High paying security and protective service jobs in Rhode Island with no degree

The best paid security and protective service occupations in Rhode Island 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 Rhode Island run 2.3% above the national average (2024), so a Rhode Island salary is worth about 0.98× 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 Rhode Island.

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

Find security jobs in Rhode Island

OccupationMedian, Rhode Island · Employed

1First-Line Supervisors of Police and Detectives$97,690
High school diploma or equivalent
$77,160 – $136,470820
2Detectives and Criminal Investigators$88,450
High school diploma or equivalent
$75,910 – $159,140360
3First-Line Supervisors of Firefighting and Prevention Workers$85,170
Postsecondary nondegree award
$65,890 – $97,740770
4Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers$77,230
High school diploma or equivalent
$59,020 – $91,7601,940
5Transportation Security Screeners$71,510
High school diploma or equivalent
$45,680 – $78,440160
6Firefighters$67,380
Postsecondary nondegree award
$56,110 – $76,6201,620
7First-Line Supervisors of Security Workers$51,090
High school diploma or equivalent
$46,710 – $85,050250
8Security Guards$36,940
High school diploma or equivalent
$31,200 – $48,5203,160
9Lifeguards, Ski Patrol, and Other Recreational Protective Service Workers$35,770
No formal educational credential
$31,200 – $41,490370

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

#	Occupation	MedianRhode Island	10th–90th percentilemiddle half shaded darker	Employed
1	First-Line Supervisors of Police and DetectivesHigh school diploma or equivalent	$97,690	$77,160 – $136,470	820
2	Detectives and Criminal InvestigatorsHigh school diploma or equivalent	$88,450	$75,910 – $159,140	360
3	First-Line Supervisors of Firefighting and Prevention WorkersPostsecondary nondegree award	$85,170	$65,890 – $97,740	770
4	Police and Sheriff's Patrol OfficersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$77,230	$59,020 – $91,760	1,940
5	Transportation Security ScreenersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$71,510	$45,680 – $78,440	160
6	FirefightersPostsecondary nondegree award	$67,380	$56,110 – $76,620	1,620
7	First-Line Supervisors of Security WorkersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$51,090	$46,710 – $85,050	250
8	Security GuardsHigh school diploma or equivalent	$36,940	$31,200 – $48,520	3,160
9	Lifeguards, Ski Patrol, and Other Recreational Protective Service WorkersNo formal educational credential	$35,770	$31,200 – $41,490	370

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

Metro areas in Rhode Island

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

Providence-Warwick

By field in Rhode Island

Without a degree

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

High paying security and protective service jobs in Rhode Island with no degree

More for Rhode Island

Metro areas in Rhode Island

By field in Rhode Island

Without a degree

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