High paying security and protective service jobs in Alabama with no degree

The best paid security and protective service occupations in Alabama that require no bachelor's degree — a high school diploma, a certificate, or an associate's degree is the typical entry. This is the narrowest cut on the site, so it is also the shortest list: where a field has only two or three such occupations, there is no page at all rather than a page pretending otherwise.

Cost of living: prices in Alabama run 11.2% below the national average (2024), so a Alabama 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 Alabama.

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

Find security jobs in Alabama

OccupationMedian, Alabama · Employed

1First-Line Supervisors of Police and Detectives$75,970
High school diploma or equivalent
$48,520 – $121,4301,900
2First-Line Supervisors of Firefighting and Prevention Workers$73,320
Postsecondary nondegree award
$43,050 – $114,2201,440
3Detectives and Criminal Investigators$66,290
High school diploma or equivalent
$43,060 – $150,7801,340
4Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers$51,270
High school diploma or equivalent
$37,480 – $77,22011,710
5Firefighters$47,600
Postsecondary nondegree award
$29,770 – $76,1907,260
6First-Line Supervisors of Security Workers$47,440
High school diploma or equivalent
$33,190 – $94,380850
7Correctional Officers and Jailers$46,660
High school diploma or equivalent
$30,430 – $74,2904,970
8Security Guards$33,720
High school diploma or equivalent
$23,110 – $45,64015,210
9Lifeguards, Ski Patrol, and Other Recreational Protective Service Workers$28,130
No formal educational credential
$20,560 – $33,7701,080

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

#	Occupation	MedianAlabama	10th–90th percentilemiddle half shaded darker	Employed
1	First-Line Supervisors of Police and DetectivesHigh school diploma or equivalent	$75,970	$48,520 – $121,430	1,900
2	First-Line Supervisors of Firefighting and Prevention WorkersPostsecondary nondegree award	$73,320	$43,050 – $114,220	1,440
3	Detectives and Criminal InvestigatorsHigh school diploma or equivalent	$66,290	$43,060 – $150,780	1,340
4	Police and Sheriff's Patrol OfficersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$51,270	$37,480 – $77,220	11,710
5	FirefightersPostsecondary nondegree award	$47,600	$29,770 – $76,190	7,260
6	First-Line Supervisors of Security WorkersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$47,440	$33,190 – $94,380	850
7	Correctional Officers and JailersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$46,660	$30,430 – $74,290	4,970
8	Security GuardsHigh school diploma or equivalent	$33,720	$23,110 – $45,640	15,210
9	Lifeguards, Ski Patrol, and Other Recreational Protective Service WorkersNo formal educational credential	$28,130	$20,560 – $33,770	1,080

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

Metro areas in Alabama

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

By field in Alabama

Without a degree

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

High paying security and protective service jobs in Alabama with no degree

More for Alabama

Metro areas in Alabama

By field in Alabama

Without a degree

High paying security and protective service jobs in each state with no degree