75+ Security & Public Safety Jobs in Philadelphia, PA

Direct local observed pay is strongest on the sworn-law-enforcement side: Philadelphia Police lists a Police Officer Recruit starting salary of $67,934 and a scheduled maximum base salary of $98,156, while BLS previously placed metro police and sheriff patrol-officer mean pay at $86,110 in 2023. By contrast, the current metro posting sample for the broader category centers on about $16 to $19 / hour, and the mean offered salary on new protective-services openings in Pennsylvania was about $44,518 in July 2026 based on a smaller statewide sample of new postings (n=497).

Full July 2026 market report

Advertised pay

Across the 62 openings that disclose pay, the advertised range midpoint runs $37,440 at the 25th percentile, $42,276 at the median and $49,920 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 84 openings.

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What our analysts see this month

Balanced market | next 3-6 months

This is a workable market if you can pass screening, work fully on-site, and target the right lane. The clearest direct signal is sustained sworn-law-enforcement recruiting: Philadelphia Police has a recruit application window from September 14 to October 11, 2026, a $2,000 signing bonus, and published lateral hiring windows that run into January 2027. But the broader category is mixed rather than uniformly hot: Pennsylvania protective-services employment was down 1.0% year over year while active postings were up 7.0%, which looks more like replacement hiring and churn than broad expansion.

Best positioned: Best odds right now go to candidates who can clear public-sector hiring standards or already hold a usable credential such as a security guard license or American Red Cross lifeguard certification, and who can show emergency response, access control, surveillance, and incident-reporting experience.

Main caution: Do not assume police salary headlines represent the whole market; many metro postings cluster around about $16 to $19 an hour and skew entry-level, on-site, and private-employer based.

From the July 2026 market report

Who is hiring here

Counted across all 84 openings in this market. 10 of the employers below are hiring for more than one role right now.

1. AUS: 19 open roles
2. Harvard Protection Services, LLC.: 9 open roles
3. Acts Retirement-Life Communities, Inc.: 6 open roles
4. GardaWorld: 5 open roles
5. Securitas Security Services USA, Inc.: 5 open roles
6. Arcfield: 2 open roles
7. Colonial Security Services: 2 open roles
8. Eagleville Hospital: 2 open roles
9. Horshamhc: 2 open roles
10. Merakey: 2 open roles

Where the openings are

• Philadelphia: 27
• Burlington: 5
• Norristown: 4
• Lower Gwynedd Township: 3
• Hainesport Township: 2
• Middletown Township: 2
• West Chester: 2
• Eagleville: 2

Work arrangement

on-site 81 (100%)

Where the demand is

Real opportunity is concentrated in two very different lanes. One is public-sector and campus law enforcement: Philadelphia Police is actively marketing recruitment, and current local evidence also names SEPTA Transit Police, the City of Camden, Delaware State Police, and the University of Pennsylvania Police Department as active institutions in the metro. The other lane is a broader employer-based market where the recent sample shows more than 125 postings across more than 50 companies, led by AUS, Greater Philadelphia YMCA, and Harvard Protection Services, LLC. Within that broader lane, the sample tilts toward retail at about 25%, security and safety at about 20%, building and personnel services at about 20%, healthcare at about 10%, and government and public sector at about 10%. Most openings skew entry-level and on-site, so there is accessible volume, but much of it is not the high-pay sworn track. Evidence is strongest for police, security, loss prevention, and lifeguard-type work, and thinner for firefighter, corrections, and private-investigator subroles.

• Municipal and campus law enforcement (high): This is the clearest high-value segment right now, with active Philadelphia Police recruiting and local institutional demand signals from transit, city, state, and university police employers.
• Private security and contract guarding (high): This is the broadest fast-entry segment in the sample, led by employers such as AUS and Harvard Protection Services, and it maps closely to access control, surveillance, and patrolling skills.
• Retail loss prevention and store safety (moderate): Retail is the largest industry slice in the sample at about 25%, and employers value surveillance, incident reporting, customer service, and loss-prevention skills.
• Community and recreation safety (moderate): Greater Philadelphia YMCA is one of the more active named employers, and American Red Cross lifeguard certification is the most visible credential signal in this subsegment.

Where to focus: Pick one lane and optimize for it: pursue sworn public-sector roles if you can clear the process, or target private security, campus, retail, and recreation roles if you need faster entry.

Roles worth searching next

• Campus operations coordinator: Public-safety candidates often already have access-control, incident-reporting, and communication skills that translate well to campus operations and building oversight.
• Facilities coordinator or building operations associate: The local posting mix includes building and personnel services at about 20%, and the same employers often value site awareness, reporting discipline, and access-control experience.
• Retail operations associate: Retail is the largest industry slice in the sample, and customer service, surveillance awareness, incident reporting, and loss-prevention knowledge all transfer into store-operations work.
• Guest services supervisor in healthcare or large venues: Healthcare accounts for about 10% of the local posting mix, and these roles reward de-escalation, documentation, customer service, and emergency-response judgment.

What postings ask for

• Emergency response (table_stakes | immediate): It is the most-requested skill in the local posting sample, appearing in about 30% of postings. Who: Everyone in this category, especially entry-level and career-switching candidates.
• Access control (table_stakes | immediate): Access control appears in about 25% of sampled postings and is central to campus, building, healthcare, and contract-security work. Who: Candidates targeting private security, campus safety, and building-services employers.
• Surveillance (table_stakes | immediate): Surveillance also shows up in about 25% of postings, which makes it a core proof-of-readiness skill for security and loss-prevention paths. Who: Applicants for private security, retail safety, and institutional monitoring roles.
• Incident reporting (differentiator | immediate): Incident reporting appears in about 20% of postings and is one of the clearest transferable skills from military, warehouse, hospitality, retail, and facilities backgrounds. Who: Career switchers and anyone whose resume currently undersells documentation and judgment.
• Security guard license (differentiator | near-term): It is one of the few explicitly repeated credentials in the sample, showing up in about 5% of postings, and it can shorten the path into private-employer roles. Who: Entry-level candidates who want faster access to contract or in-house security jobs.
• American Red Cross lifeguard certification (differentiator | near-term): This is the most visible recurring certification in the local sample, appearing in about 10% of postings, and it lines up with YMCA and recreation hiring. Who: Applicants targeting recreation, aquatics, youth, and community safety roles.

Questions about this market

What do Protective Services & Public Safety roles pay in Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD?

Direct local observed pay is strongest on the sworn-law-enforcement side: Philadelphia Police lists a Police Officer Recruit starting salary of $67,934 and a scheduled maximum base salary of $98,156, while BLS previously placed metro police and sheriff patrol-officer mean pay at $86,110 in 2023. By contrast, the current metro posting sample for the broader category centers on about $16 to $19 / hour, and the mean offered salary on new protective-services openings in Pennsylvania was about $44,518 in July 2026 based on a smaller statewide sample of new postings (n=497). This is a split market. The headline pay sits in sworn public-sector ladders and some police-association listings that show $74,453 starting pay in 2026 and progression to $115,010 after two full years of service, while a large share of general openings sits in lower-paid private security, retail, and recreation work.

Where is demand for Protective Services & Public Safety roles in Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD concentrated?

Real opportunity is concentrated in two very different lanes. One is public-sector and campus law enforcement: Philadelphia Police is actively marketing recruitment, and current local evidence also names SEPTA Transit Police, the City of Camden, Delaware State Police, and the University of Pennsylvania Police Department as active institutions in the metro. The other lane is a broader employer-based market where the recent sample shows more than 125 postings across more than 50 companies, led by AUS, Greater Philadelphia YMCA, and Harvard Protection Services, LLC. Within that broader lane, the sample tilts toward retail at about 25%, security and safety at about 20%, building and personnel services at about 20%, healthcare at about 10%, and government and public sector at about 10%. Most openings skew entry-level and on-site, so there is accessible volume, but much of it is not the high-pay sworn track. Evidence is strongest for police, security, loss prevention, and lifeguard-type work, and thinner for firefighter, corrections, and private-investigator subroles.

Which employers are hiring the most Protective Services & Public Safety talent in Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD?

Recent postings show the most activity from AUS (20 postings), Greater Philadelphia YMCA (15 postings), Harvard Protection Services, LLC. (10 postings). See the full market report for the complete employer landscape.

Can Protective Services & Public Safety roles in Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD 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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