High paying security and protective service jobs in South Dakota

Every security and protective service occupation below is ranked by its median annual wage in South Dakota. 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 South Dakota run 11.4% below the national average (2024), so a South Dakota salary is worth about 1.13× its face value in national terms. That scales every wage here by the same factor — it changes what the numbers mean, not their order. To see where a job pays a real premium, use jobs that pay more in South Dakota.

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

Find security jobs in South Dakota

OccupationMedian, South Dakota · Employed

1First-Line Supervisors of Police and Detectives$87,810
High school diploma or equivalent
$71,650 – $140,500190
2Detectives and Criminal Investigators$77,730
High school diploma or equivalent
$60,210 – $149,280250
3Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers$60,740
High school diploma or equivalent
$47,540 – $91,9002,000
4Correctional Officers and Jailers$53,040
High school diploma or equivalent
$43,240 – $66,3901,490
5Firefighters$48,160
Postsecondary nondegree award
$39,240 – $61,420610
6Security Guards$37,150
High school diploma or equivalent
$30,060 – $59,8401,460
7Lifeguards, Ski Patrol, and Other Recreational Protective Service Workers$30,990
No formal educational credential
$26,760 – $35,610490

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

#	Occupation	MedianSouth Dakota	10th–90th percentilemiddle half shaded darker	Employed
1	First-Line Supervisors of Police and DetectivesHigh school diploma or equivalent	$87,810	$71,650 – $140,500	190
2	Detectives and Criminal InvestigatorsHigh school diploma or equivalent	$77,730	$60,210 – $149,280	250
3	Police and Sheriff's Patrol OfficersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$60,740	$47,540 – $91,900	2,000
4	Correctional Officers and JailersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$53,040	$43,240 – $66,390	1,490
5	FirefightersPostsecondary nondegree award	$48,160	$39,240 – $61,420	610
6	Security GuardsHigh school diploma or equivalent	$37,150	$30,060 – $59,840	1,460
7	Lifeguards, Ski Patrol, and Other Recreational Protective Service WorkersNo formal educational credential	$30,990	$26,760 – $35,610	490

Ranked among the occupations common enough to employ roughly one in every three thousand workers in South Dakota. 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.

More for South Dakota

Metro areas in South Dakota

Pay varies more between metros than between states — the spread inside one state is often wider than the gap between two.

By field in South Dakota

Without a degree

The same fields, narrowed to what you can enter without one. Fields missing here have too few such occupations in South Dakota to rank honestly.

High paying security and protective service jobs in South Dakota

More for South Dakota

Metro areas in South Dakota

By field in South Dakota

Without a degree

High paying security and protective service jobs in each state