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

The best paid security and protective service occupations in Arkansas 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 Arkansas run 13.1% below the national average (2024), so a Arkansas salary is worth about 1.15× 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 Arkansas.

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

Find security jobs in Arkansas

OccupationMedian, Arkansas · Employed

1First-Line Supervisors of Police and Detectives$62,290
High school diploma or equivalent
$43,440 – $95,5802,100
2First-Line Supervisors of Firefighting and Prevention Workers$61,890
Postsecondary nondegree award
$43,710 – $87,010920
3Detectives and Criminal Investigators$54,500
High school diploma or equivalent
$41,380 – $144,890560
4First-Line Supervisors of Security Workers$54,000
High school diploma or equivalent
$33,570 – $102,770970
5First-Line Supervisors of Correctional Officers$49,590
High school diploma or equivalent
$39,610 – $66,3301,720
6Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers$47,670
High school diploma or equivalent
$35,210 – $70,1905,710
7Correctional Officers and Jailers$40,330
High school diploma or equivalent
$31,200 – $49,3604,460
8Firefighters$39,690
Postsecondary nondegree award
$28,680 – $60,8602,480
9Security Guards$35,770
High school diploma or equivalent
$28,870 – $57,4106,390
10Protective Service Workers, All Other$31,270
High school diploma or equivalent
$28,090 – $54,600560
11School Bus Monitors$28,260
High school diploma or equivalent
$23,160 – $41,190780
12Lifeguards, Ski Patrol, and Other Recreational Protective Service Workers$27,000
No formal educational credential
$23,310 – $34,050530

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

#	Occupation	MedianArkansas	10th–90th percentilemiddle half shaded darker	Employed
1	First-Line Supervisors of Police and DetectivesHigh school diploma or equivalent	$62,290	$43,440 – $95,580	2,100
2	First-Line Supervisors of Firefighting and Prevention WorkersPostsecondary nondegree award	$61,890	$43,710 – $87,010	920
3	Detectives and Criminal InvestigatorsHigh school diploma or equivalent	$54,500	$41,380 – $144,890	560
4	First-Line Supervisors of Security WorkersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$54,000	$33,570 – $102,770	970
5	First-Line Supervisors of Correctional OfficersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$49,590	$39,610 – $66,330	1,720
6	Police and Sheriff's Patrol OfficersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$47,670	$35,210 – $70,190	5,710
7	Correctional Officers and JailersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$40,330	$31,200 – $49,360	4,460
8	FirefightersPostsecondary nondegree award	$39,690	$28,680 – $60,860	2,480
9	Security GuardsHigh school diploma or equivalent	$35,770	$28,870 – $57,410	6,390
10	Protective Service Workers, All OtherHigh school diploma or equivalent	$31,270	$28,090 – $54,600	560
11	School Bus MonitorsHigh school diploma or equivalent	$28,260	$23,160 – $41,190	780
12	Lifeguards, Ski Patrol, and Other Recreational Protective Service WorkersNo formal educational credential	$27,000	$23,310 – $34,050	530

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

Metro areas in Arkansas

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

By field in Arkansas

Without a degree

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

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

More for Arkansas

Metro areas in Arkansas

By field in Arkansas

Without a degree

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