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

The best paid security and protective service occupations in Washington 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 Washington run 7.0% above the national average (2024), so a Washington salary is worth about 0.93× 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 Washington.

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

Find security jobs in Washington

OccupationMedian, Washington · Employed

1Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers$102,080
High school diploma or equivalent
$79,120 – $132,2009,160
2Firefighters$94,520
Postsecondary nondegree award
$47,640 – $123,9807,560
3Correctional Officers and Jailers$79,460
High school diploma or equivalent
$64,460 – $95,4306,800
4Crossing Guards and Flaggers$48,940
No formal educational credential
$40,280 – $78,4303,340
5Security Guards$47,100
High school diploma or equivalent
$37,720 – $68,39025,800
6Protective Service Workers, All Other$42,170
High school diploma or equivalent
$34,650 – $59,2104,530
7Lifeguards, Ski Patrol, and Other Recreational Protective Service Workers$37,770
No formal educational credential
$34,650 – $45,9404,720

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

#	Occupation	MedianWashington	10th–90th percentilemiddle half shaded darker	Employed
1	Police and Sheriff's Patrol OfficersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$102,080	$79,120 – $132,200	9,160
2	FirefightersPostsecondary nondegree award	$94,520	$47,640 – $123,980	7,560
3	Correctional Officers and JailersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$79,460	$64,460 – $95,430	6,800
4	Crossing Guards and FlaggersNo formal educational credential	$48,940	$40,280 – $78,430	3,340
5	Security GuardsHigh school diploma or equivalent	$47,100	$37,720 – $68,390	25,800
6	Protective Service Workers, All OtherHigh school diploma or equivalent	$42,170	$34,650 – $59,210	4,530
7	Lifeguards, Ski Patrol, and Other Recreational Protective Service WorkersNo formal educational credential	$37,770	$34,650 – $45,940	4,720

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

Metro areas in Washington

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

By field in Washington

Without a degree

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

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

More for Washington

Metro areas in Washington

By field in Washington

Without a degree

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