Security & Public Safety Jobs in Charlotte, NC

Government data says the broad protective-services group in Charlotte averaged $24.95 per hour in May 2025, versus $33.13 across all occupations locally and $29.19 for protective-services nationally. For the broad SOC 33 family, BLS shows a local median of $45,100, a 75th percentile of $62,890, and a 90th percentile of $81,240. Sworn-police pay sits higher: Charlotte patrol officers had a $60,670 median in May 2023, and CMPD's July 2026 recruiting update put new recruits at $65,478 and lateral recruits at $68,744–$87,526. As a proxy check, Revelio Public Labor Statistics put the mean offered salary on new North Carolina protective-services openings at about $52,316 in September 2026 with n=197.

Full September 2026 market report

Advertised pay

Across the 10 openings that disclose pay, the advertised range midpoint runs $39,738 at the 25th percentile, $42,120 at the median and $58,479 at the 75th. These are advertised ranges, not earned pay.

Active openings as of October 16, 2026

Senior roles | Entry level | Remote | Posted this week

Live from the Callings.ai index of over 13 million postings, refreshed hourly and re-checked here nightly. Roles that close are dropped at the next refresh.

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What our analysts see this month

Balanced market | next 3-6 months

Charlotte is a workable but selective market for protective-services job seekers. Metro unemployment was 3.7% in August 2026 and total nonfarm employment was up 1.5427% year-over-year, so the broader labor market is still supportive. But occupation-specific signals are cooler: Revelio Public Labor Statistics shows North Carolina protective-services employment down 1.6% year-over-year and active postings down 32.2% year-over-year in September 2026. The clearest local demand is in sworn policing, fire-service expansion, and institutional or community safety roles rather than a wide-open market across every sub-role.

Best positioned: The best odds right now belong to already-certified or cert-ready candidates who can clear public-safety screening quickly and are open to fully on-site shift work.

Main caution: Do not read the broad-category average as the whole market: BLS put Charlotte protective-services pay at $24.95 per hour in May 2025, while CMPD said new recruits start at $65,478 and lateral recruits at $68,744–$87,526 in July 2026.

From the September 2026 market report

Who is hiring here

Counted across all 24 openings in this market. 5 of the employers below are hiring for more than one role right now.

1. AUS: 4 open roles
2. Acts Retirement-Life Communities, Inc.: 3 open roles
3. Crescent Hotels & Resorts: 2 open roles
4. ELITE SECURITY AGENCY LLC: 2 open roles
5. Great Lakes Petroleum Co.: 2 open roles
6. Avalon Transportation, LLC: 1 open role
7. BEST Crowd Management: 1 open role
8. Brookdale Senior Living: 1 open role
9. CLT Airport: 1 open role
10. Harris Teeter, LLC.: 1 open role

Where the openings are

• Charlotte: 16
• Matthews: 2
• Davidson: 1
• Rock Hill: 1
• Denver: 1
• Indian Trail: 1
• York County: 1
• Mecklenburg County: 1

Work arrangement

on-site 24 (100%)

Where the demand is

Most of the real opportunity is clustered around public agencies and institutional employers, not a huge spread of interchangeable security jobs. CMPD is actively recruiting lateral officers, aims to fill four academy classes a year, and has more than 30 specialized units that create internal career paths once you are in. A second cluster sits in fire and community-facing safety. Charlotte broke ground on Firehouse 44 on October 8, signaling service expansion in a growing area, while transit security added roughly 1,000 hours per week of off-duty police and sheriff-deputy presence on the Blue Line. The smaller but steadier private and institutional lane shows up in the local posting mix, where Ymcaup, Atrium Health Enterprise, and Atrium Health were among the most consistently active names in the last 90 days, and common skills included emergency response, surveillance, incident reporting, and access control.

• Sworn police and sheriff pathways (high): This is the clearest high-opportunity lane because CMPD is recruiting laterals, runs multiple academy classes, and highlights long-run specialization options.
• Fire protection and municipal response (moderate): Fire demand looks tied to city growth and service expansion, with Firehouse 44 as the strongest recent local signal.
• Hospital, community, and seasonal safety roles (moderate): These roles are visible through employers such as Atrium Health and Ymcaup and lean heavily on first aid, reporting, surveillance, and access-control skills.

Where to focus: If you qualify for academy or lateral police or fire tracks, prioritize those first; otherwise target hospital, campus, transit-adjacent, and YMCA-style safety roles where first aid, reporting, and access-control skills transfer best.

Roles worth searching next

• Public Safety Telecommunicator / 911 Dispatcher: It keeps you in public safety without field response, and APCO released a new PST 1 curriculum on September 30, 2026.
• Emergency Management Specialist: Emergency-response and incident-command skills transfer well from protective-services backgrounds, especially for candidates who want planning and coordination work rather than patrol or guard duty.
• EHS / Safety Coordinator: First aid, CPR, and compliance-minded safety work overlap strongly with the credential mix seen in local public-safety postings.
• Fraud / Risk Investigator: Charlotte's finance-heavy economy creates a reasonable pivot for candidates with surveillance, reporting, and investigative habits; North Carolina financial activities employment was 311.7 thousand in August 2026.

What postings ask for

• General law enforcement certification (table_stakes | immediate): It is one of the most common credentials in local postings, and CMPD is actively recruiting certified lateral officers. Who: Entry-level academy applicants and mid-career officers moving into Charlotte.
• First aid / professional CPR / O2 / bloodborne pathogens (table_stakes | immediate): These credentials recur across local postings, especially around lifeguard and community-safety work. Who: Entry-level applicants, seasonal applicants, and career switchers who need proof of readiness fast.
• Emergency response (table_stakes | immediate): It is the most-requested hard skill in the local posting sample, showing up in about 30% of postings. Who: Everyone in this category.
• Incident reporting and documentation (differentiator | near-term): Incident reporting appears in about 20% of local postings, and public-safety workflows are becoming more digital and evidence-heavy. Who: Career switchers, mid-career security staff, and anyone targeting civilian support or supervisory roles.
• Surveillance and access control (differentiator | near-term): Surveillance shows up in about 20% of local postings and access control in about 15%, which makes this especially useful for hospital, campus, and transit-facing roles. Who: Applicants targeting institutional security rather than sworn policing.
• De-escalation, ethics, and mental-health awareness (differentiator | near-term): CMPD academy coverage highlighted de-escalation and ethics as core training, and rookie officers have been receiving QPR suicide-prevention training. Who: Police applicants, supervisors, and career switchers coming from customer-facing work.

Questions about this market

What do Protective Services & Public Safety roles pay in Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC?

Government data says the broad protective-services group in Charlotte averaged $24.95 per hour in May 2025, versus $33.13 across all occupations locally and $29.19 for protective-services nationally. For the broad SOC 33 family, BLS shows a local median of $45,100, a 75th percentile of $62,890, and a 90th percentile of $81,240. Sworn-police pay sits higher: Charlotte patrol officers had a $60,670 median in May 2023, and CMPD's July 2026 recruiting update put new recruits at $65,478 and lateral recruits at $68,744–$87,526. As a proxy check, Revelio Public Labor Statistics put the mean offered salary on new North Carolina protective-services openings at about $52,316 in September 2026 with n=197. This is a market where headline pay depends heavily on which sub-path you land. Police and some fire tracks can clear the broad-category average, while entry security, community safety, and seasonal roles pull the average down.

Where is demand for Protective Services & Public Safety roles in Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC concentrated?

Most of the real opportunity is clustered around public agencies and institutional employers, not a huge spread of interchangeable security jobs. CMPD is actively recruiting lateral officers, aims to fill four academy classes a year, and has more than 30 specialized units that create internal career paths once you are in. A second cluster sits in fire and community-facing safety. Charlotte broke ground on Firehouse 44 on October 8, signaling service expansion in a growing area, while transit security added roughly 1,000 hours per week of off-duty police and sheriff-deputy presence on the Blue Line. The smaller but steadier private and institutional lane shows up in the local posting mix, where Ymcaup, Atrium Health Enterprise, and Atrium Health were among the most consistently active names in the last 90 days, and common skills included emergency response, surveillance, incident reporting, and access control.

Which employers are hiring the most Protective Services & Public Safety talent in Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC?

Recent postings show the most activity from Ymcaup (5 postings), Atrium Health Enterprise (5 postings), Atrium Health (5 postings). See the full market report for the complete employer landscape.

How current are these listings?

Openings come from the Callings.ai live index of over 13 million jobs, refreshed hourly. This page searches postings from the last 30 days; run the search yourself to filter by anything else in plain language.

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