100+ Security & Public Safety Jobs in Chicago, IL

Observed local wage anchors are better than the broad state posting average: the BLS shows a $32.19 median hourly wage for protective-service workers in metro Chicago, police and sheriff's patrol officers had a $71,940 median annual wage with a $55,660 to $87,320 middle band, and the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice lists $65,004 as a starting salary for Juvenile Justice Specialist. By contrast, live metro postings sampled by the Callings.ai job database center on about $72k to $73k for annual roles and about $18 to $20 / hour for hourly roles, while Revelio Public Labor Statistics shows a statewide mean offered salary of about $47,071 on new openings in July 2026 (n=569).

Full July 2026 market report

Advertised pay

Across the 90 openings that disclose pay, the advertised range midpoint runs $42,151 at the 25th percentile, $48,797 at the median and $56,602 at the 75th. These are advertised ranges, not earned pay.

Active openings as of September 7, 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.

Showing 30 of 109 openings.

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What our analysts see this month

Competitive market | next 3-6 months

Chicago is still a viable market for Protective Services & Public Safety, but it is not an easy one right now. Public agencies are actively recruiting, including Chicago Police for 2026 academy classes, Chicago Fire for 2026 hiring, and the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice for Juvenile Justice Specialist screening in nearby St. Charles. The catch is that statewide July signals for this occupation are softer than a year ago, with Illinois protective-services employment down 2.9% and active postings down 3.3% year over year, while metro unemployment reached 5.3% in June.

Best positioned: Candidates with academy-ready or custody-ready backgrounds, current first aid and CPR credentials, and willingness to work fully on-site shifts have the best odds, especially for sworn, fire, corrections, and structured public-agency pipelines.

Main caution: Do not mistake the visible volume of lower-paid retail security or seasonal safety openings for broad access to higher-paid sworn roles; the top pay bands are real, but they are concentrated and have tougher screening gates.

From the July 2026 market report

Who is hiring here

Counted across all 109 openings in this market. 10 of the employers below are hiring for more than one role right now.

1. AUS: 23 open roles
2. Titan Security Group: 5 open roles
3. Metro Paramedic Services: 4 open roles
4. Paramedic Services of Illinois, Inc.: 4 open roles
5. Maine207: 3 open roles
6. Alarm Detection Systems, Inc.: 2 open roles
7. Benedictine College: 2 open roles
8. Caesars Entertainment Corporation: 2 open roles
9. Connect2Affect: 2 open roles
10. QUINLAN ALARM SYSTEMS INC: 2 open roles

Where the openings are

• Chicago: 30
• Joliet: 7
• Aurora: 5
• Berwyn: 4
• Glenwood: 4
• Lisle: 3
• Elgin: 3
• Naperville: 3

Work arrangement

on-site 102 (95%), remote 3 (3%), hybrid 2 (2%)

Where the demand is

Real opportunity is split between two very different markets. The high-volume side is fragmented across more than 75 companies and more than 125 recent postings, with retail accounting for about 40% of sampled openings and most roles sitting at the entry level. That means the easiest points of entry are often security, loss prevention, lifeguarding, and other frontline posts rather than detective or command-track jobs. The career-path side is more concentrated in public agencies. Chicago Police is recruiting for 2026 academy classes, Chicago Fire is actively hiring for 2026, the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice is screening Juvenile Justice Specialists, and Chicago Police has also highlighted hiring in its Forensic Services Division. Those openings can offer better long-run pay or promotion potential, but they usually come with formal testing, background checks, training standards, and longer hiring cycles. Because the private sample is fragmented, no single employer dominates the market. That lowers single-employer risk, but it also means many openings are small-batch rather than one large hiring wave.

• Government sworn and custody pathways (high): Police academy, fire recruitment, juvenile justice, and related public-agency pipelines are active locally, but they screen harder and hire on longer timelines.
• Retail security and loss prevention (high): Retail makes up about 40% of sampled postings, and employers such as Shaws Grocery, The TJX Companies, Inc., and Albertsons Companies, Inc. appear repeatedly in the sample; this is the clearest near-term entry lane, though usually weaker on pay progression.
• Seasonal and recreation safety (moderate): Sports and recreation accounts for about 10% of sampled postings, and lifeguarding appears among the more common skill clusters, making this a practical bridge for entry-level candidates.
• Forensic and investigative support (limited): Chicago Police publicized multiple Forensic Services Division openings, suggesting a smaller but specialized lane for applicants strong in evidence handling and documentation.

Where to focus: If you need a job within 30-60 days, focus on retail/security and custody-adjacent roles; if you want better long-run pay, invest your time in sworn or fire entry pipelines and accept the longer screening cycle.

Roles worth searching next

• Juvenile Justice Specialist: The Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice is actively screening this role at its St. Charles site, making it a realistic bridge for applicants interested in custody, supervision, and public-sector structure.
• Probation Officer or Correctional Treatment Specialist: This is a credible public-service pivot for candidates who want supervision and justice-system work without following a patrol path.
• EMT or Paramedic: Firefighter paths often value or require EMT preparation, but pure EMT and paramedic jobs belong in the healthcare-practitioners track rather than this one.
• Forensic Services support roles: Chicago Police has publicized hiring for multiple roles in its Forensic Services Division, which can appeal to candidates who like investigative work but are not on the sworn-officer path.

What postings ask for

• Emergency response (table_stakes | immediate): Emergency response is the most-requested hard skill in the local sample at about 35%, so it is a baseline signal of readiness across security, custody, and fire-oriented roles. Who: Entry-level applicants, career switchers, and anyone moving from customer-facing work into public safety.
• First aid (table_stakes | immediate): First aid appears both as a common required certification at about 20% and as a frequent hard skill at about 25%, which makes it one of the clearest low-cost screening advantages. Who: Entry-level security, lifeguarding, juvenile justice, and seasonal safety candidates.
• CPR and AED (table_stakes | immediate): CPR shows up repeatedly in local requirements, with CPR at about 10% among certifications and about 20% among hard skills, while AED appears in about 10% of certifications. Who: Anyone applying to frontline, dispatcher, recreation-safety, or fire-related roles.
• Incident reporting and report writing (differentiator | near-term): Incident reporting and report writing are explicit local skill signals, and they help employers trust candidates who can document events, evidence, and compliance cleanly. Who: Mid-career candidates, security staff moving up, and applicants targeting forensic or investigative-support work.
• Surveillance and loss prevention (differentiator | near-term): Surveillance and loss prevention each show up as meaningful local skill requests, and they map directly to the retail-heavy side of the current Chicago market. Who: Career switchers and entry-level applicants who need a faster route into the category.
• Trauma-informed and human-trafficking response training (premium | near-term): Illinois updated frontline and law-enforcement training expectations in 2026 around trauma-informed care and human-trafficking response, so fresh training can make you more current than applicants relying on older certifications alone. Who: Law-enforcement, corrections, juvenile justice, and dispatch applicants.

Questions about this market

What do Protective Services & Public Safety roles pay in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN?

Observed local wage anchors are better than the broad state posting average: the BLS shows a $32.19 median hourly wage for protective-service workers in metro Chicago, police and sheriff's patrol officers had a $71,940 median annual wage with a $55,660 to $87,320 middle band, and the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice lists $65,004 as a starting salary for Juvenile Justice Specialist. By contrast, live metro postings sampled by the Callings.ai job database center on about $72k to $73k for annual roles and about $18 to $20 / hour for hourly roles, while Revelio Public Labor Statistics shows a statewide mean offered salary of about $47,071 on new openings in July 2026 (n=569). This is a market where decent pay exists, but it is uneven. Once you clear sworn, fire, or structured custody pipelines, pay can be solid by local standards, but much of the visible live market sits in lower-paid hourly security and safety roles.

Where is demand for Protective Services & Public Safety roles in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN concentrated?

Real opportunity is split between two very different markets. The high-volume side is fragmented across more than 75 companies and more than 125 recent postings, with retail accounting for about 40% of sampled openings and most roles sitting at the entry level. That means the easiest points of entry are often security, loss prevention, lifeguarding, and other frontline posts rather than detective or command-track jobs. The career-path side is more concentrated in public agencies. Chicago Police is recruiting for 2026 academy classes, Chicago Fire is actively hiring for 2026, the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice is screening Juvenile Justice Specialists, and Chicago Police has also highlighted hiring in its Forensic Services Division. Those openings can offer better long-run pay or promotion potential, but they usually come with formal testing, background checks, training standards, and longer hiring cycles. Because the private sample is fragmented, no single employer dominates the market. That lowers single-employer risk, but it also means many openings are small-batch rather than one large hiring wave.

Which employers are hiring the most Protective Services & Public Safety talent in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN?

Recent postings show the most activity from Shaws Grocery (5 postings), Crymca (5 postings), The TJX Companies, Inc. (5 postings). See the full market report for the complete employer landscape.

Can Protective Services & Public Safety roles in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN be done remotely?

Of recent postings, 0% are remote and 5% hybrid, with 95% on-site. Use the Remote filter above to see only remote openings.

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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