High paying security and protective service jobs in Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA

Every security and protective service occupation below is ranked by its median annual wage in Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA. 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 Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA run 11.1% above the national average (2024), so a Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA salary is worth about 0.90× 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 Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA

OccupationMedian, Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA · Employed

1First-Line Supervisors of Police and Detectives$158,510
High school diploma or equivalent
$130,480 – $195,2201,330
2First-Line Supervisors of Firefighting and Prevention Workers$134,830
Postsecondary nondegree award
$104,260 – $161,9601,680
3Detectives and Criminal Investigators$123,820
High school diploma or equivalent
$88,790 – $177,650740
4Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers$115,120
High school diploma or equivalent
$94,290 – $136,1104,520
5Firefighters$101,090
Postsecondary nondegree award
$73,360 – $124,0003,760
6Correctional Officers and Jailers$81,550
High school diploma or equivalent
$70,600 – $100,9602,170
7First-Line Supervisors of Security Workers$62,640
High school diploma or equivalent
$49,730 – $98,5401,200
8Crossing Guards and Flaggers$50,020
No formal educational credential
$43,730 – $81,7901,780
9Security Guards$47,490
High school diploma or equivalent
$38,990 – $68,04017,030
10Protective Service Workers, All Other$42,170
High school diploma or equivalent
$34,650 – $60,3802,750
11Lifeguards, Ski Patrol, and Other Recreational Protective Service Workers$39,240
No formal educational credential
$34,780 – $47,9203,060

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

#	Occupation	MedianSeattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	10th–90th percentilemiddle half shaded darker	Employed
1	First-Line Supervisors of Police and DetectivesHigh school diploma or equivalent	$158,510	$130,480 – $195,220	1,330
2	First-Line Supervisors of Firefighting and Prevention WorkersPostsecondary nondegree award	$134,830	$104,260 – $161,960	1,680
3	Detectives and Criminal InvestigatorsHigh school diploma or equivalent	$123,820	$88,790 – $177,650	740
4	Police and Sheriff's Patrol OfficersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$115,120	$94,290 – $136,110	4,520
5	FirefightersPostsecondary nondegree award	$101,090	$73,360 – $124,000	3,760
6	Correctional Officers and JailersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$81,550	$70,600 – $100,960	2,170
7	First-Line Supervisors of Security WorkersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$62,640	$49,730 – $98,540	1,200
8	Crossing Guards and FlaggersNo formal educational credential	$50,020	$43,730 – $81,790	1,780
9	Security GuardsHigh school diploma or equivalent	$47,490	$38,990 – $68,040	17,030
10	Protective Service Workers, All OtherHigh school diploma or equivalent	$42,170	$34,650 – $60,380	2,750
11	Lifeguards, Ski Patrol, and Other Recreational Protective Service WorkersNo formal educational credential	$39,240	$34,780 – $47,920	3,060

Ranked among the occupations common enough to employ roughly one in every three thousand workers in Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA. 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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Without a degree

The same fields, narrowed to what you can enter without one. Fields missing here have too few such occupations in Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA to rank honestly.

High paying security and protective service jobs in Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA

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Without a degree

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