High paying security and protective service jobs in California with no experience

The best paid security and protective service occupations in California that require neither a degree nor prior experience in a related job. 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 California run 10.7% above the national average (2024), so a California salary is worth about 0.90× 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 California.

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

Find security jobs in California

OccupationMedian, California · Employed

1Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers$118,880
High school diploma or equivalent
$76,300 – $153,19065,940
2Correctional Officers and Jailers$96,370
High school diploma or equivalent
$63,380 – $114,73037,860
3Firefighters$85,120
Postsecondary nondegree award
$52,390 – $136,15031,470
4Crossing Guards and Flaggers$50,610
No formal educational credential
$35,270 – $81,4409,390
5Security Guards$43,240
High school diploma or equivalent
$36,010 – $57,880199,480
6Lifeguards, Ski Patrol, and Other Recreational Protective Service Workers$42,720
No formal educational credential
$34,620 – $58,71022,620
7Protective Service Workers, All Other$39,330
High school diploma or equivalent
$34,320 – $72,43026,360

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

#	Occupation	MedianCalifornia	10th–90th percentilemiddle half shaded darker	Employed
1	Police and Sheriff's Patrol OfficersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$118,880	$76,300 – $153,190	65,940
2	Correctional Officers and JailersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$96,370	$63,380 – $114,730	37,860
3	FirefightersPostsecondary nondegree award	$85,120	$52,390 – $136,150	31,470
4	Crossing Guards and FlaggersNo formal educational credential	$50,610	$35,270 – $81,440	9,390
5	Security GuardsHigh school diploma or equivalent	$43,240	$36,010 – $57,880	199,480
6	Lifeguards, Ski Patrol, and Other Recreational Protective Service WorkersNo formal educational credential	$42,720	$34,620 – $58,710	22,620
7	Protective Service Workers, All OtherHigh school diploma or equivalent	$39,330	$34,320 – $72,430	26,360

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

Metro areas in California

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

By field in California

Without a degree

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

High paying security and protective service jobs in California with no experience

More for California

Metro areas in California

By field in California

Without a degree

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