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

The best paid security and protective service occupations in Texas 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 Texas run 2.9% below the national average (2024), so a Texas salary is worth about 1.03× 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 Texas.

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

Find security jobs in Texas

OccupationMedian, Texas · Employed

1First-Line Supervisors of Police and Detectives$111,000
High school diploma or equivalent
$70,910 – $149,5705,540
2Detectives and Criminal Investigators$90,510
High school diploma or equivalent
$52,510 – $132,85018,870
3First-Line Supervisors of Firefighting and Prevention Workers$81,710
Postsecondary nondegree award
$60,260 – $118,5908,660
4Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers$75,900
High school diploma or equivalent
$51,240 – $98,35063,100
5Firefighters$60,180
Postsecondary nondegree award
$40,020 – $77,17028,170
6Correctional Officers and Jailers$52,670
High school diploma or equivalent
$44,870 – $60,55044,700
7First-Line Supervisors of Security Workers$46,740
High school diploma or equivalent
$23,940 – $89,9606,490
8Security Guards$35,980
High school diploma or equivalent
$26,950 – $50,740106,210
9Lifeguards, Ski Patrol, and Other Recreational Protective Service Workers$29,450
No formal educational credential
$22,580 – $41,74011,320

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

#	Occupation	MedianTexas	10th–90th percentilemiddle half shaded darker	Employed
1	First-Line Supervisors of Police and DetectivesHigh school diploma or equivalent	$111,000	$70,910 – $149,570	5,540
2	Detectives and Criminal InvestigatorsHigh school diploma or equivalent	$90,510	$52,510 – $132,850	18,870
3	First-Line Supervisors of Firefighting and Prevention WorkersPostsecondary nondegree award	$81,710	$60,260 – $118,590	8,660
4	Police and Sheriff's Patrol OfficersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$75,900	$51,240 – $98,350	63,100
5	FirefightersPostsecondary nondegree award	$60,180	$40,020 – $77,170	28,170
6	Correctional Officers and JailersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$52,670	$44,870 – $60,550	44,700
7	First-Line Supervisors of Security WorkersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$46,740	$23,940 – $89,960	6,490
8	Security GuardsHigh school diploma or equivalent	$35,980	$26,950 – $50,740	106,210
9	Lifeguards, Ski Patrol, and Other Recreational Protective Service WorkersNo formal educational credential	$29,450	$22,580 – $41,740	11,320

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

Metro areas in Texas

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

By field in Texas

Without a degree

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

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

More for Texas

Metro areas in Texas

By field in Texas

Without a degree

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