobs in Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA

OccupationMedian, Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA · Employed

1Detectives and Criminal Investigators$84,660
High school diploma or equivalent
$55,970 – $158,06060
2First-Line Supervisors of Police and Detectives$74,970
High school diploma or equivalent
$56,580 – $112,630110
3First-Line Supervisors of Correctional Officers$64,740
High school diploma or equivalent
$39,740 – $100,06040
4Transportation Security Screeners$63,130
High school diploma or equivalent
$49,940 – $70,26040
5First-Line Supervisors of Firefighting and Prevention Workers$62,500
Postsecondary nondegree award
$49,870 – $88,63080
6Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers$48,620
High school diploma or equivalent
$45,540 – $67,930690
7Correctional Officers and Jailers$48,440
High school diploma or equivalent
$48,420 – $56,100430
8Firefighters$44,110
Postsecondary nondegree award
$29,010 – $60,020270
9Protective Service Workers, All Other$43,490
High school diploma or equivalent
$36,650 – $69,17040
10Security Guards$36,270
High school diploma or equivalent
$28,410 – $52,310500
11Crossing Guards and Flaggers$32,760
No formal educational credential
$32,210 – $40,65070
12Lifeguards, Ski Patrol, and Other Recreational Protective Service Workers$26,840
No formal educational credential
$17,990 – $29,33080

Bars run from the 10th to the 90th percentile; the middle half is shaded darker, and the tick is the median.

#	Occupation	MedianKingsport-Bristol, TN-VA	10th–90th percentilemiddle half shaded darker	Employed
1	Detectives and Criminal InvestigatorsHigh school diploma or equivalent	$84,660	$55,970 – $158,060	60
2	First-Line Supervisors of Police and DetectivesHigh school diploma or equivalent	$74,970	$56,580 – $112,630	110
3	First-Line Supervisors of Correctional OfficersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$64,740	$39,740 – $100,060	40
4	Transportation Security ScreenersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$63,130	$49,940 – $70,260	40
5	First-Line Supervisors of Firefighting and Prevention WorkersPostsecondary nondegree award	$62,500	$49,870 – $88,630	80
6	Police and Sheriff's Patrol OfficersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$48,620	$45,540 – $67,930	690
7	Correctional Officers and JailersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$48,440	$48,420 – $56,100	430
8	FirefightersPostsecondary nondegree award	$44,110	$29,010 – $60,020	270
9	Protective Service Workers, All OtherHigh school diploma or equivalent	$43,490	$36,650 – $69,170	40
10	Security GuardsHigh school diploma or equivalent	$36,270	$28,410 – $52,310	500
11	Crossing Guards and FlaggersNo formal educational credential	$32,760	$32,210 – $40,650	70
12	Lifeguards, Ski Patrol, and Other Recreational Protective Service WorkersNo formal educational credential	$26,840	$17,990 – $29,330	80

Ranked among the occupations common enough to employ roughly one in every three thousand workers in Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA. The rarer ones are real jobs — but a 1,190-person occupation at the top of a list answers a different question than the one most readers are asking.

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By field in Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA

Without a degree

The same fields, narrowed to what you can enter without one. Fields missing here have too few such occupations in Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA to rank honestly.

High paying security and protective service jobs in Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA

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Without a degree

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