50+ Security & Public Safety Jobs in Detroit, MI

Observed local pay for the full protective-service occupational family was about $53,970 at the median, $59,170 at the mean, $37,050 at the 25th percentile, $77,990 at the 75th, and $91,240 at the 90th in 2025. BLS also reported a Detroit-area mean hourly wage of $28.45 for protective-service occupations in May 2025, but that major-group figure does not tell you what police officers, firefighters, guards, or lifeguards each make locally.

Full September 2026 market report

Advertised pay

Across the 33 openings that disclose pay, the advertised range midpoint runs $41,600 at the 25th percentile, $54,184 at the median and $66,310 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.

Showing 30 of 50 openings.

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What our analysts see this month

Competitive market | next 3-6 months

This is a competitive market overall. Detroit-area unemployment was 5.7% in August 2026, and metro employment was down 1.5557% year over year, so employers have more choice than they did a year ago. There are still openings: BLS counted 36,520 protective-service workers in the metro in 2025, and the local sample showed more than 50 recent postings across more than 30 companies. The softer signal is statewide occupation demand, where Michigan protective-services employment was down 1.5% year over year and active postings were down 20.1% year over year in September 2026.

Best positioned: Candidates who can clear public-sector screening or who already hold CPR, first aid, and AED credentials and can work fully on-site have the best odds, because most sampled openings are entry-level and about 95% or more are on-site.

Main caution: The biggest trap is assuming all public-safety roles pay like sworn police or fire jobs; many visible local openings sit in retail, recreation, and other hourly roles that center on about $16 to $18 / hour.

From the September 2026 market report

Who is hiring here

Counted across all 50 openings in this market. 3 of the employers below are hiring for more than one role right now.

1. AUS: 10 open roles
2. City of Southfield: 3 open roles
3. Rochester Hills: 2 open roles
4. Aston Carter, Inc.: 1 open role
5. Circle Logistics Inc.: 1 open role
6. City of Birmingham, Michigan: 1 open role
7. City of Lincoln Park: 1 open role
8. Dean Transportation: 1 open role
9. Dearborn City Council: 1 open role
10. DEFEND Detroit: 1 open role

Where the openings are

• Detroit: 11
• Warren: 4
• Southfield: 4
• Rochester Hills: 3
• Windsor: 3
• Dearborn: 2
• Livonia: 2
• Romulus: 2

Work arrangement

on-site 47 (96%), hybrid 2 (4%)

Where the demand is

Real opportunity is not spread evenly across this category. In the local posting sample, retail makes up about 30% of openings and government administration about 20%, with wellness and fitness services, military and protective services, and education each around 10%. That mix points to many lower-barrier guard, loss-prevention, aquatics, and site-safety openings, plus a smaller set of career-track public jobs. The employer base is fragmented rather than dominated by one buyer. The most consistently active names in the recent sample include YMCA Detroit, AUS, Brownstown, MI, Meijer, and CNS Healthcare, each at around 5 postings. Skills demand matches that mix: surveillance, emergency response, first aid, CPR, lifeguarding, incident reporting, and loss prevention are the most common hard-skill asks. The practical takeaway is that sworn applicants and general security applicants should not use the same strategy. Public-sector hiring can offer better long-run pay and benefits, but faster placement is more likely in retail, recreation, education, and contract-style on-site roles.

• Retail and loss prevention (high): This is the biggest visible pocket: retail is about 30% of the local posting mix, and loss prevention shows up in about 15% of hard-skill mentions.
• Government and sworn pathways (moderate): Government administration is about 20% of sampled openings, and separate local signals show active sworn hiring interest from Detroit Police and a Michigan State Police employment day tied to future recruit schools.
• Aquatics, recreation, and youth safety (moderate): Wellness and fitness services are about 10% of the sample, with YMCA Detroit among the more active names and CPR, first aid, AED, and the American Red Cross lifeguard license appearing in requirements.

Where to focus: Run two tracks: use retail, recreation, and site-safety roles for faster income, but put your best effort into city, county, and state public-safety pipelines if you can meet their screening standards.

Roles worth searching next

• Public safety telecommunicator / dispatcher: It uses incident handling, calm communication, documentation, and shift discipline without requiring the same field duties as sworn work.
• Environmental health and safety coordinator: It rewards hazard awareness, emergency procedures, reporting, and policy enforcement.
• Facilities or campus operations coordinator: Access control, incident response, and on-site presence transfer well into campus and property operations.
• Recreation or aquatics program coordinator: This fits candidates building from lifeguard, CPR, AED, and youth-safety experience into a more stable operations role.

What postings ask for

• CPR (table_stakes | immediate): CPR appears in about 10% of required certifications and about 20% of requested hard skills in local postings. Who: Entry-level candidates, lifeguard or recreation applicants, and career switchers.
• First aid (table_stakes | immediate): First aid shows up in about 10% of certification requirements and about 25% of hard-skill mentions, making it one of the broadest cross-role signals in the local sample. Who: Anyone targeting guards, recreation safety, aquatics, or public-facing site roles.
• AED (differentiator | immediate): AED appears in about 10% of required certifications and about 15% of requested skills, which helps in aquatic, wellness, and facility-based roles. Who: Candidates applying to YMCA, school, campus, and recreation-style employers.
• Surveillance (table_stakes | immediate): Surveillance is tied for the most common hard skill in the local sample at about 25%. Who: Security, loss-prevention, and site-monitoring applicants.
• Emergency response (premium | immediate): Emergency response is also one of the most-requested hard skills, appearing in about 25% of local postings. Who: Applicants for public-sector tracks, campus safety, healthcare-site safety, and recreation safety.
• Incident reporting (differentiator | near-term): Incident reporting appears in about 15% of hard-skill mentions, and it is one of the easiest ways to prove you can handle risk, documentation, and policy enforcement. Who: Career switchers and candidates trying to move from front-line customer or service work into safety work.

Questions about this market

What do Protective Services & Public Safety roles pay in Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI?

Observed local pay for the full protective-service occupational family was about $53,970 at the median, $59,170 at the mean, $37,050 at the 25th percentile, $77,990 at the 75th, and $91,240 at the 90th in 2025. BLS also reported a Detroit-area mean hourly wage of $28.45 for protective-service occupations in May 2025, but that major-group figure does not tell you what police officers, firefighters, guards, or lifeguards each make locally. This reads like a split market. In the local posting sample, hourly-paid roles center on about $16 to $18 / hour, while a separate local pay signal put Detroit Police base pay at $53,000 at entry and $73,000 after four years.

Where is demand for Protective Services & Public Safety roles in Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI concentrated?

Real opportunity is not spread evenly across this category. In the local posting sample, retail makes up about 30% of openings and government administration about 20%, with wellness and fitness services, military and protective services, and education each around 10%. That mix points to many lower-barrier guard, loss-prevention, aquatics, and site-safety openings, plus a smaller set of career-track public jobs. The employer base is fragmented rather than dominated by one buyer. The most consistently active names in the recent sample include YMCA Detroit, AUS, Brownstown, MI, Meijer, and CNS Healthcare, each at around 5 postings. Skills demand matches that mix: surveillance, emergency response, first aid, CPR, lifeguarding, incident reporting, and loss prevention are the most common hard-skill asks. The practical takeaway is that sworn applicants and general security applicants should not use the same strategy. Public-sector hiring can offer better long-run pay and benefits, but faster placement is more likely in retail, recreation, education, and contract-style on-site roles.

Which employers are hiring the most Protective Services & Public Safety talent in Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI?

Recent postings show the most activity from YMCA Detroit (5 postings), AUS (5 postings), Brownstown, MI (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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