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

The best paid security and protective service occupations in Virginia 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 Virginia run 1.1% above the national average (2024), so a Virginia salary is worth about 0.99× 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 Virginia.

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

Find security jobs in Virginia

OccupationMedian, Virginia · Employed

1Transportation Security Screeners$69,910
High school diploma or equivalent
$46,130 – $76,9001,870
2Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers$65,870
High school diploma or equivalent
$50,000 – $96,82019,970
3Firefighters$58,670
Postsecondary nondegree award
$38,310 – $77,31011,160
4Correctional Officers and Jailers$50,140
High school diploma or equivalent
$46,320 – $70,57011,270
5Security Guards$43,640
High school diploma or equivalent
$30,990 – $73,06034,870
6Crossing Guards and Flaggers$37,560
No formal educational credential
$30,160 – $47,0601,940
7School Bus Monitors$36,510
High school diploma or equivalent
$28,220 – $46,0201,920
8Protective Service Workers, All Other$35,230
High school diploma or equivalent
$27,120 – $79,2504,000
9Lifeguards, Ski Patrol, and Other Recreational Protective Service Workers$30,070
No formal educational credential
$26,790 – $37,4508,920

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

#	Occupation	MedianVirginia	10th–90th percentilemiddle half shaded darker	Employed
1	Transportation Security ScreenersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$69,910	$46,130 – $76,900	1,870
2	Police and Sheriff's Patrol OfficersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$65,870	$50,000 – $96,820	19,970
3	FirefightersPostsecondary nondegree award	$58,670	$38,310 – $77,310	11,160
4	Correctional Officers and JailersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$50,140	$46,320 – $70,570	11,270
5	Security GuardsHigh school diploma or equivalent	$43,640	$30,990 – $73,060	34,870
6	Crossing Guards and FlaggersNo formal educational credential	$37,560	$30,160 – $47,060	1,940
7	School Bus MonitorsHigh school diploma or equivalent	$36,510	$28,220 – $46,020	1,920
8	Protective Service Workers, All OtherHigh school diploma or equivalent	$35,230	$27,120 – $79,250	4,000
9	Lifeguards, Ski Patrol, and Other Recreational Protective Service WorkersNo formal educational credential	$30,070	$26,790 – $37,450	8,920

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

Metro areas in Virginia

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

By field in Virginia

Without a degree

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

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

More for Virginia

Metro areas in Virginia

By field in Virginia

Without a degree

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