How Much Does a Security Guard Cost to Hire? Real Rates and What You’re Paying For

By Yair Arad · Rates last verified November 8, 2026

This guide is for the buyer: rates from public contracts and government wage data you can check, and pricing logic from my years managing contract security in California, in two stints between about 2000 and 2013.

How much does a security guard cost?

A contract security guard costs a client from $17.00 an hour, the lowest unarmed rate on Mississippi’s state vendor list, to a median of $48.68 an hour for unarmed guards on federal GSA schedules; armed guards cost more, with a federal median of $67.60. IBISWorld, a market research firm, puts its 2026 national benchmark at $48.5 per guard-hour.

Guard type	Hourly price (USD)	Source and date
Unarmed, state contract	$17.00–$26.00	Mississippi vendor list, May 2024–Mar 2027
Unarmed, federal schedule ceiling	$48.68 median	GSA CALC+, Nov 8, 2026
Armed, state contract	$18.95–$29.88	Mississippi vendor list, May 2024–Mar 2027
Armed, federal schedule ceiling	$67.60 median	GSA CALC+, Nov 8, 2026
Entry-level guard, long-term post	$21.62–$27.86	Florida state contract, three companies, Oct 2024–Sep 2027
Entry-level guard, occasional or event	$24.04–$41.78	Florida state contract, same three companies

These are reference points for your own quotes: your price depends on local wages, hours, notice, commitment and whether the guard is armed.

The 24/7 math. Round-the-clock coverage is 168 hours a week. Multiply the hourly rate by 24 for a day, by 728 for an average month (168 × 52 ÷ 12) and by 8,736 for a year.

24/7 coverage	At $17.00/hr (Mississippi low)	At $48.50/hr (IBISWorld benchmark)
Per day (24 hours)	$408	$1,164
Per month (728 hours)	$12,376	$35,308
Per year (8,736 hours)	$148,512	$423,696

Those 168 hours equal 4.2 full-time 40-hour schedules before vacation, sick days or training, so a 24/7 post needs more than four guards. Ask how each company staffs relief. Rates as of November 2026.

Prefer to watch? This 6-minute video walks through the same math: why the cheaper quote usually cuts guard pay and supervision, what 24/7 coverage costs, and the checklist to run before you sign.

Notes on the video: it was made with AI tools from this guide, and its charts are illustrative. The 42 classroom hours it mentions for California are not required yet; see California guard training changes. The 24/7 math it mentions is the paragraph above, not a separate calculator.

What do public agencies actually pay?

Public agencies pay the rates in their published contracts, from $17.00 an hour on Mississippi’s list to federal ceilings with a $67.60 armed median. Each layer below measures something different, and the table says what.

Layer	Source and date	What it is	Hourly rate (USD)
Federal	GSA CALC+, 75 unarmed and 73 armed guard rates, Nov 8, 2026	Ceiling: the most a schedule holder may charge federal buyers	Unarmed median $48.68 ($27.88–$101.37); armed median $67.60 ($30.49–$133.66)
Federal	Service Contract Act wage determination 2015-5613, rev. 34, Los Angeles County, Aug 20, 2026	Floor: minimum guard pay on covered federal contracts	Guard I $20.36; Guard II $23.77; plus $5.92 health and welfare
Federal	Wage determination 2015-4281, rev. 39, Washington, D.C. area, Aug 22, 2026	Floor, as above	Guard I $20.31; Guard II $22.72; plus $5.92
State	Mississippi preapproved vendor list, May 1, 2024–Mar 31, 2027	Bill rate agencies pay	Unarmed foot patrol $17.00–$26.00; armed $18.95–$29.88
State	Florida contract 92121500-24-STC, Oct 1, 2024–Sep 30, 2027	Bill rate agencies pay (Allied Universal, GardaWorld and First Coast price sheets)	Long-term Level I $21.62–$27.86; Level VI $33.84–$51.48
Local	New York City Local Law 61 of 2026, from Jan 1, 2027	Floor: minimum pay for covered guards	Unarmed new hire $18.87; unarmed fully qualified $22.20; armed $33.70

The gap between the federal wage floors and the GSA ceilings is what pays for overhead and profit.

Treat public rates as a floor for comparing quotes. Public buyers commit to long terms and fixed scopes, and Mississippi’s list encourages agencies to contact the lowest bidder first. Commitment changes the price even within one company: Allied Universal’s Florida sheet lists $23.80 an hour for a long-term Level I guard, the lowest of six levels, and $38.08 for occasional service.

Why is the hourly rate so much higher than the guard’s pay?

The price you pay, the bill rate, covers far more than the guard’s wage, the pay rate: payroll taxes, workers’ compensation, insurance, supervision, training, uniforms, relief and profit. Markup is the bill rate divided by the pay rate, minus one, so a $30 bill rate on a $20 wage is a 50% markup.

The U.S. median guard wage was $18.28 an hour ($38,020 a year) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Published estimates of the guard’s share of the bill rate disagree:

• SecurityInfoWatch, a trade publication (2018): 55% to 65%.
• Trackforce, a guard-software vendor: about 70%, though its own medians ($15 pay, $23 bill, December 2019 data) work out to 65%.
• A pay and bill rate baseline hosted by the International Foundation for Protection Officers (December 2019 data): 67% to 75%.

As markups, a 55% share is about 82% and a 75% share is 33%. The data is several years old, so treat it as a rough range.

When I managed a guard company in California, I paid guards the industry benchmark wage and billed the client that wage, plus overhead such as insurance and other costs, plus a standard profit percentage. That was pricing from the 2000s, so take the structure as the lesson.

Illustrative scenario: not a report of a real event. Every number in this table is a hypothetical assumption, not observed data.

Cost line	Hypothetical $/hour
Guard wage (assumed)	$20.00
Payroll taxes, workers’ comp and insurance (assumed 25% of wage)	$5.00
Supervision, training, uniforms and admin (assumed)	$4.00
Profit (assumed 10% of the $29.00 cost)	$2.90
Bill rate	$31.90

Here the wage is 63% of the bill rate. If a rival bids $26.00 for the same post, most of the missing $5.90 must come from the wage, supervision, training or profit, because payroll taxes and insurance are set by law and insurers. In my experience, when a post is won on the lowest bid, guard quality is what suffers. Clients rarely argued with me about price; I sold on quality and value.

For what guards earn by state, see our security guard salary guide.

What changes the price, including in 2027?

Armed coverage, short notice, commitment length and local wage laws move the price, and two wage changes take effect on January 1, 2027.

• Armed or unarmed. The median armed GSA ceiling ($67.60) is 39% above the unarmed median ($48.68). Armed posts add licensing, training and insurance; see armed vs. unarmed security guards.
• Events and short notice. On Florida’s contract, GardaWorld’s occasional Level I rates run $24.04 to $26.77 against $23.36 to $24.72 long-term; First Coast’s run $32.43 to $41.78 against $21.62 to $27.86.
• Overtime, holidays and short-notice shifts. In my contracts, these rates were set in the agreement and scope of work before service started. Get yours in writing before the first shift.
• Site type. Retail, construction, residential and event posts carry different duties. Put them in the post orders so every company quotes the same job.
• New York City, January 1, 2027. Local Law 61 of 2026 sets minimum pay for covered guards: $18.87 for unarmed new hires, $22.20 for fully qualified unarmed guards and $33.70 for armed guards, rising May 1, 2027 to $19.68, $23.15 and $34.65. Bill rates sit above these floors.
• California, January 1, 2027. The minimum wage rises from $16.90 to $17.40, about 95% of the national median guard wage. Where entry-level guard pay sits near that floor, the increase reaches the bill rate.
• New York State. No general increase on January 1, 2027: the minimum stays $17.00 in New York City, Long Island and Westchester and $16.00 elsewhere.
• California training, from 2029. SB 1203, signed September 30, 2026, raises guard training to 42 classroom hours and annual training from 8 to 12 hours, starting January 1, 2029, with employers paying for the time.

Can you hire a guard directly, and how do you check a company?

Yes in many states, but in-house guards are regulated too: California and Texas both allow it, under rules that differ from a guard company’s license.

• California. A business whose own uniformed, unarmed officers protect only that business and are likely to deal with the public registers with the Bureau of Security and Investigative Services (BSIS) as a proprietary private security employer, and the officers register too. BSIS says these officers cannot carry a weapon, and the employer must provide their annual training.
• Texas. Occupations Code §1702.323 exempts employees who work only for their own employer, unless they deal with the public, wear a security uniform, badge or patch and perform guard duties. Then the business must register its security department with the Texas Department of Public Safety first, and armed in-house officers need a commission.
• Other states. Start from our state licensing guides.

Before you sign with a guard company:

1. Look up the license: in California through the DCA License Search that BSIS links to, in Texas through the DPS TOPS search, elsewhere through your state’s regulator.
2. Ask for a current certificate of insurance. California requires private patrol operators to carry general liability of at least $1,000,000 per occurrence; Texas sets its minimums in Occupations Code §1702.124.
3. Ask who covers a no-show, and how fast. I kept an on-call guard list, and if nobody was available, I covered the post myself.
4. Ask which reports you will receive, how often and in what format, and who supervises nights and weekends.

What should the contract and the post require?

The contract should settle scope, reporting, coverage, authority, safety and insurance before the first shift. This checklist is for discussion with the company and your attorney, not contract language.

• Scope and post orders: posts, hours, duties and who may change them (see our post orders template).
• Rates for overtime, holidays and short-notice shifts.
• Reports: a daily activity report each shift, incident reports by a stated deadline, and a log at the post.
• No-show coverage: who covers the post and how fast.
• Patrol proof: the company’s patrol-verification reports or portal access (see guard tour systems).
• Officer authority, including detaining people.
• Life safety: guards never lock or block exits, prop fire doors or disable alarms.
• Records and privacy: what personal data the post may record, and who keeps the logs.
• Insurance certificate on file, plus termination and notice terms.

On my posts I used DARs, paper reports and logs. Documentation is a necessity, and I prefer paper because there is always a backup. Records kept on your premises also stay with you if you change guard companies.

Paid links: Security Dogma earns a commission on purchases made through the links below. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

How we chose these: research-based picks, not hands-on tests, each tied to the checklist above or to published crime-prevention research. Listings were screened for brand, specifications and red flags on November 8, 2026. Picks are not ranked by commission.

Is a guard worth it, or is there a cheaper option?

It depends on whether you need someone who can respond in person. A guard can; cameras, lighting and alarms deter, detect or record and leave the response to someone else.

In between sit mobile patrols and remote video monitoring, and many pages comparing them come from companies that sell them. For a mixed setup, see hybrid corporate security.

The research support is modest. A 40-year review of CCTV studies (Piza and colleagues, 2019) found a modest, significant drop in crime, largest in car parks, with actively monitored systems doing better. A review of 13 street-lighting studies found an average 21% drop, but the four night-time-only studies found none.

No source we found measures how many guard hours these tools replace, so use them on low-risk hours and keep guards for high-risk windows. A panic button is only as useful as the monitoring behind it; ask your alarm installer about a monitored holdup zone.

Paid links: Security Dogma earns a commission on purchases made through the links below. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Frequently asked questions

How much does a security guard cost for one night, one event or a wedding?

Multiply the hourly rate by the hours, and expect event rates above long-term rates: on Florida’s state contract, three companies price an occasional entry-level guard at $24.04 to $41.78 an hour. Ask about minimum shift lengths.

How much does a security guard cost for a home?

Like any post: the hourly rate times the hours. Check the license and insurance, and whether the guard will be armed, which raises the rate.

How much does a security guard cost per year?

One guard on a 40-hour schedule works 2,080 hours a year: $35,360 at $17.00 an hour and $100,880 at $48.50. Full 24/7 coverage is 8,736 hours: $148,512 to $423,696 at the same rates.

Sources

Every source below was opened on November 8, 2026, the date the rates on this page were last verified.

• U.S. General Services Administration: CALC+ hourly labor ceiling rates, guard labor categories, data of November 8, 2026.
• SAM.gov: Service Contract Act wage determinations 2015-5613, revision 34 (Los Angeles County, August 20, 2026) and 2015-4281, revision 39 (Washington, D.C. area, August 22, 2026).
• U.S. Department of Labor: Fact Sheet #67, the McNamara-O’Hara Service Contract Act.
• Mississippi Department of Finance and Administration: Security Services Preapproved Vendor List, May 1, 2024 to March 31, 2027.
• Florida Department of Management Services: Security Guard Services state term contract 92121500-24-STC, price sheets, October 1, 2024 to September 30, 2027.
• New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection: Minimum wage schedule for security guards (Local Law 61 of 2026).
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: Occupational Outlook Handbook, Security Guards, May 2025 wage data.
• IBISWorld: Security Guard Services in the US, procurement benchmark price, 2026.
• SecurityInfoWatch: Getting what you pay for with contract guards (2018); Trackforce pay and bill rate medians and the pay and bill rate baseline hosted by the International Foundation for Protection Officers (both December 2019 data).
• California Department of Industrial Relations: 2027 minimum wage announcement; New York State: minimum wage for 2027.
• California Legislature: SB 1203 (2025–2026 session), approved September 30, 2026.
• California Bureau of Security and Investigative Services: proprietary private security employer fact sheet, proprietary security officer FAQ and private patrol operator insurance requirements.
• Texas Department of Public Safety: Private business with internal security: registration requirement; Texas Occupations Code §§1702.124 and 1702.323.
• Piza, Welsh, Farrington and Thomas (2019): CCTV surveillance for crime prevention: a 40-year systematic review with meta-analysis, Criminology & Public Policy.
• College of Policing: Crime Reduction Toolkit, street lighting.
• Product details: the Amazon listings linked in the cards, checked from a U.S. delivery address on November 8, 2026, and the Detex EAX-500 specification sheet.