Security & Public Safety Jobs in Nashville, TN

Observed pay is mixed. The clearest direct local signals are a metro-wide average wage of $25.87 an hour for protective service occupations from BLS and a current TBI police opening at $4,562 to $6,825 per month. Proxy listings then show higher structured police pay, including MNPD trainee pay around $65,097 to $69,718, police officer 2 pay at $74,464, and correctional trainee pay at $56,669 to $63,135.

Full July 2026 market report

Advertised pay

Across the 16 openings that disclose pay, the advertised range midpoint runs $36,421 at the 25th percentile, $40,560 at the median and $49,617 at the 75th. These are advertised ranges, not earned pay.

Active openings as of September 10, 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

This is a workable but segmented market: Nashville metro unemployment was 3.2% in June 2026, and total metro nonfarm employment was up 1.5646% year over year, so the local economy is still creating room for hiring. Within protective services, there is real activity across public and private paths, including a Davidson County TBI police opening, a TBI fire-investigations opening covering Davidson, Rutherford, and Sumner counties, and 53 new firefighters added by Nashville Fire in July. The catch is that most visible postings skew entry-level and on-site, and the broad opening mix leans toward hospitality and security work rather than a large wave of sworn police or fire roles.

Best positioned: Candidates who can clear background screening quickly, work on-site shifts immediately, and show credentials such as Tennessee P.O.S.T. or CPR/first aid plus strong report-writing and conflict-resolution skills have the best odds.

Main caution: Do not read the whole category as police-pay work; many local postings center on about $17 to $20 / hour because hotels, venues, retail, and contract security make up a large share of visible demand.

From the July 2026 market report

Who is hiring here

Counted across all 24 openings in this market. 3 of the employers below are hiring for more than one role right now.

1. AUS: 6 open roles
2. In-N-Out Burger: 2 open roles
3. Maersk Company: 2 open roles
4. ABM: 1 open role
5. Andrews Cadillac: 1 open role
6. Ascension: 1 open role
7. Driftwood Hospitality: 1 open role
8. Eitacies Inc: 1 open role
9. FailSafe Communications: 1 open role
10. First Class Security, Inc.: 1 open role

Where the openings are

• Nashville: 15
• La Vergne: 4
• Brentwood: 3
• Franklin: 2

Work arrangement

on-site 23 (100%)

Where the demand is

The broadest pool of visible openings is not in elite sworn roles. In the recent local posting mix, hospitality accounts for about 30% of openings, security & safety about 20%, building & personnel services about 15%, retail about 10%, and military and protective services about 10%. That means many of the jobs you can apply to quickly are venue, hotel, campus, retail-loss, or contract-security roles rather than police academy seats. The higher-barrier public sector still shows real activity. TBI posted a Davidson County police opening in mid-July and a fire-investigations opening covering multiple Nashville-area counties in early August, while Nashville Fire added 53 new firefighters in July. Those jobs usually pay better and build stronger long-run career capital, but they also come with short windows, heavier screening, and more structured pay systems. The role mix also skews junior. About 75% of recent postings were entry-level, with only about 5% at lead level or above, so the market is better for getting in than for jumping directly into high-authority roles.

• Contract security, hospitality, and venue protection (high): This is where the broadest visible demand sits, with hospitality at about 30%, security & safety about 20%, building & personnel services about 15%, and retail about 10% of recent postings.
• Sworn law enforcement and corrections (moderate): Pay is stronger here, with current local proxy police and correctional trainee paths above many hourly security roles, but entry is gated by background screening, academy readiness, and often Tennessee P.O.S.T. or similar requirements.
• Investigations and specialty public-safety work (limited): Recent TBI activity shows niche demand in fire investigations and protective policing, but the number of openings is small and likely competitive.

Where to focus: If you need work fast, focus on on-site security and safety openings. If you want the best long-term pay and advancement, concentrate on sworn or investigative tracks and be ready for a slower, more selective hiring process.

Roles worth searching next

• Public safety dispatcher / communications specialist: Local public-safety listings mention communications, radio dispatch, and preliminary investigation support, which makes this a practical bridge for people who want to enter the field without starting in a sworn role.
• Safety officer specialist / workplace safety coordinator: A Murfreesboro-area entry-level safety officer specialist posting required no prior qualifications and offered full-time hours plus benefits after 60 days, making it a realistic pivot for switchers.
• Background investigator / applicant screening specialist: Nashville is hosting police training focused on systematic background investigations, which points to transferable demand in hiring-screening and vetting functions around public safety.
• Digital evidence technician / records-evidence analyst: Agencies are using AI-assisted video review while also spending more time authenticating digital evidence, so evidence-handling roles increasingly value public-safety judgment without requiring the same field exposure.
• Executive protection agent: Private protection is a premium neighboring path for candidates with strong security judgment, discretion, and client-facing professionalism.

What postings ask for

• Tennessee P.O.S.T. certification (differentiator | immediate): It is one of the most commonly named credentials in local postings and is a clear filter for sworn-law-enforcement paths. Who: Entry-level applicants targeting police, sheriff, corrections, or public-agency roles.
• CPR / First Aid / AED (table_stakes | immediate): Current lifeguard-style certifications are named in local credential requirements, and first aid plus CPR show up repeatedly in local skill demand. Who: Entry-level candidates, career switchers, lifeguard applicants, and anyone targeting safety-heavy front-line roles.
• Emergency response and patrolling (table_stakes | immediate): Emergency response is the most frequently requested hard skill in the local sample, and patrolling also appears regularly. Who: Anyone applying to security, campus safety, venue protection, police trainee, or corrections roles.
• Report writing and documentation accuracy (differentiator | immediate): Report writing appears in about 20% of local postings, and agencies are increasingly using AI-assisted reporting tools that still require officer certification of accuracy and strong human review. Who: Mid-career applicants, investigators, police candidates, and switchers coming from military or compliance-heavy backgrounds.
• Conflict resolution and de-escalation (table_stakes | immediate): Conflict resolution shows up in about 20% of local postings and matters across hospitality, retail, campus, and public-sector settings. Who: All candidate types, especially those moving from customer-facing or supervisory work.
• Investigation and court testimony (premium | near-term): Investigation and court testimony both appear in local demand, and the recent TBI fire-investigations opening explicitly centers on crime-scene work and prosecutable cases. Who: Mid-career officers, detectives, fire investigators, and anyone chasing specialty public roles.

Questions about this market

What do Protective Services & Public Safety roles pay in Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN?

Observed pay is mixed. The clearest direct local signals are a metro-wide average wage of $25.87 an hour for protective service occupations from BLS and a current TBI police opening at $4,562 to $6,825 per month. Proxy listings then show higher structured police pay, including MNPD trainee pay around $65,097 to $69,718, police officer 2 pay at $74,464, and correctional trainee pay at $56,669 to $63,135. Nashville really has two pay lanes: broad-category hourly roles centered on about $17 to $20 / hour, and better-paid public safety tracks tied to step systems and academy pipelines.

Where is demand for Protective Services & Public Safety roles in Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN concentrated?

The broadest pool of visible openings is not in elite sworn roles. In the recent local posting mix, hospitality accounts for about 30% of openings, security & safety about 20%, building & personnel services about 15%, retail about 10%, and military and protective services about 10%. That means many of the jobs you can apply to quickly are venue, hotel, campus, retail-loss, or contract-security roles rather than police academy seats. The higher-barrier public sector still shows real activity. TBI posted a Davidson County police opening in mid-July and a fire-investigations opening covering multiple Nashville-area counties in early August, while Nashville Fire added 53 new firefighters in July. Those jobs usually pay better and build stronger long-run career capital, but they also come with short windows, heavier screening, and more structured pay systems. The role mix also skews junior. About 75% of recent postings were entry-level, with only about 5% at lead level or above, so the market is better for getting in than for jumping directly into high-authority roles.

Which employers are hiring the most Protective Services & Public Safety talent in Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN?

Recent postings show the most activity from AUS (5 postings), Nashville (5 postings), Vanderbilt (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.

Explore related openings

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Other roles in Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN

• Healthcare Support & Healthcare Administration
• Hospitality, Food Service & Travel
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• Media, Journalism & Entertainment
• Management, Product & Project
• Personal Care & Fitness
• Marketing, Communications & Content
• Education & Training

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