50+ Security & Public Safety Jobs in San Jose, CA

The safest local pay anchor is BLS: the broad protective service group averaged $37.13 per hour in the San Jose metro in May 2025, versus $57.32 for all local workers. That broad figure implies about $77,200 per year, but recent agency-specific signals are much higher for sworn police tracks, including about $144,003 base starting pay at San Jose Police, $163,619 at Santa Clara Police, and $54.57 per hour for San Jose recruits during academy training.

Full August 2026 market report

Advertised pay

Across the 62 openings that disclose pay, the advertised range midpoint runs $49,816 at the 25th percentile, $54,080 at the median and $61,074 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 65 openings.

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What our analysts see this month

Competitive market | next 3-6 months

San Jose is still a worthwhile market for Protective Services & Public Safety, but it is not an easy one. Protective service occupations account for 2.4% of metro employment versus 1.9% nationally, and the broad occupational group averaged $37.13 per hour in May 2025. At the same time, California-wide signals for this occupation softened in August 2026, with employment down 1.8% year over year and active postings down 15.3% year over year, so candidates should expect selective hiring even where local agencies are still recruiting. This is a prepared-candidate market: there are openings, but the best outcomes go to applicants who can clear screening fast and fit a specific lane.

Best positioned: Applicants who already have a clean background file, are ready for PELLET B or NTN-style testing, can pass physical screening, and are open to cadet or recruit pipelines have the best odds right now.

Main caution: Do not assume the headline police salaries describe the whole category; many visible local postings center on about $21 to $22 an hour and skew toward on-site retail, security, and loss-prevention work rather than sworn roles.

From the August 2026 market report

Who is hiring here

Counted across all 65 openings in this market. 4 of the employers below are hiring for more than one role right now.

1. AUS: 32 open roles
2. GardaWorld: 7 open roles
3. Allied Universal Corp: 2 open roles
4. Security Industry Specialists, Inc.: 2 open roles
5. All-Guard Alarm Systems: 1 open role
6. Avalon Transportation, LLC: 1 open role
7. Brillfy Technology Inc: 1 open role
8. Built for the Badge: 1 open role
9. CALIFORNIA SIERRA EXPRESS INC: 1 open role
10. Capitol Hyundai: 1 open role

Where the openings are

• San Jose: 28
• Palo Alto: 6
• Milpitas: 5
• Santa Clara: 5
• Cupertino: 4
• Sunnyvale: 4
• Fremont: 3
• Redwood City: 3

Work arrangement

on-site 61 (97%), hybrid 2 (3%)

Where the demand is

Real opportunity is split between two very different lanes. One lane is public-sector sworn and municipal hiring: San Jose Police is actively recruiting Police Recruits and Police Officers through a multi-step process and pays recruits $54.57 per hour during the 32-week academy, while Santa Clara County is running Deputy Sheriff Cadet recruiting and outreach across the Bay Area. San Jose also opened Fire Station 8 in late August 2026, and local coverage reports 12 firefighters assigned to the new downtown station. The other lane is private security and loss prevention. In the local posting sample, more than 50 postings appeared across more than 30 companies, hiring was fragmented, and the most active industries were retail at about 30%, public administration at about 15%, security & safety at about 15%, sports & recreation at about 15%, and government & public sector at about 10%. That mix helps explain why emergency response, customer service, conflict resolution, loss prevention, report writing, access control, surveillance, and incident reporting show up so often in requirements.

• Sworn police and sheriff pipelines (moderate): Active local recruiting exists, but it comes with written testing, physical agility, oral boards or interviews, and full background screening.
• Private security and loss prevention (high): This is the broader-access lane, supported by the retail-heavy local posting mix and repeated demand for customer service, conflict resolution, surveillance, and access-control skills.
• Municipal fire and public-sector operations (moderate): The Fire Station 8 opening and staffing signal real local infrastructure support, but visible openings are less numerous and more dependent on formal department pipelines.

Where to focus: If you can clear a long background process, prioritize recruit and cadet pipelines first; otherwise use retail/security roles as a fast-entry bridge while you build credentials.

Roles worth searching next

• Public safety dispatcher or communications specialist: CAD, Next Generation 9-1-1, report writing, and incident coordination already show up in local protective-services materials, so dispatcher work uses similar operating logic without the same sworn path.
• Loss prevention specialist: Retail is about 30% of the local posting mix, and loss prevention, surveillance, conflict resolution, and customer service are repeatedly requested.
• Emergency management or safety coordinator: Emergency response, incident reporting, and procedural readiness are common skills in the local category, and new California first-responder rules around autonomous vehicles increase the value of coordination-heavy safety work.
• Security systems or access-control specialist: Access control, surveillance, body-camera tools, and AI-assisted monitoring are all part of the current operating environment.

What postings ask for

• PELLET B or NTN exam prep (table_stakes | immediate): San Jose Police recruiting materials make written testing an early screen for recruit and officer applicants. Who: Entry-level sworn applicants.
• Physical agility and psychological screening readiness (table_stakes | immediate): Local police recruiting emphasizes physical agility, psychological screening, and background clearance before academy entry. Who: Police and sheriff applicants.
• CAD and Next Generation 9-1-1 familiarity (differentiator | near-term): Local recruiting materials point to Computer Aided Dispatch, Next Generation 9-1-1, and body-camera workflows as part of the operating environment. Who: Dispatcher-adjacent candidates, sworn applicants, and anyone targeting municipal safety operations.
• Report writing and incident reporting (table_stakes | immediate): Report writing and incident reporting are among the most common requested skills locally, and San Jose Police is testing AI-assisted report-writing workflows. Who: All candidates in the category.
• Customer service and conflict resolution (table_stakes | immediate): Local postings request customer service and conflict resolution almost as often as emergency response, especially in retail and security-heavy hiring. Who: Entry-level candidates and career switchers.
• CPR, First Aid, valid driver's license, and Guard Card (differentiator | immediate): These are among the most common named credentials in local postings, especially for fast-entry private-security tracks. Who: Candidates who need a quicker path into the field.

Questions about this market

What do Protective Services & Public Safety roles pay in San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA?

The safest local pay anchor is BLS: the broad protective service group averaged $37.13 per hour in the San Jose metro in May 2025, versus $57.32 for all local workers. That broad figure implies about $77,200 per year, but recent agency-specific signals are much higher for sworn police tracks, including about $144,003 base starting pay at San Jose Police, $163,619 at Santa Clara Police, and $54.57 per hour for San Jose recruits during academy training. This is a split market. Sworn public-sector roles can pay extremely well by national standards, while much of the visible private-security hiring sits far lower.

Where is demand for Protective Services & Public Safety roles in San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA concentrated?

Real opportunity is split between two very different lanes. One lane is public-sector sworn and municipal hiring: San Jose Police is actively recruiting Police Recruits and Police Officers through a multi-step process and pays recruits $54.57 per hour during the 32-week academy, while Santa Clara County is running Deputy Sheriff Cadet recruiting and outreach across the Bay Area. San Jose also opened Fire Station 8 in late August 2026, and local coverage reports 12 firefighters assigned to the new downtown station. The other lane is private security and loss prevention. In the local posting sample, more than 50 postings appeared across more than 30 companies, hiring was fragmented, and the most active industries were retail at about 30%, public administration at about 15%, security & safety at about 15%, sports & recreation at about 15%, and government & public sector at about 10%. That mix helps explain why emergency response, customer service, conflict resolution, loss prevention, report writing, access control, surveillance, and incident reporting show up so often in requirements.

Which employers are hiring the most Protective Services & Public Safety talent in San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA?

Recent postings show the most activity from Costco Wholesale Corp. (10 postings), AUS (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 San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA 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 California openings by job title

• Software Engineer: 885 open roles statewide
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• Associate Director: 75 open roles statewide

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