High paying security and protective service jobs in New Mexico with no degree

The best paid security and protective service occupations in New Mexico 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 New Mexico run 7.8% below the national average (2024), so a New Mexico salary is worth about 1.08× 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 New Mexico.

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

Find security jobs in New Mexico

OccupationMedian, New Mexico · Employed

1First-Line Supervisors of Police and Detectives$92,200
High school diploma or equivalent
$59,990 – $130,5101,320
2Detectives and Criminal Investigators$86,840
High school diploma or equivalent
$47,480 – $111,9702,020
3Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers$69,180
High school diploma or equivalent
$48,400 – $85,7404,580
4Protective Service Workers, All Other$64,940
High school diploma or equivalent
$34,480 – $126,050650
5First-Line Supervisors of Correctional Officers$63,380
High school diploma or equivalent
$56,510 – $87,610530
6First-Line Supervisors of Security Workers$62,330
High school diploma or equivalent
$40,780 – $94,770580
7First-Line Supervisors of Firefighting and Prevention Workers$58,430
Postsecondary nondegree award
$46,600 – $98,300820
8First-Line Supervisors of Protective Service Workers, All Other$57,970
High school diploma or equivalent
$34,530 – $84,700310
9Correctional Officers and Jailers$47,940
High school diploma or equivalent
$37,900 – $59,3302,740
10Security Guards$43,320
High school diploma or equivalent
$30,220 – $64,8408,410
11Firefighters$41,590
Postsecondary nondegree award
$31,200 – $57,7802,420
12School Bus Monitors$36,250
High school diploma or equivalent
$30,230 – $64,750330
13Crossing Guards and Flaggers$31,460
No formal educational credential
$31,450 – $42,650510
14Lifeguards, Ski Patrol, and Other Recreational Protective Service Workers$28,590
No formal educational credential
$27,260 – $37,960760

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

#	Occupation	MedianNew Mexico	10th–90th percentilemiddle half shaded darker	Employed
1	First-Line Supervisors of Police and DetectivesHigh school diploma or equivalent	$92,200	$59,990 – $130,510	1,320
2	Detectives and Criminal InvestigatorsHigh school diploma or equivalent	$86,840	$47,480 – $111,970	2,020
3	Police and Sheriff's Patrol OfficersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$69,180	$48,400 – $85,740	4,580
4	Protective Service Workers, All OtherHigh school diploma or equivalent	$64,940	$34,480 – $126,050	650
5	First-Line Supervisors of Correctional OfficersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$63,380	$56,510 – $87,610	530
6	First-Line Supervisors of Security WorkersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$62,330	$40,780 – $94,770	580
7	First-Line Supervisors of Firefighting and Prevention WorkersPostsecondary nondegree award	$58,430	$46,600 – $98,300	820
8	First-Line Supervisors of Protective Service Workers, All OtherHigh school diploma or equivalent	$57,970	$34,530 – $84,700	310
9	Correctional Officers and JailersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$47,940	$37,900 – $59,330	2,740
10	Security GuardsHigh school diploma or equivalent	$43,320	$30,220 – $64,840	8,410
11	FirefightersPostsecondary nondegree award	$41,590	$31,200 – $57,780	2,420
12	School Bus MonitorsHigh school diploma or equivalent	$36,250	$30,230 – $64,750	330
13	Crossing Guards and FlaggersNo formal educational credential	$31,460	$31,450 – $42,650	510
14	Lifeguards, Ski Patrol, and Other Recreational Protective Service WorkersNo formal educational credential	$28,590	$27,260 – $37,960	760

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

Metro areas in New Mexico

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

By field in New Mexico

Without a degree

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

High paying security and protective service jobs in New Mexico with no degree

More for New Mexico

Metro areas in New Mexico

By field in New Mexico

Without a degree

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