100+ Security & Public Safety Jobs in Chicago, IL

Observed government pay for sworn and broad protective roles is solid: police and sheriff's patrol officers in the Chicago metro had a $89,520 median annual wage, with a $70,180 to $106,470 25th-75th percentile range, and protective service occupations overall had a $32.19 median hourly wage. Proxy pay for firefighters points to a roughly similar middle, with a local median around $82,820 and a wide spread from about $42,080 entry level to about $112,930 for experienced workers. Recent posted salary ranges in the local sample center on about $82k to $104k for salaried jobs, while hourly postings center on about $20 to $22 per hour. Statewide offered-salary data from Revelio Public Labor Statistics is lower at about $46,683 on new Illinois openings for this category (n=536), which suggests many current ads are lower-paid guard, loss-prevention, or other non-sworn roles rather than only police and fire openings.

Full August 2026 market report

Advertised pay

Across the 85 openings that disclose pay, the advertised range midpoint runs $41,038 at the 25th percentile, $46,800 at the median and $52,104 at the 75th. These are advertised ranges, not earned pay.

Active openings as of September 25, 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 102 openings.

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What our analysts see this month

Balanced market | next 3-6 months

Chicago is a balanced market for protective services and public safety job seekers right now: there is real local hiring, but it is split between faster-moving retail and security openings and slower, higher-barrier public-sector roles. The Chicago Police Department held on-site recruitment sessions on August 17, August 24, and August 27, 2026, and Cook County was also advertising hospital police officer, correctional officer, and police sergeant openings in late August. But the backdrop is softer than it first appears, with metro unemployment at 4.9% in July 2026, an estimated 4.4% in August 2026, and Illinois protective-services postings down 16.4% year over year in August according to Revelio Public Labor Statistics.

Best positioned: Candidates who can work fully on-site, qualify for entry-level roles, and show first aid, CPR, surveillance, and incident-reporting skills have the best odds, especially if they apply across both retail loss-prevention and county/public-sector openings.

Main caution: Do not confuse visible police vacancies with quick hiring: local reporting described about 700 vacant Chicago police positions, but also said hiring had slowed to around 50 recruits per month with some academy classes paused for budget reasons.

From the August 2026 market report

Who is hiring here

Counted across all 102 openings in this market. 10 of the employers below are hiring for more than one role right now.

1. AUS: 28 open roles
2. Metro Paramedic Services: 5 open roles
3. Paramedic Services of Illinois, Inc.: 4 open roles
4. Allied Universal Corp: 3 open roles
5. Connect2Affect: 2 open roles
6. Guardian Security Services, Inc.: 2 open roles
7. Happy Camper: 2 open roles
8. Illinois: 2 open roles
9. Management & Training Corporation: 2 open roles
10. 美国联合包裹服务: 2 open roles

Where the openings are

• Chicago: 30
• Joliet: 8
• Romeoville: 4
• Naperville: 4
• Carol Stream: 3
• Aurora: 3
• Bensenville: 2
• Elgin: 2

Work arrangement

on-site 97 (95%), hybrid 3 (3%), remote 2 (2%)

Where the demand is

Local opportunity is spread across a long tail rather than one dominant employer. Over the last 90 days, the local sample showed more than 175 postings across more than 75 companies, and hiring was fragmented across employers rather than concentrated in one chain or agency. The biggest pool of openings is not pure law enforcement. In the sampled postings, retail made up about 50% of activity, far ahead of government & public sector at about 10%, healthcare at about 10%, education at about 5%, and security & safety at about 5%. That points many job seekers toward loss prevention, asset protection, and store-based safety roles first, even while public-sector recruiting stays visible. Public-sector and specialty demand is real but narrower. Chicago Police Department ran multiple August recruitment sessions, Cook County advertised roles such as hospital police officer, correctional officer, and police sergeant, the City of Chicago posted a Special Victims Investigator opening, and an industrial Firefighter Shift Captain role appeared in East Chicago.

• Retail loss prevention and asset protection (high): High-volume entry path because retail accounts for about 50% of sampled postings, and named employers in the sample include Albertsons Companies, Inc. and Jewel-Osco Inc.
• Public-sector sworn, corrections, and hospital police (moderate): Visible but slower-moving opportunity because CPD is actively recruiting and Cook County listed multiple related roles, while budget pacing can still stretch timelines.
• Specialized investigations and accountability work (moderate): Better fit for experienced applicants; COPA posted a Special Victims Investigator role at $90,144 starting pay, and local oversight recommendations raise the value of reporting and investigation skill.
• Industrial fire protection (limited): Real but niche demand exists in Lake County heavy industry, including a late-August Firefighter Shift Captain opening in East Chicago.

Where to focus: Run a two-track search: pursue retail or healthcare-based safety roles for faster interviews, while separately applying to sworn, corrections, and investigator openings that pay better but move slower.

Roles worth searching next

• Civilian oversight investigator or compliance investigator: Chicago's COPA investigator opening and local emphasis on reporting protocols point to a nearby path that uses interviewing, documentation, and case-review skills without requiring a sworn role.
• Safety coordinator or emergency preparedness coordinator: Emergency response, first aid, CPR, and incident reporting are all common in the local public-safety sample and transfer well into workplace safety roles.
• Fraud or claims investigator: Surveillance, interviewing, incident documentation, and case discipline overlap with the investigative side of this market.
• Industrial EHS or fire-prevention specialist: The East Chicago industrial fire opening shows that heavy-industry employers value emergency-response capability in plant settings, which can translate into broader environmental health and safety work.

What postings ask for

• First aid (table_stakes | immediate): It is the most frequently named certification in the local posting sample, and first aid also shows up among the most requested skills. Who: Entry-level candidates and career switchers.
• CPR (table_stakes | immediate): CPR appears in about 15% of sampled postings and pairs well with emergency-response roles in retail, healthcare, and campus settings. Who: Anyone targeting healthcare safety, school safety, or front-line response roles.
• Incident reporting (differentiator | immediate): Incident reporting appears in about 15% of sampled postings and is becoming more valuable as Chicago oversight work puts more weight on documentation and reporting protocols. Who: All candidates, especially career switchers who need a credible bridge skill.
• Surveillance (differentiator | near-term): Surveillance shows up in about 20% of local postings and is central to loss prevention, investigations, and hospital or campus safety work. Who: Entry-level applicants, private-sector security workers, and investigators.
• Emergency response (table_stakes | immediate): Emergency response appears in about 25% of local postings, making it one of the clearest cross-subrole skills in this market. Who: Anyone applying across police-adjacent, fire-adjacent, healthcare, or campus roles.
• Loss prevention and asset protection (table_stakes | immediate): Loss prevention appears in about 35% of local postings and asset protection in about 15%, so this is the fastest on-ramp into the market for many candidates. Who: New entrants, retail supervisors, and career switchers who need quick interviews.

Questions about this market

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

Observed government pay for sworn and broad protective roles is solid: police and sheriff's patrol officers in the Chicago metro had a $89,520 median annual wage, with a $70,180 to $106,470 25th-75th percentile range, and protective service occupations overall had a $32.19 median hourly wage. Proxy pay for firefighters points to a roughly similar middle, with a local median around $82,820 and a wide spread from about $42,080 entry level to about $112,930 for experienced workers. Recent posted salary ranges in the local sample center on about $82k to $104k for salaried jobs, while hourly postings center on about $20 to $22 per hour. Statewide offered-salary data from Revelio Public Labor Statistics is lower at about $46,683 on new Illinois openings for this category (n=536), which suggests many current ads are lower-paid guard, loss-prevention, or other non-sworn roles rather than only police and fire openings. Chicago pay can be attractive, but the market is clearly split: sworn police, firefighters, and specialized investigators sit in a much higher band than many hourly security or loss-prevention openings.

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

Local opportunity is spread across a long tail rather than one dominant employer. Over the last 90 days, the local sample showed more than 175 postings across more than 75 companies, and hiring was fragmented across employers rather than concentrated in one chain or agency. The biggest pool of openings is not pure law enforcement. In the sampled postings, retail made up about 50% of activity, far ahead of government & public sector at about 10%, healthcare at about 10%, education at about 5%, and security & safety at about 5%. That points many job seekers toward loss prevention, asset protection, and store-based safety roles first, even while public-sector recruiting stays visible. Public-sector and specialty demand is real but narrower. Chicago Police Department ran multiple August recruitment sessions, Cook County advertised roles such as hospital police officer, correctional officer, and police sergeant, the City of Chicago posted a Special Victims Investigator opening, and an industrial Firefighter Shift Captain role appeared in East Chicago.

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

Recent postings show the most activity from Albertsons Companies, Inc. (20 postings), Jewel-Osco Inc. (15 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, 5% are remote and 0% 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.

Browse Illinois openings by job title

• General Manager: 86 open roles statewide
• Senior Manager: 61 open roles statewide

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