High paying security and protective service jobs in Columbia, SC with no degree
The best paid security and protective service occupations in Columbia, SC 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 Columbia, SC run 6.3% below the national average (2024), so a Columbia, SC salary is worth about 1.07× 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
High school diploma or equivalent
$51,440 – $129,750260High school diploma or equivalent
$50,730 – $136,120580Postsecondary nondegree award
$41,540 – $94,740170High school diploma or equivalent
$46,650 – $98,8402,840High school diploma or equivalent
$42,800 – $58,7701,260High school diploma or equivalent
$29,210 – $63,710230Postsecondary nondegree award
$29,460 – $49,2401,060High school diploma or equivalent
$28,120 – $45,7905,290No formal educational credential
$28,080 – $34,890130No formal educational credential
$21,280 – $34,560240
Bars run from the 10th to the 90th percentile; the middle half is shaded darker, and the tick is the median.
| # | Occupation | MedianColumbia, SC | 10th–90th percentilemiddle half shaded darker | Employed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | First-Line Supervisors of Police and DetectivesHigh school diploma or equivalent | $73,450 | $51,440 – $129,750 | 260 |
| 2 | Detectives and Criminal InvestigatorsHigh school diploma or equivalent | $66,340 | $50,730 – $136,120 | 580 |
| 3 | First-Line Supervisors of Firefighting and Prevention WorkersPostsecondary nondegree award | $61,830 | $41,540 – $94,740 | 170 |
| 4 | Police and Sheriff's Patrol OfficersHigh school diploma or equivalent | $59,260 | $46,650 – $98,840 | 2,840 |
| 5 | Correctional Officers and JailersHigh school diploma or equivalent | $44,860 | $42,800 – $58,770 | 1,260 |
| 6 | First-Line Supervisors of Security WorkersHigh school diploma or equivalent | $43,140 | $29,210 – $63,710 | 230 |
| 7 | FirefightersPostsecondary nondegree award | $36,960 | $29,460 – $49,240 | 1,060 |
| 8 | Security GuardsHigh school diploma or equivalent | $35,140 | $28,120 – $45,790 | 5,290 |
| 9 | Crossing Guards and FlaggersNo formal educational credential | $32,690 | $28,080 – $34,890 | 130 |
| 10 | Lifeguards, Ski Patrol, and Other Recreational Protective Service WorkersNo formal educational credential | $26,720 | $21,280 – $34,560 | 240 |
Ranked among the occupations common enough to employ roughly one in every three thousand workers in Columbia, SC. 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 Columbia, SC to rank honestly.
- High paying medical jobs in Columbia, SC with no degree
- High paying medical jobs in Columbia, SC with no experience
- High paying healthcare support jobs in Columbia, SC with no degree
- High paying healthcare support jobs in Columbia, SC with no experience
- High paying security and protective service jobs in Columbia, SC with no experience
- High paying food service jobs in Columbia, SC with no degree
- High paying food service jobs in Columbia, SC with no experience
- High paying cleaning and grounds jobs in Columbia, SC with no degree
- High paying personal care jobs in Columbia, SC with no degree
- High paying personal care jobs in Columbia, SC with no experience
- High paying sales jobs in Columbia, SC with no degree
- High paying sales jobs in Columbia, SC with no experience
- High paying office and admin jobs in Columbia, SC with no degree
- High paying office and admin jobs in Columbia, SC with no experience
- High paying construction jobs in Columbia, SC with no degree
- High paying construction jobs in Columbia, SC with no experience
- High paying repair and maintenance jobs in Columbia, SC with no degree
- High paying repair and maintenance jobs in Columbia, SC with no experience
- High paying production jobs in Columbia, SC with no degree
- High paying production jobs in Columbia, SC with no experience
- High paying transportation jobs in Columbia, SC with no degree
- High paying transportation jobs in Columbia, SC with no experience
High paying security and protective service jobs in each state with no degree
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